A Book Addict's Treasury

by Julie Rugg, Lynda Murphy (Introduction)

The ideal gift for any book obsessive, A Book Addict's Treasury is an extensively researched anthology of more than 350 quotations and extracts from a wide selection of writers and thinkers – all on the subject of books. The witty, wise and evocative words cover every aspect of bookishness - including hoarding, buying, borrowing, arranging, stealing, choosing, losing, reviewing and displaying – and comprise memoirs, poetry, journalism, fiction and philosophy. The sources of the extracts range from Erasmus to Edith Wharton to Umberto Eco, from Dante to Descartes to Dickens, from Edward Gibbon to Kenneth Grahame to Groucho Marx. Celebrating the timeless pleasures of reading, casting an irreverent eye over the foibles and eccentricities of booklovers and revealing the reading habits of a host of famous writers, this compendium is a must for any bibliomane. Indeed, if you buy only one book this year, this one is probably not for you.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Julie Rugg lives in York with her husband and daughter. An early memory is winning a bet at the age of twelve to read the full 888-page Warren Commission report of the assassination of John F. Kennedy (he dies in the end), but failing in the subsequent challenge to read The Silmarillion (much less compelling). The episode taught her that life is too short to read Tolkien. However, she continues to read largely indiscriminately, and a current favourite is Ten Minutes to Bedtime.

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I kept by my bedside to read a few pages of at night when I'm not in the mood for anything else. Hard to rate, but perfect for what is is......a book of quotes about reading and books.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my bedside book for the first half of the year. I like having a literary-themed book to read a bit of daily, rather like a secular devotional. Last year John Sutherland and Stephen Fender’s Love, Sex, Death and Words filled that purpose. The authors have chosen a huge variety of quotations from fiction and nonfiction, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. The chapters are loosely thematic, with topics like lending and borrowing, organizing one’s library, bad book habits, and so on.

Here’s a sampling of the quotes that meant the most to me:

“I can remember when I read any book, as the act of reading adheres to the room, the chair, the season.” (Guy Davenport)

“To read good books is like holding a conversation with the most eminent minds of past centuries.” (René Descartes)

“How useful it would be to have an authoritative list of books that, despite the world’s generally high opinion of them, one really need not read.” (Joseph Epstein)

“I am all for the giving and receiving of books at Christmas, though not keen either on giving or receiving ‘gift books’, the kind of tarted-up books which appear at this time of year and no other. I agree that the only thing you could do with such books is to give them away.” (Daniel George)

“As often as I survey my bookshelves I am reminded of Lamb’s ‘ragged veterans’.” (George Gissing)

“Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy.” (Germaine Greer)

I also came across two controversial reader habits I’m not sure how I feel about:

1. “The outward and visible mark of the citizenship of the book-lover is his book-plate.” (Edmund Gosse)

I do have two packs of book-plates featuring a rather nice black-and-white engraving of a puffin on a rock, but I’ve never used them. For one thing, my collection seems too changeable: what if I decide, after reading a book, to resell it or pass it on to someone else? I also wouldn’t know how to choose which lucky 20 books get a bookplate. (Probably only those monolithic hardbacks I’m sure to keep as reference books for decades to come.)

2. Harold Nicolson’s habit of labeling passages from books with “F and C” (= “very feeble and cheap”) and “G.B.” or “B.B.” (= “Good Bits” or “Bad Bits”)!

I’ve never annotated my books, apart from a few textbooks in college. It just seems like defacement; are my thoughts really so important that they need to be preserved forever? Instead I use Post-It flags to mark passages I want to revisit, and usually copy those out into my annual book list (a huge Word file).

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished reading this book called A Book Addict's Treasury, edited by Julie Rigg & Linda Murphy. I purchased it from a used bookstore in Raleigh, North Carolina years which is now closed unfortunately. If you want an entertaining, funny, and moving read about the joy of reading, a love for books, and the power of language and literature, I highly recommend this book.
“The moment when one meets a book and knows, beyond shadow of doubt, that that book must be his- not necessarily now, but some time- is among the happiest excitements of the human spirit.”- Christopher Morley

[Leticia Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding title, one that every lover of books, reader of books, addict of books, ought to indulge in.

