Member: recalcitrantreader

CollectionsYour library (381), Currently reading (1), To read (3), All collections (381)

ReviewsNone

TagsFiction (17), England (11), ARC (11), fiction (6), London (5), nonfiction (4), uncorrected proof (4), Nobel (4), Nonfiction (3), 19th century (3) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

GroupsFolio Society devotees, Inklings, Reading Globally

Favorite authorsPeter Ackroyd, Rick Bass, Kathie Bergquist, Michael Chabon, Charles Dickens, Sebastian Faulks, E. M. Forster, John Gardner, Shirley Jackson, Jonathan Lethem, Jane Morris, Anthony Powell, Dawn Powell, Georges Simenon, Muriel Spark, Robert Louis Stevenson, Graham Swift, James Thurber, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresArundel Books, Bailey-Coy Books, Bookworks, Eagle Harbor Book Company, Elliott Bay Bookstore, Flora and Fauna Books, Liberty Bay Books, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Unabridged Bookstore, Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers

Favorite librariesKitsap Regional Library (Bainbridge Island Branch), The Seattle Public Library, Central Library

About meLifelong bookseller, now on "permanent sabbatical" with my retired partner. Started after high school in at a newstand sort of place, graduated to the late, great (independent) Books & Co. in Dayton, Barbara's Bookstore in Oak Park, IL, then the wonderful Unabridged Books in Chicago, most recently Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island, WA. Two brief stints with publishers along the way. Served on awards committees for Great Lakes Booksellers Assoc. and NW Booksellers Assoc.

Trying to care less about what's new, trying to use the library more, now that I'm without a discount. Still regretting the half of my library I sold when I moved from Chicago. BA in English from a sad little state university. Addicted to books since I first learned to read. Must have them, must. Can't help it.

Also, was sprayed by a tapir at the Calgary Zoo when I was eight.

Two quotes I like:
"To read a novel is to practice for real life."
Jerzy Kosinski

"Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity… we cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access, reassurance."
(While looking for the source of this, I found that someone had already done so, far more thoroughly than I could have done:
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/0030... )

About my libraryFar more unread than read. Lots of advanced reading copies, some of value, many I can only hope will be. I tend to buy older books that I'm afraid I won't find again if I pass up. I know you can find lots of out-of-print titles online, but I like prowling through secondhand shops, thrift stores, library sales, rummage sales. Very fond of Folio Society editions, illustrated editions in general. Trying to pick up more international writers in translation, build a functional Old & Middle English library, find more used Maigret mysteries, catch up on the 19th & 20th century notables I've missed: Steinbeck, Proust, those guys. But I end up reading Muriel Spark and Dawn Powell and Trollope instead - kinda like favoring the character actors instead of the big stars.

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Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameTim

LocationWest Puget Sound

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

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

Common KnowledgeSeries (41), Awards (161), Characters (1213), Places (209)

Member sinceApr 30, 2007

Currently readingBarchester Towers (The Barsetshire Novels) by Anthony Trollope