Between the States and Britain, only the U.K.--which dedicates miles of beautifully designed ad space to new and forthcoming books throughout its Underground subway system in London--could or would have a site dedicated to book nerds that's part bookstore, part book club and part dating site (though in typical reserved British fashion, it doesn't admit to this last service). BookRabbit.com is a new site that allows members (readers, authors, publishers) to find or promote favorite titles, with the top 100,000 available for purchase at prices cheaper than Amazon.co.uk. Instead of a sexy Photoshopped picture from ten years ago, members upload pix of their bookshelves to their profiles--aw yeah--in an effort to promote discussion and recommendations and, we think, love or lust relationships straight out of Wuthering Heights, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, or anything with Fabio on the cover....

Actually, what lives on a person's bookshelf can be pretty revealing of that person's personality, values, interests, even fantasies--maybe even more so than a personal ad they might write for themselves would be, since those often end up describing the person they wish they were rather than the person they are. You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly judge a person by the books they covet.

You just know the guy who has nothing but sci-fi on his shelf is either a virgin or a sub at the local fetish club who likes to go topless in leather pants and a studded collar. Could you really have anything in common with someone who owns Sting's memoir? The bookshelves that are neat and organized alphabetically suggest control freaks who think anal play is disgusting. The overflowing ones with no rhyme or reason might be the property of slightly spacey, arty types who'll take you for a rollercoaster ride and give you a decent neck rub on a date--or maybe they're just neurotic pack rats who can't get anything done, including finishing reading a book. Even the knick-knacks decorating the shelves are dead giveaways, i.e. stay away from the woman with the teddy bear on hers..

At the very least, it gives literate people a starting place for interesting conversation with new people ("How's that new James Bond novel? Is Ian Fleming rolling over in his grave?"), which is a lot better than "Liked your ad, take a look at mine, and drop me a line sometime."

So what's the best and worst on your shelf? One look at ours and you'd think we were feminist, flaming-liberal sex maniacs who like to cook, who seriously question the existence of God, who are well read in the classics from high school as well as the Big Important Novels on the front page of the NYT Book Review (or at least like to appear well-read), but who aren't above a few popular guilty pleasures with mass appeal (hey, The Da Vinci Code was not a bad read, you pretentious twit). And you'd be right (except for the sex maniac part).