I found this book whilst idly wandering one of my favourite secondhand book stores. I have built a habit, in such stores, to stop during my perusal and ask the universe, 'which book do I need to read?' I invariably get a response, either in feelings or nudgings or even occasionally the odd word in my mind, that gradually directs me to a shelf. I follow these feelings until I find the volume.

I found Alberto Manguel's Reading Diary in this manner. And I found A Book Addict's Treasury in this way. Every time, the book has spoken to me in a way that it is difficult to describe.

In A Book Addict's Treasury, I discovered an entire community of people with experiences just like mine. They are those whose families were exasperated by their reading of every thing they found, from cereal boxes to toilet paper packages. They are those who can tell the age of a book by its scent, preferred to read than to run, know that books have personalities and comforts. They are those who are addicted to reading, whose passions for reading are as reprehensible as those addicted to hard drugs or alcohol. They are those who prefer to read than to eat, whose lives are enriched by the ideas and stories of others.

In short, it is like reading a book filled with sentiments of people who are just like me. It's a mirror for the love the books we all share and revel in.

I discovered that others have the same systems as I do: To dog-ear pages at the top to mark a place, and at the bottom to mark a passage. They are people who write notes to themselves in the margins. They are people who appreciate type, form, margins, bindings, rarities and collectables.

And every part of this book is filled with gold. It is perhaps a measure of how beautiful this book is that its authors are clearly book addicts themselves. The volume is split into sections; things like buying books, collecting books, travelling with books, reading addicts, book addicts, etc etc. It is, in fact, the kind of book that warms your soul.

I read this volume with a secret, warm grin. It was like sharing deep secrets, seeing those who have loved in the same way for the same reasons. The shadows of people we know who are like us but whom we never see. For the love of books is so personal, and the experience of reading itself so deeply individual, that it is something we never discuss.

Until now.

If you find this volume, you won't regret a moment of it.

[Robert Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've known for a while now that I'm a book addict and so I didn't really need the point hammered home by this collection of quotes that (mainly) describe the attributes and habits of people who are addicted to books.

But still, it was a joy to read. It was lovely to find out that there are people like me and that they are (mainly) sane and valuable members of the human race.

This is not just a dry book about bookish people, this is a coherent slice of life that explores a world of beauty and pleasure inhabited by lovers of the lives and loves lurking under the covers of books.

Each quote is but a small sample of a larger literary landscape, and together they illustrate and illuminate the premise that the inner world is larger and more varied than the outer world in which we live and breathe.

But that surely is not the whole story - the inner world informs the outer world, which in turn, informs the inner.

Actually, thinking about it, I reckon that we are living in a hybrid place where inner and outer are indistinguishable in their qualities and effects.

Who has not walked down a street whilst in a reverie and seen not the buildings and skies external to their skin but has instead transported themselves, by means of a subtle blurring of the eyes from outer to inner, to an realm of imagination barely distinguishable from the dreams of night or opium, in which fantastical creatures cavort and revel in their short lived lives unaware of their impeding demise as their maker steps, unseeing, onto the road and gets hit by a truck.

What's that - you wanted a happy ending?

Well I'm still here typing aren't I?

Duh!

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was somewhat of a disappointment. I bought a used copy online, sight unseen, based on recommendations. I'll admit that the author's biographies on the book jacket did not inspire confidence; one was quoted as saying "life is too short to read Tolkien" and the other had "recently overcome a stubborn prejudice against Dickens." What???? But calling these women authors is not really correct. Other than a 5 page intro and chapter titles, they didn't write a word; the book is a collection of quotes related to books, collected from books of the past 150 years. Some are snappy and fun, some are boring or even soporific. This would made reasonably good bathroom reading, I suppose, for a few minutes in the bath or on the "throne", but having read the book cover to cover in long stretches, it made me restless. I think you could google "quotes about reading and books" and get a similar result.

