Hello. My name is Zach. I am an E-book addict.

I loaded my first e-book on an old PC running Windows 95. It as the late 90’s and I was just starting high school.

I'd been trolling around some of the more nefarious fantasy message boards when I came across a kid offering scanned copies of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time series.

I knew it was wrong. I knew it could get me in trouble.

I did it anyways.

How could I not? After all, the first one was free…

I still remember how my hand trembled when I opened it for the first time. It was saved as a pdf and with that old machine it took forever to load.

As the seconds went by I almost chicken out.
I wish I would have, but when at last that low quality scan of the books’ cover came up in black and white I knew there was no going back.

Things were ok at first. I would sneak down late at night to get my fix when everyone else was asleep. I would read for as long as I could each time, going further and further into the night.

I won’t lie. I felt invincible!

Then it all came crashing down.

I’d been on a major binge, at least 6 hours straight, when it all caught up with me. My vision had glazed over and I could almost feel the angry red blood vessels pulsing in my eyes.

I was so far gone by that point I didn’t even know where I was, let alone that the sun had come up.

A large hand grabbing me by the shoulder broke me out of my trance.
I felt like I was floating as my father spun the chair around so he could face me.

One look in my eyes and he knew what I’d been doing.

I have little memory of what followed.

I know I begged him not to delete it and that I could quit after I finished, but he wasn’t having it. He demanded I clean myself up and get ready for school, even if I hadn’t slept all night.

Looking in the mirror that morning, I knew the truth of how dangerous e-books could be.

For the next 10 years I never touched another e-book.

Even when e-books started going mainstream I stayed away, but it was getting harder. Suddenly major publishers were releasing e-books and they were no longer the domain of bootleg scans of discarded paperbacks.

Then along came the e-ink dedicated book reader.

It was like holding a warm plate of food in front of a starving man.

No more eye strain from staring at a monitor.
The ability to store thousands of books, and take them anywhere.
Unlimited availability of millions of books that could be downloaded and read anytime, anywhere.

I never stood a chance.

My last holdout was the high price of the readers, but that of course inevitably came down. I ordered a kindle 3 before I finished reading its specs. I even sprung for overnight shipping.

The next three months where a haze of e-book after e-book and there was no end in sight.
Neither cost nor content mattered as long as I could get it on the kindle, and before long I had spent far more time and money than I had ever intended. It was like I had never quit.

Still I kept going, buying more and more e-books each day.

Once again, I felt invincible!

Then along came Towers of Midnight and everything fell to pieces.

When the publisher refused to release an e-book edition along with the hardcover I went berserk. I raged over the injustice and spewed vile words of hate to any that would defend those who were keeping me from my treasured e-book.

It was in the middle of one such tirade that it hit me. I was attacking random strangers, not because I wanted this book so bad, but because I couldn’t handle the thought of not having it as an e-book.

I knew then I had fallen right back to where I was all those years ago.

As my first step towards returning to a normal life, I have decided to post my book list from the last few months, so I can no longer hide from myself how far I have fallen.

Cursor's Fury
Butcher, Jim
Order date: December 15, 2010

Academ's Fury
Butcher, Jim
Order date: December 11, 2010

Furies of Calderon
Butcher, Jim
Order date: December 8, 2010

Relentless
Parrish, Robin
Order date: November 24, 2010

The Paradise War
Lawhead, Stephen R.
Order date: November 19, 2010

Bright of the Sky
Kenyon, Kay
Order date: November 11, 2010

Altered Carbon
Morgan, Richard K.
Order date: October 25, 2010

The Unsuspecting Mage
Pratt, Brian S.
Order date: October 12, 2010

A Storm of Swords
Martin, George R.R.
Order date: September 26, 2010

Lamentation
Scholes, Ken
Order date: September 24, 2010

A Clash of Kings
Martin, George R.R.
Order date: September 24, 2010

Light of Eidon
Hancock, Karen
Order date: September 24, 2010

The God Engines
Scalzi, John
Order date: September 15, 2010

Warbreaker
Sanderson, Brandon
Order date: September 12, 2010

The Terminal State
Somers, Jeff
Order date: September 4, 2010

The Way of Kings
Sanderson, Brandon
Order date: August 31, 2010

The Black Prism
Weeks, Brent
Order date: August 25, 2010

Best Served Cold
Abercrombie, Joe
Order date: August 11, 2010

The Black Knight
Dale Broda Jr
Order date: August 11, 2010

Mass Effect: Retribution
Karpyshyn, Drew
Order date: July 30, 2010

Last Argument Of Kings
Abercrombie, Joe
Order date: July 28, 2010

Before They Are Hanged
Abercrombie, Joe
Order date: July 26, 2010

The Blade Itself
Abercrombie, Joe
Order date: July 24, 2010

Servant of a Dark God
Brown, John
Order date: July 21, 2010

The Desert Spear
Brett, Peter V.
Order date: July 19, 2010

Kindle User's Guide, 5th Ed
Amazon.com
Order date: July 15, 2010