5 Things You Need to Know About Dating a Book Nerd

Maybe it started with a bookish pick-up line. (“Girl, you are a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.”) Maybe your eyes met over contemporary fiction titles. Maybe your fingers touched as you both reached for the same copy of Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls. However it began, you’re now crushing on a book nerd. Hey, it happens. 
If things go right, you could be spending a lot more time together. But if you want to get from here (admiring their recycled paper bookmark) to there (making space on your bedside table for their NOOK), you’ll need to proceed carefully. Here’s some advice:
1. Bookish folk like to know what you’re into, reading-wise. Do we both like dark humor? Do you have a bigger collection of nonfiction than I do? Is that a Nicholas Sparks novel? This isn’t to say you’ll be judged by the contents of your bookshelves, but… yes, it is.
2. To book nerds, the characters in our books are as almost as real as the people standing in front of us. Characters live in our heads. We enjoy analyzing their motives and parsing their dialogue. If you do, too, order another drink and scoot a little closer—this is going to be fun. Also, get ready for a few rounds of “Was the movie as good as the book?” (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.)
3. If you’re not quite as book-crazy as your beloved, it’s cool. I mean, it’s tough, but there’s a chance it could still work out. The key is authenticity. Don’t blow smoke. If you start talking about a book you haven’t actually read as though you have, you’ll be busted pretty quickly. And, much like a toupee or a stuffed bra, fake book talk is a total turn-off.
4. Want to get a book nerd’s attention? Try sexting: Snapchat a picture of the book you’re reading, with a steaming cup of coffee near it but not too near it on a flat, stable surface. Oh, baby… It’s so hot how you respect the printed page and always take care with liquids.
5. Browsing a bookstore is heaven for a book nerd, all the more so if you go slow and take plenty of time to linger in the aisles. Plus, readers generally love to travel to places they’ve read about. So if you’re hankering for a hike through California, read Wild together and then take a field trip. Or finish Out of Africa by booking a safari for two. There’s a book tie-in to almost anywhere you can imagine.
Of course, you probably know all this. If you’ve gone gaga for a book nerd, chances are, you’re a book nerd, too.