About Me

Hello Out There....I wanted to share a little bit about myself so new visitors get a little idea of who Bibliophile By the Sea is. Here goes:

• I'm Diane (but my mother also thought about naming me Susan).
• I'm married (he's a nice guy who learned the concept of: "happy wife - happy life" early on).
• I'm a mother of two adult children (they're awesome too) and grandmother to three adorable little girls.
•  I am baby boomer who had (2) careers - (20) years in Human Resource Administration and (15) years in libraries, both academic and public libraries. I retired early in 2015.
• I love the ocean and I am a creature of habit. Reading and reviewing books is a passion. I love life, family, nature, gardening, libraries, movies and animals...especially cats.
• I've been maintaining this blog since June of 2008 and I have made so many wonderful friends as a result.  Sadly, although I try awfully hard, I do not do a good job of always responding to all of the comments readers leave me. 
•  I didn't become obsessive about reading and tracking what I read until 2000 when I changed careers - HR to libraries. I always loved books since I was a child, but over the years my reading interests have changed.
• I enjoy keeping up with the latest releases often at the expense of hundreds of perfectly wonderful books that sit on my shelf unread.
• I love my Kindle and eBooks as well as audio books, something I never thought would happen.  I also love the pretty covers of the print books that fill my shelves at home.
• At one time I had over 1,000 physical books on my shelves. I've now culled that collection to just over 200.
• I 'm still addicted to the library, but now I try to use the library mostly for audio downloads or new releases.
• I'm very obsessive about only reading books in pristine condition. Working in libraries,  I've found some pretty disgusting things in books, so I am just a little freaked out by well worn books.
•  I am constantly making book lists and revising them. It is other Book Bloggers and numerous publications that feed my list habit.
• With so many books around me, these days I now give books the 25-50 page test, and if I own it and it's not working for me, I donate it unread.
• I love books that have real substance and are thought provoking. I'm really fussy about what I read, and prefer: literary fiction, contemporary fiction, historical, psychological thrillers, mysteries, coming of age stories, memoirs, cookbooks and books for young children the most. My taste in books has changed over the years. I don't read romance, chick lit, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy or westerns.
• One of my biggest fears: my time will run out before reading all the books I meant to read, and there won't be any good books in my next life.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you'll become a regular visitor here.