It was a nice, quick little read that introduced well researched characters and offered insight into what drove them to act as they do.

While listening to The Man Who Loved Books Too Much as I was driving, I had a hard time staying focused. I guess it just wasn't quite as riveting as I thought it would be based on the title, topic, and description. So I'm glad it was an audio book. She ended the story with a medieval book curse, which was my favorite part:

This book belongs to none but me
For there’s my name inside to see.
To steal this book, if you should try,
It’s by the throat you’ll hang high.
And ravens then will gather ’bout
To find your eyes and pull them out.
And when you’re screaming “oh, oh, oh!”
Remember, you deserved this woe.

This was a very interesting tale of a rare book thief, the book dealer who helped catch him, and a glimpse inside the world of rare books. I would recommend this highly.

This entire book feels like an introduction to a book I'd actually want to read.

Story of my life.

I appreciated the tidbits about the rare book business, and I loved the references to one of my favorite mystery authors, John Dunning, whose books feature a former cop turned book seller/investigator. However, I found the author's intrusion into the story to be distracting. I don't feel that either the thief or the investigator are all that well rendered. Meh.

NOT compelling. No tension. This probably made a great article but did not need to be a book.

I enjoyed this book, especially the information about book collectors. Since I have been to Sanders' store before, it added a personal aspect for me.
What I didn't care for was that the timelines skipped around. Bartlett would talk about one interview with Gilkey and then skip ahead a few years to another interview then go back. I felt like that detracted from the story element of the book.

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"I love to read books and I appreciate their aesthetic charms, but I don't collect them...I also hoped to discover something about those whose cravings leads them to steal the books they love."

"I let myself read each day in order to put off the inevitable end, my banishment from that world. I still do this. It doesn't make sense, though, because the pleasure of that world does not really end for good. You can always start over on page one - and you can remember...A book is much more than a delivery vehicle for its contents."

"Physical artifacts carry memory and meaning, and this is as true of important historical texts as it is of cherished childhood books. Sitting in any library, surrounded by high shelves of books. I sense the profoundly rich history of scholarship as something real, and it's both humbling and inspiring...I suppose our desire to be near books rises from a similar impulse; they root us in something lager than ourselves, something real."

I felt like this could have been good, somehow. It could have been about someone who loved books to read or for their historic province. It could have been about a real giant manhunt for that guy. It deals a little with the quest to find a guy who stole books but that is sort of moved past and it's more about a man with an unusual mental state and outlook who basically wants people to think he's amazing because of his stuff, mainly books.