Incidentally, my mother would agree about the initials issue. She considered naming me Victoria, but that would have made my initials V. D., which at the time had, er, embarrassing connotations. And just the other week, my partner and I were discussing how weird it is that some nicknames seem to have little to do with the names they come from (like Jack for John). As for not touching a book while I’m reading it, while that’s not one of my pet peeves, I can certainly understand how someone could feel that way!