Introduction

I have loved books ever since I was a child. Some of my fondest memories of books is purchasing them at the scholastic fairs in my public school. Big box bookstores didn't exist then and certainly not in a village of 1900 people. Our public library was small but I still managed to find many books that I enjoyed. Some of my favorites were Asterix and The Hardy Boys. I also loved reading about animals.

I also remember getting in trouble trying to read while I was supposed to be in bed sleeping late at night. I would make a tent out of my sheets and used a flashlight or a small lamp for light, I was trying to prevent my parents seeing light under the door. Unfortunately it didn't stop them finding out. Now I have a pda that allows me to read in bed without have to have a flashlight.

It was around grade 8 that I began to enjoy the medieval world. We moved to a city and I met my best friend there. He introduced me to the world of Dungeons and Dragons. This gave me an instant passion for Fantasy novels. I started reading a few and enjoyed them. The first few I remember reading were by an author name Robert Feist. My friend also introduced me to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. I didn't enjoy his books very much. I found them too dark for my liking and quit reading half way through the Two Towers. I have been meaning to read them again to see if being older would help me appreciate them, especially after enjoying the movies so much. I also read most of the Dragonlance novels which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Then I stumbled onto a book called The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I couldn't put it down. When I realized that this was a three book series I immediately went out and bought them. Now I have read 18 of his books, 10 of which are part of the Shannara series. I enjoy his books so much that I have 1st edition hard covers for all but the original Shannara trilogy. They are very rare to come by and when they do appear on Ebay, they cost in the hundreds of dollars. The only one I've been able to acquire is a Book Club edition.

I also found a comic that I fell in love with and have been trying to acquire a complete collection. That comic is Groo. Since it is no longer published I have to rely on Ebay and almost have every issue published.

Since High school I began to become interested in history. I find that I am most interested in Western Europe around the 18th century or English history from Henry VIII to the reign of his daughter Elizabeth I. They were very interesting times, The 18th century brought us the classical movement in music mastered by Amadeus Mozart. It brought us the Marquis de Sade and Napoleon among others such as Marie Antoinette. What has this got to do with books? I've purchased a few books about these people in this time period. I have a couple biographies of Mozart. A biography of the Marquis De Sade told from the perspective of the women in his life and and Napoleon's Autobiography. I still have yet to read the works of Alexander Dumas' which is on my todo list.

Since the computer age I have switched to reading books on my handheld computer. Not only do I find it more portable but it provides features that are unavailable in a physical medium like dictionary lookups, text zoom, font size or style choice and even background color or pattern choice. I find this a much more enjoyable experience even if I still enjoy viewing a bookcase full of books.

This section will explore my world of the written word.

Books

• Introduction
• Authors
• Series

About the Picture

With the largest shelf space in the world, the library of Congress in Washington D.C. immediately came to mind to represent the books section of this site. The three separate pictures show the impressive architectural details that surround this important library.