Tracy, or Lady Tracy o’ The Disk as she is more commonly known, is another one of these inspirational readers who’s quick to tick off books and offer sound reading advice whenever she can. I’ve known Tracy for a while now and she has become a respected contact for all things books, especially when it comes to the classics. So without further ado, settle back and prepare to be inspired by the woman herself, here’s Lady T:

I am single, no children, and live in northern California. In addition to books, my passions are music and photography. At the moment, I’m looking into the possibility of making money via stock photography.

I can barely remember not being able to read. I lived with my grandparents and they taught me to read at about age three, so it always seemed natural. They gave me classic literature to read, even as a very young child, so that it took me a while to realize that not everyone reads 19th-century novels for pleasure.

I thought I was rather well-read when I went to London to live for two months in 1987, but was quickly brought back to earth by a homeless man named Manchester Bob, who knew more art and history and literature than anyone I’d ever met. It was my first inkling of the vastness of my ignorance. I came home eager to soak up knowledge of all kinds, and it was profoundly transforming. But the more I read, the more I realize how much more there is to know and understand.

1. Favourite Genre? I am an unrepentant history nut. I love British history, particularly the 17th through 19th centuries, and American colonial history. I read a bit of everything, but I gravitate toward history and pre-20th century literary fiction. If I buy a best-seller, it’s often something like Ross King’s Ex Libris, which combines my obsessions with books and London.

2. Favourite Book? Far and away, my favorite is the Bible. It includes several genres: action/adventure, drama, history, poetry, philosophy, but so much more. It runs the gamut of human endeavor, of human behavior. There are wise men and fools, kings and peasants, holy men and despots; indeed, sometimes they are one and the same. It’s such a rich book. All the flaws that man is subject to are there: the greed, the hatred, the ambition, the lust. All the best and worst of mankind are contained in the Bible, in a framework of man’s relation to his Creator. I expect to be reading it the rest of my life.

3. Why do you love reading so much? For me, it’s a way to know the thoughts of great people, to travel to other places and times, and somehow to equip me for my own place and time.

4. Favourite reading place? I like to read in my favorite armchair. This is my place for ‘serious’ reading, to get right down to it. Next to it is a table stacked with things I naively intend to get to soon. Armchair plus book plus cup of tea equals bliss.

5. How BIG is your reading addiction? I now have books filling every shelf and spilling out into piles. It’s gotten to the point where I fantasize about taking the woodstove out and putting more bookcases in that corner! I’m afraid I’m far gone. Much of the reason that I have so many is that a large proportion are history books. I figure that Moby Dick, for example, will always be available at the library, but some of these others I may never get to read unless I buy them. Usually I’m reading three or four at a time.

6. How do you normally add books to your collection? Second-hand bookstores are temples of literary rapture. Part of the fun is the bookstore experience itself. I love the ones where books are piled everywhere, including on the floor. There is the most exciting feeling of possibility, that anything could be there somewhere. That said, I am also most susceptible to the siren song of Amazon.

7. How do you decide what to read? Some of it is dictated by where I plan to travel next. I read a lot of British history to ready myself for going back to England, so as to create a certain synergy between the reading and the travel. One of the most vivid examples of that synergy was reading David Hackett Fischer’s Paul Revere’s Ride just before going to Lexington and Concord. I could almost hear the gunshots as the bus went along the battle route!
I find also that in my reading I keep coming across authors that sound interesting, so much of my reading is an offshoot of something I read previously. Peter Ackroyd has been a good source for that.

8. Ebooks - love or hate? I think e-books have their place, although I will always love the traditional bound volume. I love the binding of an old book, the way the pages smell, the inscriptions. It carries its own history. I once bought a 125-year-old copy of Pope’s Essay on Man because some bored 19th-century schoolboy had drawn the most delightful Punch and Judy cartoons in it. You don’t get that with e-books! However, I think they have legitimate purposes. For those who are traveling or have extremely limited space, they’re perfect. And if you want the latest best-seller and don’t want to pay the whopping cover price, well, I understand. But I probably will always want the real thing. I love computers, but we have enough things in our society already that have been reduced to a sterile experience.

9. Has reading inspired you to do any serious writing yourself? Not really, although it could still happen. I’ve written a couple of articles for a local magazine, which was great fun, and keep a journal. That’s about it. The interest is there, but it’s a bit dormant.

10. What single piece of advice (or tip) would you give to fellow readers? I would say that the most important advice is to read what you really want to, not what other people think you should. Life is short; follow your passion.

Tracy. Thank you for taking the time to give us such a wonderful interview. You do know that I’m off to London now to try and find Manchester Bob? :o) It may have been over 20 years ago since you met him but I live in hope.