You only have to look inside my house to know that given the right push either me or hubby could become hoarders. We would have a clean house but it would be full to bursting with *stuff*. Thankfully I still have that edge that means I get satisfaction from hiring a skip when we move to throw stuff away - but I recall at one time, before children, I bought twelve silhouette books a month and had an entire wardrobe full of five years worth of romance novels.

That may not sound much... but it wasn't as if I read them again... I just liked them sitting there - like me having them made a statement about who I was *I read romance*.

With the birth of baby 1, they all went, I had something that identified me more - being a mother - and also we had a very small house! Still, the urge to collect is strong in me!

I've also watched hoarder programmes in the UK. We had a very famous case called Mr Treebus (well that is how I remember it sounded - not sure if that was how it was spelt!). His house was a death trap and a health hazard. And only a couple of years back someone in our town died and lay undiscovered for a few weeks. I always watched these programmes and got the sense that the cases were hopeless.

Not so with Jasper who has a reason for what he does and that reason unfolds gently throughout the book. He doesn't have pets, his kitchen is described as clean, it's just the books are overwhelming him... I loved Jasper, I adored that he loved his books, and I felt no weirdness about Lewis and him getting together (unlike a 1 star I saw for this book on Goodreads). I just think I missed out on one thing. I'm British and I hardly know anyone quirky or with the kind of Britishness that exists in the Miller house... I'm clearly too sheltered... ROFL

This is a five star read and I recommend it heartily. It's a long satisfying read but I would have loved to see an epilogue. Oh and if the author is listening I demand Mas's book now...

Amazon (US) | Samhain | Amazon (UK)

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Add: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Trebus

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