Neil, 26

What are you reading?
This is Narrative of the Incas, by a sixteenth-century Spanish chronicler, Juan De Betanzos. He was one of the earliest Spanish settlers in what was the Incan Empire. He married an Incan lady, and spoke to people who were part of the old power structure of the Incan Empire, so he wrote down what they told him about the history of the Incan Empire. And this is it. So it's an important document, but no one's really sure how historical it is, because it's basically an oral history written by a Spaniard.

Are there any books that would be a dealbreaker if you noticed a girl was reading?
I'd worry if anyone was reading Atlas Shrugged for anything other than academic reasons. I don't think people need to be encouraged to be selfish anymore than they already are.

Do you typically date women who read a lot?
Thinking about it now, yeah, I do.

You like talking to them about books?
Yeah. I'm trying to work out if that's anything other than a coincidence, but I don't think it is. It's an important thing to have in common. I live with my girlfriend at the moment, and we've got more books than we've got space for. We haven't got any more space for more bookshelves, so things are sort of just piled on the floor.

In the beginning, did you ever trade books back and forth?
We did. But it didn't go so well. She didn't like the book I tried to have her read. The book was kind of bleak and cynical. It's a lot like me.

And she didn't respond to that?
She did respond to it, but I don't know if she found it particularly exciting. But disagreement about these things is never a dealbreaker.

Have you ever lost a book in a relationship?
I've lost books lost that way. I don't think I mind that, though. The more a book is spread around, the better.