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I was always a reader. As a kid, I walked to the library several times a week and stayed up late reading with a flashlight.
我一直都喜欢读书。小时候，我每周都会去好几次图书馆，拿着手电筒熬夜看书。
I checked out so many books and returned them so quickly the librarian once snapped,
我借的书很多，还的也快，有一次图书管理员就怒了，
“Don’t take home so many books if you’re not going to read them all.”
“如果你不能读完的话，就别带这么多书回家。”
“But I did read them all,” I said. I was an English major in college and went on to get a master’s in literature.
我说，“但是我都看完了。”我在大学主修英语，后来又获得了文学硕士学位。
When I created my online dating profile, I made my screen name “missbibliophile52598.”
当我创建我的网上约会档案时，我把我的网名设为“missbibliophile52598”。
Filling out the “favorite books” section, I let my taste in literature speak for me:
在填写最爱的书时，我让我的文学品味为我说话：
One Hundred Years of Solitude, A Moveable Feast, White Teeth, The Namesake, The Known World, The God of Small Things, How to Read the Air.
《百年孤独》，《流动的盛宴》，《白牙》，《同名人》，《已知的世界》，《微物之神》，《如何阅读空气》。
But I realized it had been more than two years since I had read most of those titles.
但我意识到，我已经有两年多没有读过这些书了。
I had stopped reading gradually, the way one heals or dies. I tried to maintain my bookish persona.
我逐渐停止了阅读，这是一种疗伤或死亡的方式。我努力保持我书生气的一面。
I joined book clubs that I never attended. I requested a library book everyone was reading, only to return it a week late, unread, with fines.
我加入了读书俱乐部，但从未参加。我向图书馆借了一本所有人都在看的书，但没读过就还了，迟了一周还要交罚款。
I still loved the idea of reading. I treasured books and bookstores.
我仍然喜欢阅读的想法。我视图书和书店为珍宝。
Whenever I found one, I would linger between the shelves for hours
每当我发现喜欢的图书时，我会在书架之间徘徊数小时，
as if catching up with old friends, picking out volumes I had read and buying new ones.
就好像和老朋友叙旧一样，挑出我读过的书，再买些新书。
But it was clear to me: I was becoming a person I did not know.
但我很明白：我成为了一个我不认识的人。
David was my first online date. His profile said he liked to read,
大卫是我第一位网络约会对象。他的资料上说他喜欢阅读，
so I asked him about his last book. His face lit up and his fingers danced.
所以我向他询问他上一本书。他的脸容光焕发，手指舞动起来。
David read much more than I did, about a book or two a week.
大卫比我读的书要多得多，他每周要读一两本书。
We seemed an unlikely couple: me, a five-foot-three black woman born to a Caribbean mother, and him, a six-foot-four white guy from Ohio.
我们似乎不太像是一对：我是一个五英尺三英寸的黑人妇女，母亲是加勒比人。而他是身高六英尺四英寸的白人，来自俄亥俄州。
But as we got to know each other, our shared faith and mutual love of books bridged our gaps.
但是随着我们增进对彼此的了解，我们共同的信仰和对书籍的热爱架起了桥梁。
When we compared libraries, we had only four titles in common.
当我们对比书目时，我们只有个共同点。
David preferred history and nonfiction, whereas I gravitated toward fiction writers of color and immigrant narratives.
大卫更喜欢历史和非虚构类作品，而我则倾向于有色人种和移民题材的小说。
On our seventh date, David and I visited the library. “I have a game,” he said, pulling two pens and Postits out of his bag.
第七次约会时，大卫和我去了图书馆。他说，“我会一个游戏。”他从包里拿出两支笔和一张照片。
“Let’s find books we’ve read and leave reviews in them for the next person.” We wandered the aisles for an hour.
“让我们找到我们读过的书，并把评论留给下一个人。我们在过道里漫步了一个小时。
