Where's my passion for reading gone?

I have been an avid reader of the written word for all bar the first couple of years of my life. Well, except for now!

A usual week for me would see three books bite the dust, on occasion even six or seven. The days when I was commuting into town on the tube would be even more fruitful. At lunch time I would go to the Waterstones at Ludgate Circus, and spend a happy half hour buying up one of their three for two deals, and foregoing a chicken and avocado sandwich from Pret a Manger. That was the choice - nice lunch or more books. My overflowing bookshelves are testament to which won out most frequently.

Holidays
Holidays are my most effective times for reading, even when combined with pretty busy schedule and three children! Last summer, whilst camping in the Alps, canoeing, skiing and generally during touristy things, I polished off a good ten pieces of fiction. There was even the added bonus of being with a friend who also reads a lot and discussing some of them was like a mini book club!

I have to admit to a great dilemma when packing books for holidays - there is a school of thought that advises to take books that I don't expect to want to read again, and that I can say good-bye to (not a skill that is well developed in me), but then what is the point in reading such books in the first place? True many turn out to be once only reads, but given the enormous volume of literature out there, why read one you do not plan on thinking worthy of reading again?

Over the years, I have refined the rules by accepting I may want to take books on a 50%keep: 50%leave split, and also acknowledge that usually a mystery will only want to be read once - given that the suspense will have vanished second time around. I also keep a record of any book that I read and do not keep (I first wrote discard, but I would hate for any book to think I discarded it - with the sole exception of Bonfire of the Vanities; a book I read from cover to cover out of obligation, but absolutely hated)

So, I really love books, I have a house bulging at the seams with them, and continue to buy, although on a much reduced scale, as I work in the middle of nowhere now, but there is always the internet - and I do accept that I should read a book or two before I buy many more.

My Mum
I have neglected to mention my lifelong book loving friend, my Mum! She and I have very similar taste, and have often swapped books and introduced each other to new authors. Our mutual passion has often meant we bought the same book on the same day, which is annoying only in as much as it is money that could have bought some other book! She continues to read and has left me far behind.

New Publications
Normally, when a new book by a much loved author comes out, I have to hold back my hands to stop myself buying it in hard back, so much do I want to read their latest offering. And yet now, I may be a couple behind on some of these dear friends... that makes me feel bad. Also I am someone who is a little bit ocd about doing stuff in the correct order - so I have to read books in order of writing, if I possibly can. It is no good reading a book in a series and then finding there was one before. It doesn't matter if it says you will understand everything without reading prior novels about the character - I don't believe them! I follow this principle with tv too - which means I sometimes save up many episodes and get really behind, but it matters to me!

Buy or Borrow
For me there is one rule - buy! But I will occasionally borrow from my Mum or my best friend. In fact my best friend has got me to read her book club books that she doesn't fancy, and give her a potted version for the meeting! (Sadly we live too far away for me to attend myself). I have used a library, when a child without independent funds, but now the idea appalls me. You see, I read a lot in bed, and the idea of placing a book that someone I do not know has handled on my pillow fills me with total dread! A parsimonious friend recommended resolving this issue by use of a tea towel (or some such) to be used as a liner on my pillow, but she clearly just doesn't get it. What about my hands that have touched it? They will need washing. What if I fell asleep into the book? The thought is too terrible to contemplate. No, I have to buy my books and know where they have been, period.

Help!
So, after years of reading, I just cannot get back into the groove. I have five or six books by my bed, which I have started, but which have not lit my fire. I have no idea what to do about it. I have always read one book at a time, so already the burden of these six books with bookmarks a few pages in is of grave concern to me.
I know part of the problem is my job. I am a lecturer, so spend a huge amount of time reading for work. And not really particularly exciting, pleasurable stuff! In fact some assignments are really bad, and require lots of correction.

Any advice will be welcome...