The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

By a local Noe Valley author, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is set in the world of rare book collecting -- in this case, obsessive collecting, to the point of theft. Rather than stealing for profit, John Charles Gilkey steals out of the love of (or perhaps, lust for) books. Gilkey is pursued by Ken Sanders, a book dealer, determined to stop his literary crime rampage. Bartlett has written a fascinating tale that plunges the reader into the world of books and those who are compelled to possess them. People just like you and me... oh, OK, not really. Well, mostly not.