alexicography

tsun·do·ku 積ん読 noun (Japanese)

1. the act of acquiring books and not reading them; of letting them pile up around you

They said she should open a book store, but she didn't want to.

They said “You love to be surrounded by books so much, a bookstore is the perfect place to do that!”

But she didn't want to.

If she owned a bookstore, that would mean selling her books. Letting them go.

She was surrounded by books because she desired to have them. And they, her.

“It's quite a funny thing,” her mother remarked one sunny afternoon, visiting her daughter's apartment with lunch in hand for the two of them, only to find her daughter cross-legged on the hardwood floor, piles of books surrounding her, yet not even a one in her hand.

“Oh, hello Mother,” her daughter said, slowly opening her eyes and lifting her chin.

“You're not even reading them,” her mother blurted, dumbfounded. What a strange, strange girl she had.

“I'm not,” her daughter confirmed. “They're reading me.”