Bibliophile

I am a bibliophile. I make no apologies, no excuses. In fact, I actively pursue my love with a book club, which keeps me reading all sorts of treasures (the most recent pictured below). I not only have a love of reading books, but I have a love for books themselves. The smell of an old hardback can practically intoxicate me! There is nothing like the feel of a brand new paperback, all soft and floppy in your hand. Smooth glossy covers, ones bound in cloth, short and thin, or heavy with verbosity, reading the words is simply a delight.

I have always loved to read. In fact, I can't remember a time when I didn't have a book sitting on my bedside table. My mother would comb the New York Time's bestseller lists finding new authors for me. Many Christmases were filled with new books, new series, new authors all waiting for me to devour them - that very afternoon!

I have met other people who claim to love books as I do, and not to say there are no others with my same fascination (or some who are far worse), but I do think there are a few points of distinction that should be noted. The following is a checklist you may use to see whether you are a true bibliophile, or merely literate.

1.) Can you pass an entire afternoon lost in a book and never once regret that you were not outside taking in the fresh air?

2.) Do you read the same book over and over, still aching at the sad parts and rejoicing at the resolutions?

3.) Are your bookshelves arranged such that small paperbacks are stacked in two rows per shelf, one behind the other, so as to make more room for them?

4.) Does a gift card to Borders bring a tear of gratefulness to your eye?

5.) Do you have a collection of bookmarks?

6.) Is folding the corner of a page to mark a spot an utter act of treason? (This seperates the readers from the bibliophiles who not only love to read, but love the books themselves)

7.) Can you relate to characters in novels as though they were your old friends?

8.) Does your family recognize that when you are on the couch with a book you may as well be on Mars?

9.) Would you find it torture to be stuck on a plane without a book? It doesn't even have to be a good book!

10.) When faced with an option to buy a book, or just check it out from the library can you always find an excuse to buy it? (Whether you actually follow through on this impulse is a measure of your self-control, not your existence as a bibliophile)

If you answered "yes" to at least eight of the following than welcome to the club. You, my friend are a Bibliophile!