Leseratte

The adolescent who devours all of the Harry Potter tomes and can't get enough; the old lady who can sit for hours in her favorite chair turning page after page; the boy who just has to finish the scary story about aliens taking over the earth even though it's well past his bed time, and the many commuters on buses, trams and trains who miss their stop because they are deep in the world of their paperback - in English, they're bookworms. In German, they're fondly known as "Leseratten," or reading rats. Although it may not seem particularly flattering to be called a rat - or a worm, for that matter - don't let that keep you from picking up a good book.