on compulsive reading and shopping

When it comes to books I continually overestimate the number I can be reading at any one time. The result of this is that I always have more than one on the go. Currently the list of those I have actually started is comprised of:
Wild Swans
The Pillars of the Earth (don't know if I can bring myself to finish this although as the next list shows I also own the sequel)
Uses of Literacy
Ethics (collection of Foucault essays)
Discipline and Punish

Those that I own and are waiting to be read include:
Brick Lane
On Chesil Beach
The Road
World without end (the sequel to the pillars of the earth)
Power (collection of Foucault essays - noticing a theme here!)
What is the What (although technically I did start this but it was over two months ago so it doesn't really count)
Plus three Jodi Picoult's that were loaned to me - thinking I should see what the bestselling fuss is all about - although I don't hold high hopes for these.

The problem is that I am both a shopper and a hoarder. So any bookshop I go into I feel compelled to buy something - no matter how many are waiting at home to be finished, or even started.
Next on the list of want-to-buys is Murray Bail's The Pages, despite the slightly lukewarm review in today's Australian. His Eucalyptus is one of my all time favourite Australian novels.