A male in my thirties, I've been a book lover for most of my life. I caught the literary 'bug' at a young age when my uncle(also a book lover)introduced me to his cabinet of binded treasures, containing a variety of American classics(Steinbeck,Vonnegut,Faulkner...), and science fiction masterpieces,(Alfie Bester, Harlan Ellison...)
His 'display' made his presentation of books look both inviting and dreamlike. You couldn't resist the aura of potential knowledge contained in such a tiny space. Depending on my interest and age, he'd let me take books from his collection one at a time, read them and then we'd discuss what i'd just read. Kind of like an interactive library, the next 10 years of my life were filled with great literature and great discussions about that great literature.
I've since built my own collection of classics from around the world(American, European, Russian, Japenese) and found other, more obscure books, which make my library intensely personalized.
At present, I read books for absolute pleasure; have a distant desire to be a published poet one day; and, for a living, perform in plays, movies and the like, primarily doing voices for cartoons. My day job of dubbing animation allows me alot of time to read, seeing as I make enough money in a few hours of work to pay the rent and bills, and buying books is a constant craving and/or obsession with me. I'm not sure which.
My love of books is vast. I genre jump all the time. I could go six months reading only Dostoevsky and Turgenev, and then switch to pulp Science Fiction, and then go a stint reading only children's novels. Really, I'm all over the place when it comes to my tastes.
Bookcrossing.com, when I heard about it, was an ideal way of bringing me back to those days when I was young, enjoying and sharing my uncle's library and thoughts; a time when books were my world.
I've decided that instead of coveting the huge collection I've accrued, looking at it like its some museum piece, I'm now at the point where i'd like to share it; possibly with the world. The fact that a tool such as the internet exists, and the fact that web sites the like of Bookcrossing are popular, promoting what book lovers love, make me infinitely happy. Finally, at long last, together, united, we can all share with the UNKNOWN what we all love and enjoy. Books. The escape of Humanity.
We are no longer bound, solely, by our circle of friends and word of mouth, when it comes to sharing what you've read.
I, personally, can't wait for the future.

dcb.