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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Short, fun essays on reading and books. She spends a lot of time looking at the actual physical books themselves - how they're stacked and organized, eaten by children, dripped with egg yolks, left on bedside tables, covered in decades of dust. And also how voracious readers can find connections to each other across time, through words. Fadiman does a nice job expressing the bibliophile attitude of treating books like comforting friends.
I remember thinking how good it was to know that other people are just as obsessed with books as myself
I honestly cannot say enough good things about this book. To say it elucidated many feelings of my own far more eloquently than I would ever be able to doesn't seem like enough. To say it was the best book I ever read - fiction, nonfiction, essay or textbook - doesn't seem like enough. To say I wish I were Anne Fadiman certainly doesn't say enough and to say that I love it only comes marginally close. All I can say is that I am unendingly grateful I stumbled across it on my mother's "to read" bookshelf one bored summer day and I recommend it most hardily to anyone and everyone who loves books.
A fun collection of essays for someone who truly loves books and being around books!
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
As the child of two incredibly literary parents (both of them writers and voracious readers), Anne Fadiman has written a collection of essays about her experiences with books, and not just reading them. She writes about plagiarism, secondhand stores, vocabulary lovers and the inscriptions we write - all told with a self depriciating and humorous voice.
Every essay entertained me. I'm sure part of that is the fact that I am a fellow lover of not just the written word itself, but the entire package - the smell and texture of my books, the memories a book cover can conjure and the bond books have helped me form with other people. Fadiman fleshes out the reading experience in these essays, and her only flaw (if you can call it a flaw) is that she knows so many more authors and books than I do that I occasionally got overwhelmed with the depth of her book knowledge. Usually, though, this just made me find her more fascinating as a writer.
What I appreciated most is the way that these essays seemed to validate each individual readers experience - while she confesses the way that SHE treats her books, she also shares the way that her brother and the hotel housekeeping staff and her editor treat their books. Some of these essays almost feel like socialogical studies - the breadth of anecdotal examples is startling and often incredibly amusing. This book places me, as a reader, within a long and illustrius line of folks who have chosen books as their passion. I want to give this to every book lover that I know - I'd be surprised if you didn't find a little piece of yourself in there somewhere.
Every essay entertained me. I'm sure part of that is the fact that I am a fellow lover of not just the written word itself, but the entire package - the smell and texture of my books, the memories a book cover can conjure and the bond books have helped me form with other people. Fadiman fleshes out the reading experience in these essays, and her only flaw (if you can call it a flaw) is that she knows so many more authors and books than I do that I occasionally got overwhelmed with the depth of her book knowledge. Usually, though, this just made me find her more fascinating as a writer.
What I appreciated most is the way that these essays seemed to validate each individual readers experience - while she confesses the way that SHE treats her books, she also shares the way that her brother and the hotel housekeeping staff and her editor treat their books. Some of these essays almost feel like socialogical studies - the breadth of anecdotal examples is startling and often incredibly amusing. This book places me, as a reader, within a long and illustrius line of folks who have chosen books as their passion. I want to give this to every book lover that I know - I'd be surprised if you didn't find a little piece of yourself in there somewhere.
Nothing better than a book about loving books. Well-written, funny, self-deprecating - a quick, satisfying read
من یه سری روایتهای درباره کتابها رو خیلیییی دوست داشتم ولی بعضی روایتهاش برام خستهکننده بود یکم. بین نمره ۴ و ۴.۵ مرددم. ولی کتاب کوتاه زیبایی بود برای کتابخوانهای غیرمعمولی :))
DNF
After 30% I realized I didn't want to be reading this anymore. I spent more time looking at the percent read and looking up definitions of words than reading. Not for me.
After 30% I realized I didn't want to be reading this anymore. I spent more time looking at the percent read and looking up definitions of words than reading. Not for me.
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced