Well, since this is largely a “me too” thread: Me, too.
My fellow Coloradans will understand that a day at the Tattered Cover is a $$$$$ experience.
I’m not much of a fiction reader, though. I tend towards business, history (a new interest) and tech.
Currently in progress: Dreamweaver 3 Bible; Guns Germs & Steel; Generations at Work
I love to read. I have to buy my books, I don’t like the library, and my books have to be new. And although I love to read, I tend to stay within fantasy/science fiction/horror. I’ll only venture outside those genres if I hear something really fantastic about a book.
I have friends who can’t stand to read, and I just don’t get it.
Just passed the 10000 mark a few months ago (though just under 500 of those are duplicate copies). There’s bookshops (well, charity shops) here in Edinburgh where you can get books for around 20p each, and it’s impossible to resist… my parents have a two car garage you can’t get a car into. I’ve only read about half of them, though. (There’s a lot of reference books and I’m leaving the “classics” for when I’m older).
Me too.
Love books. Have boxes and boxes of them. Some even on shelves. I usually read more than one at a time, something my husband finds amazing “Don’t you get confused?” No, never. Not to mention the fact that he usually has to say my name 2 or 3 times before I realize he’s talking to me.
Currently reading:
[ul]
[li] The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence (Hey, Carina!)[/li][li] Letters to Malcolm by CS Lewis[/li][li] Bullfinch’s Mythology[/li][li] Provocations:Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard[/li][li] The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader (library book) [/ul][/li]
wring, you know about the Lansing Library’s Book Burrow, right? They’re open the 2nd Saturday of each month for a book sale (plus Wednesdays too I think). I’ve gotten some good deals there.
Wow.
Fenris, my first thought when I read your OP was to say, “No, you’re not alone. I’m the same way.” Then, after seeing all the other responses, I guess a more appropriate response would be, “We are not alone. Look, there are many like us!”
Yes, I’ll admit to being another biblio-fiend. Ever since I first learned to read, I’ve read everything I could get my hands on, and I must have been the only child in school to ever get in trouble for reading too much. As an adult, I continue to read, and know well what it’s like to read in front of the TV, at the dinner table, on the subway, and so on.
I was fortunate enough to meet and marry a woman who shares my love of books. Our combined collection strains the shelves in our home (I’m glad many posters referred to Ikea shelves too; we have some because they work so well for books), and is far beyond our shelving capacity. But we manage to put all our books somewhere somehow. As long as they are nearby and can be reached easily, we are happy.
Good to see I’m not alone in my love of books. Even better, I feel like I’m among friends.
Stephen Dunn is an awesome poet! I don’t know a helluva lot about him. A friend who is also a poet lent me one of his books. A few weeks later, he came to talk at my college, and I fell in love.
He got up there, older man, in his 50s. He looks like a Puritan: tall, straight back, beard. Then he read “Decorum” which is a poem about a creative writing class where the difference between “fucking” and “making love” is debated.
I got a $50 gift certificate for writing this review at amazon.com. I think it sums up his writing quite well.
I recommend starting with Between Angels. It is his legacy to this world, I swear. “Tenderness”, “The Gaurdian Angel” and “Emptiness” are my favorites. They make me want to live inside his books. Here are some quotes:
From “Tenderness”:
From “The Guardian Angel”:
The ending on that one is ten times better, but I don’t want to ruin it for you.
If you do like his work in Between Angels, consider his collected works (Collected Works: 1974-1994). It contains the best poems of his career, like “Romance”, “Letter to You About Myself”, “Turning Fifty”, “Instead of You”, and “Those of us who think we know” and three hundred others ones I can’t remember off the top of my head. I read from it every single night before bed. He makes me feel less alone.
Also, his new book, Different Hours, is incredible. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m awed. I’d start with his earlier stuff, though, because it’s easier to understand the beautiful quirks of his writing style.
Happy reading! 
Oh, all I know about his personal life is that he’s married and a professor at a college in New Jersey.
I’m the book addiction equivalent of William S. Burroughs.
I currently store my “active” book collection in two rooms. I store the overflow into pallets in my basement. The overflow from my basement is stored in warehouse units. That units with an “s”.
I’m looking into having a house built. One of the issues I’m pondering is whether one floor will be sufficient for my library or I should play it safe and go for two.
I have more books than the public libraries of the two closest towns. Combined.
I’ve spend over five hundred dollars buying books in a single day on more occasions than I can remember.
I once tried filing my book collection on a shareware library database program. I crashed its storage limits.
Amazon sends me gifts for Christmas and my birthday.
I disconnected the television in my house two years ago because TV watching was interfering with my reading time.
Not only do I check for bookstores whenever I enter a new town, I’ve gone on vacations to towns with the express purpose of visiting bookstores.
I had Richard Bachman’s books before he revealed himself as Stephen King.
/hijack
Little Nemo, if you are going to build a house, talk with your contractor about all your books. Books are incredible heavy and he may need to make some structural adjustments to whatever plan you decide on. Serious!
/end hijack/
Yes, BunnyGirl, I DO know about the library sales (I work about 1 1/2 blocks away from it)… but thanks!
[wistful voice]Are you married? Would you like to be?[/wistful voice]
When I have money I buy books; If any is left over I buy food and clothes. Erasmus (more or less)
Trust me to be late to the party.
I too read everything. When I used to go to the school library to do a report I’d constantly be enticed by the alluring volumes and forget whatever the hell it was I was supposed to be researching. Right now, in fact, I have a book in my lab coat pocket. I’m never without one.
I don’t understand nonbook people. The most heinous thing I’ve ever seen was a decorating catalog selling leatherbound books… by color and size. Ack!!
[snobby New England accent]Books are so decorative![/snobby New England accent]
At last, I have found my people
‘I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library’
-Jose Luis Borges
I am all of the above. I read too fast, spend too much on books…blah blah blah. But here’s my quiz to see how ‘bookish’ you are (also, please note the name)
When you go to someones house for the first time, do you head to the bookcases first? If there are no bookcases, do you leave?
Do you get pissed at particular author’s for not writing books as fast as you can read them? In another vein, do you get even more pissed when the author has only written one book and is now dead, depriving you of more books? (Confederacy of Dunces)
Have you had to switch from books to newspapers to read during breakfast, because you couldn’t put the book down, resulting in chronic tardiness?
Do you panic if you know you might have more than a 30 second wait for something and no reading material on site?
Do you read while you are microwaving your dinner?
Do you find the concept of books on tape bizzare? I mean what’s the point?
After you’ve read a book, do you find yourself thinking in the style of the author’s writing? (think about it)
If a potential SO reveals that he/she does not read, is it a deal breaker?
Do you divide your books into catagories, like
“mind candy” and “good reads”?
Frankly, I blame this all on my mom. She was a teacher when she got married and apparently got bored hanging out at home with us kids. She taught me to read when I was 3 and I am still pestering her for new books.
Since I was laid off in Feb. I have spent almost every other day at the library searching for new books and authors. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m not getting paid for this, I would make it my life’s work. Sadly those mortgage company people are really picky about getting their money every month.
one more,… I just finished a great book called ‘Second Hand’, I can’t remember the authors name but its a good read
hello, My name is Shirley. I am a book addict.
I read all the time. I stay at home with my children and read everything that I have in this house. Primarily magazines are my focal point now, because of something called a short attention span.
My son has said to me, " Momma, stop reading."
Books are in every bathroom. Because of years of reading on the toilet, if I insomuch as go to a bookstore or library, within moments of arrival I will have to take/leave/have/whatever a spectacular poop. Every time.I am not alone in this phenomenom.
I keep a book always in my pack in case of some unforeseen thing happening, although hauling around two children, I don’t get to whip out the books like I use too. It is a comfort I cannot describe.
