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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Things I liked:
Fadiman describes friends whose interior decorator came in while they were on vacation, & rearranged all their books by size and color of the jacket. She writes that "shortly thereafter, the interior decorator met with a fatal automobile accident." Eeep! :)
She admits she will love her copy of The Joy of Cooking all the more because it is glopped with dough from her daughter's first attempt at making blueberry muffins. (I love a good glopped-up cookbook.)
Snarkiness about Help for the Hassled, Harried and Hustled, written in 1877 by the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly. In which is written, "Woman's entire existence, in order to be a source of happiness to others as well as to herself, must be one of self-sacrifice." Oh my!
An essay about proofreading - one of my favorite activities. Yes, I proofread everything, I can't help it! But I admit I'm not above spelling errors myself, & I don't write grammatically in casual writing. Like this. :) But the whole essay on proofreading describes me almost perfectly!
An essay about second-hand bookstores - places that I am convinced call to me from any town I venture to - "Here! I'm over HERE! Come iiiinnnn....it'll only take a minute to look around! You can just buy oooonnnne...."
Things I didn't like:
Fadiman & family are more educated than you, me, or anyone else. Prepare to feel like an idiot while reading!
I feel that this is a book written by, and for, dare I say this, people of a certain class and economic level.
Fadiman describes friends whose interior decorator came in while they were on vacation, & rearranged all their books by size and color of the jacket. She writes that "shortly thereafter, the interior decorator met with a fatal automobile accident." Eeep! :)
She admits she will love her copy of The Joy of Cooking all the more because it is glopped with dough from her daughter's first attempt at making blueberry muffins. (I love a good glopped-up cookbook.)
Snarkiness about Help for the Hassled, Harried and Hustled, written in 1877 by the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly. In which is written, "Woman's entire existence, in order to be a source of happiness to others as well as to herself, must be one of self-sacrifice." Oh my!
An essay about proofreading - one of my favorite activities. Yes, I proofread everything, I can't help it! But I admit I'm not above spelling errors myself, & I don't write grammatically in casual writing. Like this. :) But the whole essay on proofreading describes me almost perfectly!
An essay about second-hand bookstores - places that I am convinced call to me from any town I venture to - "Here! I'm over HERE! Come iiiinnnn....it'll only take a minute to look around! You can just buy oooonnnne...."
Things I didn't like:
Fadiman & family are more educated than you, me, or anyone else. Prepare to feel like an idiot while reading!
I feel that this is a book written by, and for, dare I say this, people of a certain class and economic level.
My aunt Heather recommended this book to me. She is exactly the type of reader Anne Fadiman is and also very frugal. So instead of buying books as gifts for me she mails me short lists of books she thinks I will enjoy and should check out at my local library.
This one was an easy beach read for me one year at Myrtle and then I read it again on a winter break. I later gave it to my cousin-in-law for a gift so I no longer have a copy of it by as I remember them each of the short stories were based on just a love of books.
My favorite one was on the marriage of her book collection with that of her husband. They got rid of a few duplicates- and set up their own system on the bookshelves that lined their house. I think of this story whenever I look at the single long line of books my husband and I have above our kitchen cabinets. They've hardly melded together, nor do I think they ever will.
Anne inspires me to be a more voracious reader and to find out what niche interests me. Her niche was Polar Exploration and got me into it. I think I'm too lazy to find out my own niche. I'll just wait for someone to make these short stories into a short film.
This one was an easy beach read for me one year at Myrtle and then I read it again on a winter break. I later gave it to my cousin-in-law for a gift so I no longer have a copy of it by as I remember them each of the short stories were based on just a love of books.
My favorite one was on the marriage of her book collection with that of her husband. They got rid of a few duplicates- and set up their own system on the bookshelves that lined their house. I think of this story whenever I look at the single long line of books my husband and I have above our kitchen cabinets. They've hardly melded together, nor do I think they ever will.
Anne inspires me to be a more voracious reader and to find out what niche interests me. Her niche was Polar Exploration and got me into it. I think I'm too lazy to find out my own niche. I'll just wait for someone to make these short stories into a short film.
This collection of essays, originally written as column items in Civilization, the magazine of the Library of Congress, of which the author was the editor, is great reading. Ann Fadiman comes from what the blurb calls a 'pathologically literary family' and her love of books is evident in every word she writes. She also writes in an entertaining fashion, which makes tjis book a pleasure to read.
What an unexpectedly delicious morsel! In this small collection of essays of and for bibliophiles, I found both a kindred spirit and an intimidatingly intellectual idol whose lexicon left me repeatedly clicking my Oxford English Dictionary app. Books about books are my hideout when the world needs escaping, and this is one provided the right balance of departure and provocation.
This little book was fun to read. The author talks about her family's reading styles and her own. Avid readers notice lots more details in anything that involves printed words and her entire family notices every detail. I always enjoy reading how people approach reading in their lives.
A collection of essays about loving books? What is there not to like?!?
A warning: this is best avoided if you don't have sesquipedalian tendencies.
A warning: this is best avoided if you don't have sesquipedalian tendencies.
a happy serendipitous discovery on the impulse-buy-near-the-register rack at a Cambridge indie bookstore a few years back. made a perfect gift for my bibliophile roommate at the time, and I made sure to read it after she finished. a really wonderful collection.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I'm the target audience for this book. It's a collection of essays on books, stories, and words. About loving to read, spotting errors in type, arranging personal libraries, treasure hunting in used bookstores, and so on. If you adore these things, this book will make you smile, evoke fond memories, or perhaps spark a debate. (The only major disagreement the author and I have is with the use of "they" as a singular pronoun. I think it's fine, Anne Fadiman does not.)