‘ALL OF THEM HAVE TAUGHT ME SOMETHING’

HER house may be bursting with books but she’s meticulous about what goes where. Roza is passionate about recycling and her rubbish is sorted, with glass, plastic and cardboard all stored differently. She also loves animals and lives with her two rescue dogs and a cat. The pets doze happily among the bookshelves, in what Roza calls her office. “At first, they used to chew the books, but now they’re used to them.”

She has no regrets about the money she’s spent on her books or how they have taken over her life. “They are magical books. All of them have taught me something,” she says.

And she won’t be getting a Kindle device any time soon.

“I don’t like it. It’s just not the same. You don’t get the smell, taste and feel of the book.”

Although she doesn’t have grandchildren, her reading has come in handy when it comes to entertaining children. “It’s very easy for me to tell stories. I’ve got a rich archive to choose from,” she says.

Roza initially thought she would have time after retirement to read her books, but she says it’s been impossible.

She’s now selling some of them to free up space in her house so she can indulge in her other hobby, painting.

Her biggest headache right now is cataloguing all her books so she can sell them online – and ensuring that they’re safely stacked.

As she puts it, “I don’t want them to fall over me one day and bury me.”