I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 11. Miss Bingley is watching Darcy read, so she pretends to be absorbed in reading the second volume of his book in an effort to start up a conversation with him. But she soon gets bored, yawns and throws the book aside. Her comment about how much she loves books is therefore ironic, as it is only a device to get Darcy’s attention. The quote is a good example of the gentle satirical fun Austen likes to poke at the social elite.