Customer Reviews

Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Do you have a good time browsing through book reviews on Amazon.com? If so you might have the serious addiction described in this book. Many of us who have strange addictions are surprised when we first find out we are not alone. I certainly could identify with a lot of the presented symptoms (My wife and I have a large 11 room house that provides the space needed for our books - why use a dining room for eating when it can easily become a library?). Fortunately the book is so funny that it squelches the guilt feelings that it elicits. If one of your ideas of a good time is to spend a few hours in a book store, then buy this one. Having been disturbed by a customer's screaming, running children in a bookstore yesterday, I would hope that Raabe's next venture would be a book for the unwashed masses regarding rules of behavior in a bookstore.

I could have written this book - and boy do I wish I had! This book, which includes a test to find out if you are a biblioholic, is absolutely hilarious and I certainly could relate. Living in a house which has been taken over by books in every room, question #22, "When a stranger walks into your house or apartment, are his or her first words usually a comment about your books?" hit too close to home. Another one I found particularly profound was, "Do you ever lie about how many books you've bought?" How true, how true.

Including chapters including "Confessions of a Biblioholic," "Collectomania," "Fantasy Bookstore," "We are What we Buy" and one on reading in all sorts of locations, readers everywhere will be able to readily identity.

My recommendation, buy one for yourself AND one for every biblioholic you know. It's fun to discuss this with friends and even add to the list of questions. A great gift for readers - or even for yourself. Highly recommended!

...about this book from the head of my English department at college a year ago. She's a book addict. I'm a worse one. I lost count of my library after hitting 10,000. I buy books far, far faster than I can read them (last count: 823). I keep a master list on MS Excel of all the books I want to buy 'some day'. Current total: 1714. I have no shelf space left. No closet space left. No room in the basement or attic. And there's no 12-step group for biblioholics.

This book was the perfect thing to make my husband read to show him I wasn't the only book addict in the world. The fact that it was hiliarious didn't hurt, either.

I used to think that I was the only one whose huge library caused her spouse to threaten divorce. Who went on book-buying binges and had to make elaborate plans to smuggle her purchases past the suspicious eyes of her loved ones. Who could never, in a normal lifespan, reading 24 hours a day, possibly read every book in her library. Who, when forced into the light of the day and into a mall, headed immediately for the bookstore (not necessarily LIKING the kind of bookstores available in a mall, but deciding it was preferable to 'Kitchen Kaboodle' or 'Eddie Bauer'). Who, as a struggling 22-year-old, had $10 to her name and decided to spend $9.50 on books and $.50 on beef jerky. I see that my disease has a name. SO WHAT? I don't want to be cured. My madness makes me happy! Happy, damn yer eyes, and though this Puritan country treats happiness with suspicion, I will continue on my book-bingeing way until I'm dead. And if Heaven is whatever you imagine it to be--I imagine it to be an endless library full of thick tomes, leather chairs, purring cats and crackling fireplaces--I will spend eternity in my paradise, laughing the last laugh!

I am 23 years old and must confess I am a Biblioholic. I have a 10 page list of books I would love to own. My college friends think I'm weird because I'd rather spend a night with a book than to go out drinking. I'm so very glad to find out I'm not alone anymore!! Oh, my mom actually has had to sit me down to discuss my book buying habits. My reply??--At least I'm not a drug addict! (She couldn't say much to that) Amazon.com does not help my addiction with their horrendous ONE-CLICK ordering! AGGGHHH! For those of you who have been in similar situations, this book is most definitely for you.

This is the first book I recommend to friends who already have "too many books" (as if that were possible!). While humorous, Raabe's book also gives historical insight into people who make most current avid collectors pale by comparison. And he shows the range of reasons why people acquire volumes, whether to boost one's social standing, to admire, to eat, or even to read. Amazingly, while I've lent my copy several times, it's always come back (maybe the chapter about sticky-fingered borrowers tweaks consciences).

Wonderfully funny and tragically wise (an affliction less uncommon than one might think) this book is not a treasure because it satirizes us poor biblioholics, but because it tells it like it is. We are a sad bunch, but the trembling and racing of the heart that came over me when I saw that a book like this existed was a pleasure as sublime as any I might wish for. And reading the book only made me crave for more books. But enough of my idle chatter, if you care about this review, the book really isn't for you. A true biblioholic needs books as some need sex or drugs, and no damning words or praise can change that. For those lesser souls, who cannot find arousal in a bound tome, buy it anyway (if only for a peek in on some truly odd behaviour).

I have never seen a book get to the heart of my psyche like this one!!! I could not believe the descriptions! I am a compulsive bookbuyer--and reader--this book helped me realize that there are others out there.

I was very excited about this book. I thought it would talk all about stuff important to readers, like reading more than one book at once, etc. Instead, it is more like a gag gift. It actually has a chapter on people who eat books! It left me disappointed. If you want a book about readers, for readers, about reading-oriented issues, not weird trivia, try Sara Nelson's "So Many Books, So Little Time."

This book is hilarious. It is very funny. The author knows exactly what the love of books is all about. It is filled with interesting trivia about booklovers everywhere and in all time periods. Guaranteed to make you realize how much you love books. Why, it will point your attention to certain things you do so unconsciously, which are trademarks of a true biblioholic.