I took a ton of books with me when I use to travel and came home with more.
Every since I discovered http://www.half.com I rarely buy books at Borders, et al anymore. I just use them as a library.
I have an idea, if anyone out there is looking for a book, semi-rare or not, and has come up dry, why not list it here and fellow doper bibliophiles can keep an eye out for it. I am a garage sale-aholic and can find some real gems for pennies.
Primarily, I am looking for a copy of Buckaroo Bonzai and the adventures across the 8th dimension. by Hal or Frank Roach (sp?) [sub]been looking for it for nearly 12 years and I refuse to pay more than five dollars…maybe…[/sub]
Bookworm, yes to all the above!
Shirley, you’re right. You are not alone. Talk about Pavlov’s conditioning. It’s a good thing bookstores have bathrooms on site!
Anyone else get in trouble constantly, like I did, for reading in class in school! “Ms. Kennedy, are you reading during class?!” “Um,yes, but I finished my work already and…”
Of course, I always read these threads to get ideas for my to-read list.
Hmmm…
The only type of gift my father ever buys, for anyone, is a book. For birthdays and Christmas, my sisters and I each get three or four books. My father inscribes them, too, with messages like “To vix on your 28th birthday. A wonderful book of poetry for a poet.” To my knowledge, the only time my father ever bought a gift that wasn’t a book was when I was about 2 years old and my mother was in the hospital around Christmas, so my father had to buy the gifts from Santa. When my parents put an addition on their house, it was a library.
Like everyone else who’s posted, I also read everywhere. I haven’t missed my subway stop because I’ve been too engrossed in my book, but it’s only a matter of time. I prefer to take the train alone so I can read.
Rhode Islanders will know about the Scituate Art Festival… a few years ago, some friends and I discovered that a guy who lives near the site of the festival was taking advantage of the huge crowds to hold a book sale in his barn. We spent hours browsing and came home with dozens of books (and no art).
Friends I’ve traveled with make fun of me because not only do I bring along several novels, but I always have at least three guide books. (Michelin, Fodors and one about food, usually).
Does everyone else have several friends/family members who are in publishing or are editors and writers and journalists? Has anyone else had more than one of those professions? 
I wish I’d checked into this thread earlier. Meanwhile, here’s a post I wrote a while back on pretty much the same subject.
Currently reading:[list]The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Zero: Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seiffe
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
And rereading Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
Can I please, please come play at your house?
I believe it’s a mix of nature and nurture. My grandmother was a voracious reader. When I was 7, she made me join a summer reading program and forced me to read a book a day. For the first week or so, I resented her, but then Nancy Drew and I met and I haven’t stopped reading yet. My mom also loves to read. I will always, always cherish my memories of going to the Cathedral Street Library in Mt. Vernon (Baltimore) with my grandma once a week. I even wrote a poem about it that got published.
Yes on all of these, but the ones above are super-duper true.
Currently I have a minimum of three book series(what’s the plural of that? is it the same word?) that I am waiting for the next book in. I do know there are more, but I don’t want to think about it.
Maybe that’s why…I always thought it had something to do with the dust or odor or somesuch.
Shirley Might I suggest E-bay? I searched for years for a book my mom had wanted -Patrick Dennis’ * Little Me* (kept on searching after she died), finally got it on e-bay, (actually got 4 copies, gave one each to my two siblings, and one to a friend) never paid more than about $5 for any of them. Also found, very quickly the Odd Bodkins book my SO wanted, as well as a New World for Nellie which had been out of print for about 30 years.
It isn’t the same as finding stuff at a book sale and so on, but it’s pretty efficient at getting that one odd one that you’ve been unable to find.
nothamlet, what you said about not being able to read a book again for the first time is true. But there is something almost as good, and that is turning another person on to the book. I am currently collecting second copies of all my favorite sci-fi paperbacks, to give to my nephew in just a few years. He’s not quite seven now so it won’t be too much longer.