Who cares what Carol reads?

Reading is not generally considered a social activity but I like to read and I like to talk about what I've read so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that much of my social life is centered around books. In fact, much of my life is built around books - I work in a library, I volunteer in a different library, I teach library skills, and I hang out at the library or book store when I have time on my hands. There are books in every room and hallway of my house - on shelves, piled on tables, on the floor, beside the bed, under the bed, on the couch, beside the chair, in the cupboards, but not in the dishwasher...We don't have a dishwasher.

I was 3 years old when I learned to read, and 6 when I first organized my books into a library, complete with spine labels, and a sign-out system. (It was the only part of my room that showed any sign of order or organization.)

I'm a compulsive reader - I read junk mail, cereal boxes, magazine covers in the cashier lines, and the fine print on just about anything, provided it happens to be in front of me. I would rather read than go shopping, talk on the phone, play on the computer, go out for dinner, watch TV, go to a movie, or play sports, which goes a long way toward explaining how I end up reading 300-400 books a year.

The scary part for me isn't the sheer volume of stuff I read - after all, I can't imagine it any other way. What scares me is how much of what I've read and liked or didn't like still rattles around in my head! In my life, most conversations either revolve around or at least refer to books so the data is constantly being reinforced. However, I'm beginning to think that it would be safer to store some of the information in an external file - something accessible to the people who count on me for book recommendations but can't always find me when they need something new to read.

I can't guarantee that we'll always agree on what constitutes a good book, or that your reading tastes are as eclectic as mine. (I tagged one of my all-time favourite books on Library Thing and discovered that no-one else had ever selected it.) I'm not fond of pulp fiction and I have a very low tolerance for violence, horror, or smut but that doesn't mean they will never appear in something I recommend. (I can skim obnoxious paragraphs in the interest of continuing with a good story.)

I read adult books, picture books, and stuff for all ages in between. I read fiction, non-fiction, and reference, (and in my home collection I file biographies under fiction).

Some of the books will get "real" reviews. Others will just get a sentence or two, possibly accompanied by a quote or two. I'll try to include complete information re author, title, publisher, ISBN etc but that might not be available for some of the older books. Please do not try to order books through me. Suggestions for getting your own copies will be in my next posting.

The bottom line for this blog is to encourage you to find and read the good and great books in the vast sea of reading material out there.

Carol