[Rose]

I started reading this at a friend's house and enjoyed it so much I got it from the library. I don't think many books of quotations would make me want to read the whole thing as much as this one did, and I now want to read lots of the books and essays quoted from.

[Beth (bibliobeth)]

Alright I confess, I'm a book addict! Read this really engaging little book with a smile on my face and recognised a lot of my own behaviours and habits, oh dear. A must for any bibliophile.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommendable for everybody who can identify with the title!
I discovered myself so many times in there :)

[Taran Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid reader and a wannabe writer I found this book totally addictive. It could be used as a reference for dipping in and out of, but it was such an enjoyable anthology, so well collected together under quite quirky groups, that I simply read it straight through from start to finish. A most enjoyable read.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

After about 5 pages I was close to putting this back in the shelf. Just a list of excerpts? Give me a break. I persisted, however, and I’m glad I did. I ended up loving the excerpts and when I re-read this again someday I will do so with a pencil and underline all kinds of passages. Thanks to this book, I now have about 30 more books I need to buy and read.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very unique book. It took me a chapter to figure out what the premise was (it's nothing but quotes and snipets from different books). I was chagrined to realize that I was lucky to know 10% of the authors quoted, but in fairness, the editors of this book found the most obscure writings going back as far as the 1600's. It was a very interesting and different read.

[Caroline Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One for the bibliophiles. This book is a collection of quotes and excerpts regarding books and reading. True book addicts will recognise themselves within its covers, and enjoy a wry smile as their foibles and fanaticisms are revealed. A book to be shared with other book dragons.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have an addictive personality and this book gave me the temporary high I need to get through the day until I can find some way to get another score.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of "writings about books" taken from other books. I loved it and will read it over and over as the years go by.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 3/4 of this book was very enjoyable and full of old book reference language that was delightful to find. The last of the book was stretching for substance.

[Rhonda Gregware]

I loved this book. It is filled with quotes concerning every aspect of reading and owning books.

[Allia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to review this one…. Two author’s collection of quotes by other authors … I found it interesting to focus on an activity (reading/books) that would otherwise somehow go unnoticed in a story but was not entertained by it. Also a lot of the quotes were by the same authors…. Surely there’s more out there.

[Al Bità · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved reading every page of this book!

The compilers (Julie Rugg and Lynda Murphy) ought to be congratulated for their work in selecting such a wide range of relevant excerpts from an equally wide list of authors to make this one of the cleverest, instructive, hilarious and generally downright delightful collections I have come across.

In fifteen chapters, every aspect of bookish fascination is covered. This includes not only all the wonderful aspects reading can provide, but also covers book collectors, book reviewers, book haters, etc. As the title informs us, this is about book addicts — and that covers a multitude of sins as well as virtues. As one author quoted (Arturo Pérez-Reverte, from his The Dumas Club) writes: ”I believe that when it comes to books, conventional morality does not exist.” (p. 172).

The quotes are from various sources: sometimes they are excerpted from specific novels or works; other times they are simply statements made at one time or another by any of a number of writers, not only novelists, comic as well as serious. Even Groucho Marx gets his (apocryphal) quip: “Outside a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read.” which makes it both as part of the text (p.38), and onto the cover of the book as well! As for the periods covered — well there is a quote (p.27) from Dante’s Inferno and one (p.90-91) from Chaucer (both 14th century); a few from the 16th-17th centuries, but mostly they come from the 18th-, 19th- and 20th centuries. All are wonderful.

