view larger

Member: libraryhermit

CollectionsYour library (7)

Reviews7 reviews

TagsNone

GroupsHistorical Fiction, Librarians who LibraryThing, Rare, Old or Offbeat

About meI have been addicted to reading since elementary school. If I didn't have to work, I would read all day. Usually, I do go to work, but then when I come home, I ignore my family and hide in a room with a book. I think there is no cure for this illness except indulging in more books.

About my libraryI have been collecting books for about 40 years and I have read about half of them. There are a total of 9 books shelves of varying sizes.
The rest of the books that I have read are from various libraries in the community in which I live.
Things I like to read:
history.
novels.
literary criticism.

Favourite authors:
Joseph Conrad
Shakespeare
Graham Greene
Henry James
Martin Amis
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Laurence
Charles Dickens
Matt Cohen
Mordecai Richler
Robertson Davies
Mavis Gallant
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Mark Twain
Len Deighton
T. C. Boyle
John leCarre
Salman Rushdie
Nicholas Basbanes

Besides these authors, most of whom I have read the majority of their works, I really enjoy going into the library and picking up, almost at random--although like most people I get caught up by looking at the cover art and reading the blurbs--authors of whom I have never heard of before. If I keep reading nothing but my favourite authors, I end up missing out on some of the startling and rewarding surprises derived from taking a totally random new author out of the blue.

If I am in the library reading blurbs, I automatically will read, without any further scrutiny, any books with the following subjects in them:

Characters who work in a library.
Characters who read all the time.
Characters who collect books.
Characters who work in any university or college in the humanities.
Any historical book about characters (usually working in churches, governments, or civil service postions) who read books all the time, and thus see the world only through the viewpoint of their bookishness.
Needless to say, titles like The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, are my constant favourites.

Favorite authorsNone

Account typepublic, free

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/libraryhermit (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/libraryhermit (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (1), Awards (29), Characters (59), Places (6)

Member sinceSep 5, 2009