Guy Hobson came as a package deal. Him and 65 boxes of books.

That's damn near 3000 books. All the way from Leicestershire via Auckland to Tauranga.

'There's 30 years of serious addiction going on here,” says Guy.

But it was a non-negotiable thing. 'One did not come without the other.” The complete package really being Guy, his one man library and a teenage daughter.

His partner, Afa, shares Guy's passion for books and reading, and was able to bring two daughter of her own to the mix. Thankfully, fortunately, she has accepted Guy, the books and it seems, a proposal.

They all love a good read, although Guy's daughter has asked him not to leave her all those books when he dies.

But this is not about love of the flesh kind, of the heart. It is about love of the written word. One man's love of books. Well, it's both, but more about books

'I can remember my stand-out book as a kid. ‘Wind In the Willows' that my parents gave to me when I was about four. I still have it. It remains a treasured possession. I read it a lot.”

And yes, he does remember reading by torchlight under the covers at night.

He read all the usual kids' stuff before discovering science fiction, and before discovering 'much better things”. Like what? 'Like anything, like all sorts of different authors.”

It was only when he hooked into more cerebral things at university that he started collecting. 'I studied a bit of medieval history and archaeology so there was a heavy focus on books and I still have a lot of those books.” And he has been buying ever since.

Then last Saturday, when New Zealand was on the cusp of an international Sevens title, when a final tilt at the Pakistan cricketers was on offer and the ASB Stadium roared to jetsprints, Guy was elsewhere. At a book fair. The Mt Maunganui Lionesses book fair.

'Snatch and grab really. You have to have you wits about you.”

He spent $70 on 35 books – a good outing. 'You could spend that on two new paperbacks.” But the outing wasn't sufficiently good enough to push the collection over 3000. 'That'll have to wait for one more book fair.” See, there are interesting statistics and personal milestones in all sports and pastimes.

He did find an interesting copy of the ‘Odyssey' by Homer, a book he would probably choose as his favourite. If he had to.

'It still works beautifully today even though it was written between 750 and 650 BC – 3000 years ago. It was a translation by a fellow called TE Shaw, which was a pseudonym of Lawrence of Arabia.”

So not just another old book, but one with history and interest.

Guy Hobson was seriously tested at the Mt Maunganui book fair, and all because The Weekend Sun photographer Chris Callinan was trying to manoeuvre him for a nice picture.

'He was directing me and I was seeing stuff out the corner of my eye. Gee, I want that, let me at the books. And he kept pushing me towards a whole pile of Jeffrey Archer which I didn't want.” How frustrating and probably denied him the 3000 record.

This is a collector with two categories – one category being things he desperately wants to read. I read but have never desperately wanted to read anything. And there are the 'keepers”. Keepers are first edition hardbacks such as the personally signed Donna Tartt novel ‘The Secret History'. He bought it for $40 and now it's probably worth $900.

'The rest get recycled, shared with friends and passed around and go on for another couple if lives.” It's kind of nice that one book can go on giving pleasure to so many for so long.

Now his books are all shelved and consume one entire ground room of his house. And there are more book cases running the length of an upstairs level from floor to ceiling at double height.

When Guy is not reading books he is writing about them. He is a reviewer, which fuels his passion, of course, because to review you need to read and to read you need a book, a new one. Works very well for him.

'I don't think we can ever read enough. There is always going to be more books that you never have time to read. I suppose it just depends on how much of your life you want to give over to other things.”

His biggest disappointment with books scarred him enough to remember it. It was that moment as a child when you realise not all books come with pictures.

'I remember because I always loved Robin Hood stories and I found this book of new Robin Hood adventures and it wasn't illustrated. There was that awful realisation that there were no pictures, but I really wanted to read that story.”

That's the moment the mind takes over and creates the pictures for you. It's happened to us all.

Kindles? 'Don't like it. I have read two eBooks and I can't see the joy. It's something to do with the way your eye roves across something. And there is nothing like having something to touch and pages to turn.” Same with a newspaper and a cup of tea, Guy.

A couple of other things make Guy cringe – his word. Firstly, people who turn over corners to mark their place. And second, people who place an open book, pages down, and damage the spine.

There's one outstanding literary objective for this business improvement manager for the Western Bay District Council – apart from more reading, more collecting and more reviewing. He has yet to write one. And he hasn't thought of that?