My parents didn’t have quite as many books as the ones below, but we had a lot and I had a library card. There were some books that my parents set aside (“until you’re older”) they were pretty lenient about it — there were plenty of arguments with the librarian at the check-out desk, when they wanted to stifle my… Read more

I’ve posted several comments about eBooks and eReaders, so why not one more? This states the case very simply — and I don’t know anyone, even the most avid Kindle or Nook fan, who is ready to get rid of all of their books: “Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.” – Stephen Fry, English comedian, writer,… Read more

Interesting commentary on Fiction vs. Non-Fiction” “Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through arguments and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved… Read more

This is me. I can walk into a bookstore and swear that I am not buying anything, but there is always some book I simply can’t resist. “I am simply a ‘book drunkard.’ Books have the same irresistible temptation for me that liquor has for its devotee. I cannot withstand them.” – L.M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables series Read more

I sometimes think that English teachers consider it their sacred duty to drive the love of reading right out of kids. The books they choose are not the books I would pick if I wanted kids to feel like there were books out there that would speak to them, that would interest them, and that would open up the world… Read more

Today, a little something about ebooks. Like a lot of people, I have a Kindle, I read ebooks, but I still buy (and prefer) physical books. I have no doubt at all that our books will survive the onslaught of digital readers, just as movies survived the introduction of television, and television survived the VCR. “E-books, in other words, may… Read more

This really rings true with me. Not every writer is an expert with words — they might be a good storyteller, or deft in some other way — but occasionally you find someone who uses words so well, who crafts such lovely sentences that you want to stop and read them aloud to other people. “There is something about words.… Read more

I love this list! There might be a few things I would add (and I am especially fond of #10), but if I could just get my family and the people I sit next to on airplanes to abide by them, I would be a happy reader. “Reader’s Bill of Rights 1. The right to not read 2. The right… Read more

I haven’t read Looking for Alaska, but a quote like this would make me put it on my TBR list, because this is exactly the sort of thing I do at book sales. Even though I am already swamped with books, I can always find room for a few more. “’Have you really read all those books in your room?’ Alaska… Read more

Someone who has my idea of what heaven must be like (although I would add comfortable chairs and good lighting): “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian author Read more