For bibliophiles, one tricky problem is how to smuggle yet another guilty stash of tomes past our nearest and dearest. Bedside tables lost under a sliding mountain of books, it is difficult to decide between bathing and showering, because who can read in the shower? This book shows that bibliophiles are by no means alone - manic readers are evident through the ages. Bookish types have for centuries been delving in collapsing and dusty boxes, flirting in the library, and bewailing the oncoming final chapter. Here is a wonderful compilation of more than 350 literary extracts, quotations and bon mots concerning every aspect of bookish behaviour. If you are an obsessive reader, stroke this book lovingly as we read diaries, memoirs, plays, novels and letters from authors Pepys to R. L. Stevenson, Nick Hornby to Lucy Mangan. 'When a bookmark tumbles out of an old book pristine and unwrinkled, it is like a gasp of breath from another century.' 'Books are for use, not for show; you should own no book that you are afraid to mark up, or afraid to place on the table, wide open and face down…' - William Lyon Phelps, 1933. We love the chapter entitled 'The Good Practice of Buying A Book A Day' - that's 365 books a year from Bibliophile! Wonderfully browseworthy, this is a top favourite of ours. 224pp in paperback.