Melody and The Biblio Brat tagged me on this fun meme of bookish facts that’s been going on around the blogosphere. I love these things so thanks you guys.

Here’s the deal:

• Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share seven random and/or weird book facts about yourself.
• Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. During my senior year in high school one of my electives was to be a library aide.
2. I love to buy used books but I’m a bit picky. If it’s not in good condition I don’t care how cheap it is, it’s not finding a home in my stacks. I don’t mind a little inscription here or there but highlighting, stains, etc. that’s just ick.

3. If my husband buys a book then I have to buy one too. We get competitive about who has more books – ha.

4. I have a big collection of bookmarks. Sometimes I try to match the bookmark to the book.

5. The nightstand you see in my banner is a special one. I only keep books which have been autographed by the author in that one. Some of my treasures include books by Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, David Sedaris, Carol Shields, Isabel Allende and several others. I need to get another nightstand.

6. Despite the fact that I can make my own journals, I don’t mind buying or receiving journals made by other people. Actually, I love it because sometimes I get ideas for new bindings and of course I just enjoy pretty books.

7. When we plan a trip to a new city one of the first things I do is try to do is map the bookstores and/or literary sites I want to visit.

Ok, I know this tag has been around the blogopshere but I’ll still tag some friends. So if you’ve done this one please just excuse my bad memory.

• Heather from A High and Hidden Place
• Anna from Diary of an Eccentric
• Tanabata from In Spring it is the Dawn
• Molly from Restless Reader
• Callista from SMS Book Reviews
• Stephanie from Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-holic
• Joy from Thoughts of Joy

So what’s been keeping me busy this weekend (well, aside from bookbinding?), lots of books.

I’m almost done with The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and it’s a good thing as I have a book group meeting on Tuesday. I’ve been really surprised by this book not so much with the threat of violence that seems to be always there but with some of the descriptive passages. Take this one for example – I mean, you really get a feeling for what Sam Spade is like don’t you?

“Samuel Spade’s jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth. His nostrils curved back to make another, smaller, v. His yellow-gray eyes were horizontal. Thee v motif was picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases above a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grew down – from high flat temples – in a point on his forehead. He looked rather pleasantly like a blond satan.”

The other book I’ll probably finish tonight is The Glimmer Palace by Beatrice Colin. It’s been a fascinating glimpse into Germany’s film history. Another thing I’ve really enjoyed about this book is that while it seems most books I’ve read with a German setting take place sometime around WWII this one opened at the turn of the century.

My other read is Who by Fire by Diana Spelcher. This is the story of a family broken up by the kidnapping of one of the children. There are three main characters and I love reading about two of them, but one is making me want to shake her because of her crazy actions. I promise I’ll explain more later when I do my review. It is a good read though and in case you want to know more about the book, make sure to tune in to Book Club Girl’s upcoming interview with the author – Nov. 20th.

And, since I’m almost done with two of my current reads you know what that means, I want to start some new books. We’ll see what I find in the stacks tonight.

Oh but before I forget, you guys have heard about the Second Annual Book Blogger Swap right? You’ve still got a bit of time left so check out the post and sign up!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and I’m off to do some reading.