One particularly horrible, but hilarious suggestion made in Flann O’Brien’s ‘Buchhandlung’ (1968) had me in stitches. The extract is edited down to about 2 pages (pp.200-202) and deals with the terrible problem of wealthy persons being put through the ordeal of pretending they have read their books. O’Brien suggests that this could be remedied and run as a profitable concern by having “professional bookhandlers” provide a service at a variable fee (depending on the level and quality of the “handling” provided — with suggested discounts for various types of persons). He suggests four stages (and I won’t go through all the details, just a suggestion of the content): the first stage is Popular Handling (this is the cheapest level — each volume to be well-handled; four leaves in each volume to be dog-eared, and a tram ticket or similar to be inserted in each as a forgotten bookmark); the second stage is called Premier Handling (a step up from the service provided in stage one, with some pertinent passages underlined in red pencil); the third stage is De Luxe Handling (handling services to include higher quality ‘forgotten bookmarks’ such as Theatre programmes; at least 30 volumes to be treated with old coffee, tea, porter or whiskey stains; not less than five volumes to be inscribed with the forged signature of the authors; etc.) and culminating in the fourth stage, “le traitment superbe” (which includes all the previous stages plus suitable passages in half the books to be underlined in good quality red ink, and an appropriate phrase written in the margin from a list (of which O’Brien provides a dozen examples) with Special and Exclusive Phrases provided for a reasonable extra fee).

As said above, this is a joy to read and a source of constant delight for any book aficionado. To add to the value, there are two Appendices: one of the authors quoted; and one on the subjects covered — thus making this an excellent reference work as well.

I will end with a quote which Rugg and Murphy use to end their book, and which I think is worth thinking about. It comes from John Updike’s ‘A bookish boy’: “… whatever else it may be, a book is a manufactured item, which should be amusing to look at and pleasant to hold.”

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books about books are unfairly weighted in a book-lover's review, so this five-star rating is somewhat fraudulent. After all, what am I to say, that I hate books, I don't like reading, I don't like the physical nature of books, I don't like shopping for books, I don't love libraries because there one can take home books for free, that books don't feel good to the senses, that I am a reluctant reader, that reading is not my most frequent, loved, and needed pastime?

None of those things is true, so a book about books is going to be well-received here. At least here I find that my disease, my compulsion, my love, my interest, my attention, is not solitary, that there are others like me, who read while walking, eating dressing, and brushing their teeth.

So here Rugg and Murphy compile quotations from authors about books and all those ways we relate to them. There is a British bias, which I realized belatedly might be due to the British publisher and the price on the dust jacket only in pounds (which may account partially for why I am the first to review this book for Amazon)--L9.99, by the way. I paid only $2 at a used book sale, so regardless of whatever the exchange rate might be today I believe I got a ripping good bargain.

And in any case, a British bias is not a bad thing, because both the supply and demand of book-love seems to center in Britain, and because of the preponderance of the introspective study of book love by British authors over the centuries. And anyway, this little book its not all as stuffy and pretentious as my review may have made it out to be.

[Diana Burtnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this! One of my favorites: "It would be a good thing to buy books if one could also buy the time to read them; but one usually confuses the purchase of books with the acquisition of their contents." Arthur Schopenhauer, 'On books and writing' (1851) This was a great little book to keep in the bathroom. Now I'm going to go back through it and determine which of the books quoted would I like to read in their entirety.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed this book. I liked some of the quotes enough to go and purchase the books they came from. I grew tired by the end though. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over, and this feeling wasn't helped by the fact that there were really only a handful of references used. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but in this case it felt like many of the quotes were filler.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for the lover of quotations. I found the introduction to be quite fun myself, and the quotations made me wish I was more adept at finding a use for them as my mother so often does. An essential book for quote lovers and users, like my mom.

[LOVEROFBOOKS · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not interesting at all to me. The quotes and passages they chose to share are very blasé. In comparison I picked up another book at the same time that is like this, and it is very good; difference of night and day.

[Retty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long list of delightful quotes about books and reading.

[Anne Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of quotations about books.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of quotations from other books focuses comments about reading/books. Many of them were quite charming, but I felt there was a touch of filler in there as well.

[Alleycatfan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun collection of quotes about all things books.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

a fairly dull collection of bookish anecdotes.

[Elizabeth]

For a self-selecting audience, really.