What a wonderful thread, and your joy is infectious, Rapaire. I've been reading since i was 3 and share your love books. I haunt library book sales as I'm on a tight budget, but oh, the treasures that can be found there. I gave up long ago trying to out some of the old with each new influx. I even have trouble getting rid of (good) books I don't even want to read. Maybe someday... And many of the books I own I know I may never read again, knowing them by heart as I do. But, like a favorite aged riding horse, I consider them comfortably out to pasture on my bookshelves, and just enjoy seeing them there.

It's easy to tell if a reader is in residence. Just look at the lighting. My sister is not a reader and there is not a single lamp positioned and bright enough to read by in the entire house.