Books are like potato chips. You cannot stop at just one. If you have some, you want more. If you have more, you want lots. And if you have lots, you probably have them stacked on the floor and on the kitchen cabinets.

With shoes, I have been able to stop at fifty or so pairs. Mostly Converse All Stars. With guinea pigs I stopped at three. But books have always been objects of mystery and desire.

I grew up around books. My parents were readers. My mom was an omnivorous reader. She read cultural anthropology and spy novels with equal enjoyment.

Dad did not have time for fun reading. He was always studying. Although he was not a lawyer, his work required him to spend his evenings reading law books and the “Illinois Compiled Statutes.” Among other things, he was a Justice of the Peace. No,

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