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spenkevich's review against another edition
3.0
Me at all times on Goodreads
I find storytelling to be the lifeblood of existence. It is the way we construct meaning from the chaos of our lives colliding with one other; communicate with others; rationalize decisions; make each other laugh or cry; how we empathize or soothe; how we teach, learn, and dream. I am, shamelessly, a book lover. Considering this platform, I think it’s safe to say we are all book lovers here. Book Love, is a collection of brief comics from Debbie Tung that humorously prod at book lovers to pinpoint the common personality quirks that help define us as such. I say “us” because I felt called out in many of these shorts, and if you are reading this, I suspect you will, too. It is cute, cornball humor that will make you smirk and, while there’s nothing particularly deep or overtly hilarious, it will make book lovers feel understood. While not everything applied to me, a great deal of it did and it got me thinking about my own journey through life with books. I mean, I currently work in both a library and a bookstore and find reviewing books to be nearly as rewarding a pastime as actually reading books. My arms are covered in book references tattooed into my skin (I literally have a purple line drawing of [a:Virginia Woolf|6765|Virginia Woolf|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419596619p2/6765.jpg]’s face staring back at me whenever I look in the mirror). But something I’ve found while reviewing is that you can’t truly capture what a book meant to you without presenting a little bit about yourself in the context of it. The journey through a book is often a journey through yourself, and if you’d like to accompany me, I’d like to look at how this book resonates with my own life as a way of appreciating these comics.
Me writing way too long of a review as always.
Basically, I love books and I just want everyone to appreciate them in their own way. I work at a library, I just want to give you free books and resources. I want to open doors into trains of thought that you can ride through your mind, or lighthouses of ideas that can guide you in your darkest, stormiest moments. Am I the sort of library book lover that owns an Arthur t-shirt with the saying “having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card”? You bet your ass I am. I give out library cards all day long and sit on a committee that discusses ways to make the library more accessible and inclusive.
Did I order this in the middle of the night after several drinks? Maybe…
‘A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us,’ wrote [a:Franz Kafka|5223|Franz Kafka|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615573688p2/5223.jpg], and I believe in the power of storytelling to hack up the surface so we can dive into the waters of ourselves and society to better understand them through the telling and reading of stories. But reading can fulfill a lot of purposes for people, from entertainment and laughs to academic insight. Some people read to find themselves, some read to find other answers, some read just to escape, and all of these are valid, cool, and subjective (my favorite kind of cool). That was one thing I quickly realized in my first bookstore job at the Holland, Mi Barnes and Noble. I worked there for several years, long enough to be a department lead, have a passcode that could do whatever I wanted, and be trusted with all sorts of important responsibilities without reasonable compensation. It’s a lesson I carry with me into my current bookstore and especially the library. I just want to give you access to books, I don’t care what it is. I will get it for you. Here’s a good look at what reading can be:
Debbie Tung goes through lots of silly quirks about readers. I loved the bits about pre-ordering a favorite author’s new book without bothering to read what its about, hating movie cover editions, or loving that a book makes you sad. When people ask me for a happy book, I don’t know what to say, do I even read those? Give me your bleak novels, please, I want to hurt and think, and empathize and be horrified. If you say "this book is about how oppressive society is and a mostly plotless deep dive into struggles for agency and a voice amidst surreal social constructs," I say "PERFECT, TAKE MY DAMN MONEY."
Books have always meant a lot to me. I’ve learned so much about myself through them and found so many good friendships because of them. I can’t not mention my great goodreads friend Mike Puma who, sadly, passed away but we became a friend outside the screen and we used to trade books, meet up for concerts and museums, and even saw the play adaptation of [b:2666|63032|2666|Roberto Bolaño|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1672791535l/63032._SY75_.jpg|3294830] by [a:Roberto Bolaño|72039|Roberto Bolaño|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1617204588p2/72039.jpg]—a favorite author I learned of from him. During a rough patch of my life I even started leaving favorite poem quotes on trees everywhere I went, making paintings to accompany them (not my poems, I’ve published a handful but I am probably not a poet). Find me at @poe_a_tree (GET IT!?) on instagram. Needless to say, books have an important place in my life.
So I don’t have a bookstagram (I follow several of yours), but I actually do social media for the bookstore I work at and sit on the library social media committee. So yes, this comic above hit home. Oh and her details of things book lovers all want is super true:
My bag on right
I love my bag. I love a good shoulder bag and it goes everywhere with me. I mean, I have all the things I might need, I fully endorse shoulder bags. I have too many books in there at all times but you never know which one you will need. Which is why this one is also super relevant:
I’m heading out on vacation as I type this. Do I have too many books packed? Some might say yes. Will I read them all? Definitely not. Will I buy one more during this trip? Most assuredly. But you have to be prepared!
