Welcome to My World!

I have what some may consider a pathological love of books. I surround myself with books the way some people surround themselves with friends-in fact, there are times when I love my books more than I love some of my friends! I love the way they feel in your hand, the way they smell, the weight of them on your lap...for me reading is not just an intellectual but a sensual practice. Nothing is better than sitting in a cozy chair with a cup of coffee, soft music on the iPod, book in my lap, and another world on my mind. I like to say I measure my wealth not in money (which is good, since I don't have much money!) , but in the number of books I've read and owned.

I call it an addiction to the written word. And I am certainly not the only one with this affliction. Despite the best efforts of television and the internet to draw us away from books, last time I checked my local Borders was doing OK. I was trained up in my addiction by a long line of the previously addicted. Heck, my mother is my supplier-I get a box or two of my best product from her every time I see her. And I am proud of my addiction, something that can't be said for drug or porn addiction. Best of all, I can share my addiction and not feel like a creepy old man saying "Come here little girl and try some of this!"

So allow me to do for you what my mother and others did for me. Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of book addiction. How, you may ask? Well, the only thing I love almost as much as books is my own opinions, and this blog will be full of them. This blog will be all about the books I love, the books I can live with, and the books that should never have been allowed to see the inked side of a printing press. And despite my deep down gut feeling that I am always right, I know that people will disagree with me from time to time, and I hope that we can have lively discussion about those disagreements here as well.

Sit back, kick up your feet, grab your coffee, and let's take a hit of reading together, shall we?