How to tell if you are a booklover

How to tell if you are a booklover and my May book reviews

I’m very blessed that in my new street, my neighbour has set up a small street library.  Now. if I’m in need of some reading material, I can just pop out my door and have a look in the community library for something that takes my fancy.  I have already picked up a couple of books which I haven’t quite got round to reading yet.  I’ve also gifted some back to the library too.

Books are so magical, because for an inanimate object they can elicit so many positive vibes.  I think those vibes, indicate whether you are a booklover or not.

So, how do you tell if you are a booklover?

1. Once you have read a book and have decided it isn’t one that you want to keep, you just have to pass it on somehow.  Whether that’s to a friend, family member, street library or charity shop.  You would never, ever dream of just throwing it away.

2. When you pick up a book you have read from the past, you are immediately transported not only to the story within it, but to the story that the book has in your life.  You remember how you received the book, where you read the book, what stage in your life you were at when you read the book.  Memories from your life come flooding back.

3. You love the smell of books – whether it’s the smell of a new book or the musty smell of an old book. 

4.  When you find a new book, you can’t help but flick through the pages and maybe read the first few pages,  even if you aren’t ready to read it yet.

5. You can’t help but tell others about the book you are reading.

6. You have a huge collection of bookmarks because you don’t believe in turning the corners of a page over to mark where you are.

7.  You can’t walk past a bookshop without going in.

8. You have several bookcases full of books that you just can’t part with, even if you probably won’t read them again.  

9. You have kept all your favourite childhood books.

10.  You sometimes forget that some characters are only fictional and not real i.e Sherlock Holmes

11.  You feel physically sick and emotional when someone destroys a book.

12.  Your pile of books to read is higher than your bedside table.

I’m sure there are many more.  Drop me a comment and tell me what else you would add to the list.

I only have a few books on my bookshelf to review for May but here goes:-

The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman (fiction)

And I have to say I loved the whole idea of this book.  It does feel that the older we get the more invisible we become.  This is actually quite a helpful attribute if you want to snoop about and observe people.  A prime example of this type of detective is of course Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple.  

I also loved how the book highlights that we forget the older generation had careers, were important and respected once, even though society is quick to dismiss them as having no value.  

There are four very different main characters in the book who form an unlikely alliance to try to solve old police cases.  Each character brings attributes from their past careers and personalities to investigate the sudden mysterious death that occurs within their retirement village.

The writing is witty, entertaining and easy to read.  There are lots of very British in-jokes about Marks and Spencer’s, Costa etc which made the whole story very relatable.

Overall a 5 out of 5 for me which is demonstrated by the fact that I then went straight on to read the follow up book.

The Man who died Twice – Richard Osman (fiction)

Ciao Bella – 6 take Italy (non-fiction)

I’m still in the process of reading this book but I wanted to include it in this month’s book review.  It was recommended by a fellow blogger, Sue at Living Well After 50  It follows Kate, an Australian radio presenter who decides, with her husband and four children, to head off to live in Bologna, Italy for a year.  I’ve always fancied living in Italy, so I was intrigued to see how the family got on.  I also wanted to get into the Italian lifestyle prior to our forthcoming Italian holiday.  

Kate explains the good and the bad about her adventure – the fun of being in another country exploring and enjoying the wonderful food but also the difficulties of the language barriers, not knowing how to set up basic life admin, finding somewhere to live, settling children into a foreign school.  It’s easy to have dreams of travelling the world but it’s usually not all plain sailing.  Travelling in foreign countries can be very confronting and frustrating.

Notwithstanding the families’ initial difficulties, they do decide to stay for another year and then COVID erupts.  As we all know Italy was hit hard in the early months of COVID. I’m intrigued to see how they all cope in the extreme lock downs that are about to ensue. 

So far though, I’m really enjoying this book.  It gives an authentic insight into what it’s like to live abroad in an entertaining and well written format. 

Have you lived abroad or have you thought of some more booklover traits to add to my list?  Drop me a comment below, and let me know.  

You can check out my last book review HERE

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