I am always on the lookout for a good book.

There are two types of people- readers and nonreaders. Readers get the point of putting a coffee shop in Barnes and Noble and know where their library card is and would enjoy going to the Book Thing, which is a storefront in downtown Baltimore which you can go to and carry out any book you want.

Nonreaders think all of this is nice, but like pets and funky hairdos, it’s for other people.

Nonreaders are probably not reading this.

Then there are uber-readers. Uber-readers don’t pick out the books laid out on the display in the front at the book store or go to the library to pick up a Debbie Macomber novel to read on the weekends- uber-readers would, if you would let them, sit cheerfully through Thanksgiving weekend with a stack of books and a mug of hot chocolate. (Actually, is the alternative would be relatives, the majority of people would probably pick the books. But that’s neither here nor there.) Uber-readers enjoy the fact that books are yellowed. When uber-readers go into people’s houses, they check out the bookshelves to see what kind of person they are dealing with.

I am, unsurprisingly, an uber-reader.

I imagine that most people reading blogs are readers and a large percentage of them are uber-readers.

Usually though, I find myself in the kids section of the library and the bookstore. Maybe it’s because when authors grow up they get overly in love with their “voice” and write long and lyrical descriptions of objects and people’s emotional states. Maybe it’s because they swamp good stories and characters with vats of sex and aggression.

(Now don’t get me wrong – I love the occasional long bout of emotional lyrical angst and the well-applied sex and aggression. On occasion.)

I also think reading is the best thing for kids and teens, like vegetables. All manipulations and sneakiness are a necessary evil. Although with vegetables, usually you just have to make sure they are tasty. If you cook it, they will eat.

It’s the same with books. If you write (a good book), they will read. And you’ll probably find me there, too.