I can’t discuss book love without shouting out to the people in our lives that make it possible. For me it was always teachers. I’m a classic example of “overeager reader kid who hung out with their English teacher” so much so that I still text with my high school English teacher every day. But shoutout to teachers and librarians for passing on the love. If Dr Robin Lucy from EMU ever see’s this: thank you, you turned my life around and I think of you every time I write. Also Mr O’Dowd in high school who first talked to me like an adult, passed me some Vonnegut, and let me do some pretty bonkers class projects. Thanks for being a real one. Thanks to all you book lovers on here as well.
There are times when this comic dips into what I like to describe as the preciousness of books. You know, like Golum in [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566425108l/33._SX50_.jpg|3462456] loving “my precious!” in a way that isn’t healthy to anyone (ie. if you see a book in the library dumpster, don’t panic that we are throwing away books and bring it back in to the desk with indignation…Because that book was tossed for being covered in actual human blood and no I don’t know why. True story.) The digs at e-readers not being real books is eye rolling because, while I don’t own an e-reader, it is still the same important effect just without the aesthetics that have been a bit fetishized (this book being one of those examples of fetishization, but I totally appreciate why people love these aspects of books because I do too). People have many reasons to use e-readers, some of them are accessibility reasons such as being able to enlarge the font. Yes, I collect books and love my personal library that takes up more real estate in my home than is reasonable, but it’s also very meaningful to me. I also read digitally because Hoopla is a great library app and it is free and it’s actually WAY easier to pull quotes for a review since you can open it in your browser window. So I don’t enjoy digging at digital or audio books, which are just as valid a way to ‘read’ as any. Access to books is the most important thing, and this can mean different things to different people. Let’s just all embrace that we enjoy having a story told to us.
I was amused at the comics about not dog-earring or marking up books because I dog-ear and underline ALL DAY. I don’t care. To me, a physical book is just a possession and it’s the content that matters. Besides, I get a ton of use value from underlining and dog-earring because it makes reviewing a whole lot easier and more in depth when I can quote easily. I love looking back at my underlines and remembering what it meant to me during the time I was first reading the book. But I also appreciate people who want to keep their books as pristine as possible, and I would never mark up a borrowed copy (please don’t do this with library books). I also enjoy buying a used book that has underlines and notations though, it's like reading a book with the ghost of the former owner.
So overall this book is cute but also a bit light, more like something that is fun to give as a gift and browse through more than anything. But it is a cute coffee table book for book lovers. I do have to say that there are a lot of jokes that were also done in [a:Sarah Andersen|14144506|Sarah Andersen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1668638025p2/14144506.jpg]’s comics and I sort of preferred her versions I guess? It is fun though.
I love reading books. I love working in book world. I love going from the library to Reader’s World, the indie bookshop I also work at. I love interacting with both patrons and customers and considering the difference between both access mediums. I love hearing what people enjoy, don’t enjoy, the sort of books they want and I really love the hunt of getting them a copy (I made a “bookstore noir” video about that once, you can watch here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)I love Goodreads and rambling at you all about books I’ve enjoyed. More importantly, I love the comments thread where I can discuss with you all, share jokes, share stories, and share our lives. It’s a wonderful place to be. I am a book lover and proud.
bluubleuu's review against another edition
5.0
➸ 5 stars
MUST READ FOR A READER
if you love reading, you definitely gonna love this!
MUST READ FOR A READER
if you love reading, you definitely gonna love this!
pepe_pepe's review against another edition
3.0
Book Love was a fun, short read filled with cute illustrations and the relatable thoughts and actions of a book-obsessed person. Even though it was an enjoyable read, at times the thoughts and ideas could become a little repetitive.
I really recommend this to any avid reader and it would also be a welcome respite to read in between heavier books.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really recommend this to any avid reader and it would also be a welcome respite to read in between heavier books.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
brii_brii's review against another edition
5.0
Stinking loved this book so much. I laughed out loud so many times. Honestly, every single flip of the page was a “that's so me!” moment.
So much fun!
So much fun!
myexplodingnemo's review against another edition
4.0
Egentligen kanske värd 5 stjärnor idk?? För den var precis det den utgav sig att vara och var fin och gullig och mysig och välritad! Blev glad av att känna igen mig i att vara obsessed av böcker atm. Men det är liksom INGET djup i sånna här böcker så jag vill inte vara för generös m 5 stjärnor...
book_nerd2012's review against another edition
5.0
This is a cute book that gives amazing detail to how a book lover really is.