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A review by trish204
The Book Lovers' Miscellany by Claire Cock-Starkey
4.0
This could be me: 
But I don't just love to read.
I’m obsessed with collecting bookmarks (yes, I like my bookmarks to match the books I'm reading, which is why I actually have hundreds); I love to decorate my shelves with interesting bookstands and other stuff (not too cheesy though); I love to write letters by hand on special paper with an ink pen and create my own cards (for Christmas for example); I have pictures on the wall next to some shelves depicting art from certain bookish worlds; I even wear book-related socks from time to time and drink out of book-related tea cups. I can spend entire days in a bookstore without ever getting bored.
I dream of what it must be like to have libraries like so many of my American and British friends and I turn green with envy. In short: I'm a book nerd.
This book, then, is a treasure-trove for a bibliophile like me. It tells you of the composition of ink used for books, what was used for keeping written records through the ages (from papyrus to vellum and today’s paper) and how the respective thing is made, what the digits in any given ISBN mean, how Penguin was founded and how it revolutionized the book industry.
Additionally, there are great lists in here such as ten famous authors and their pen names, or what book prizes there are in the world, who won the Nobel Prize in literature when, the most-banned books from around the world, famous first and last lines.
These are just a few examples. The book might not be very big but is certainly is filled to the brim with interesting information from the world of books and there were actually a number of surprises in here as well as some history lessons.
Naturally, the lists could all be longer because we book nerds are never fully satisfied, but the author managed to always give a diverse overview and great mix and I liked how this was such a perfect example of the details a bibiophile can revel and get lost in.
But I don't just love to read.
I’m obsessed with collecting bookmarks (yes, I like my bookmarks to match the books I'm reading, which is why I actually have hundreds); I love to decorate my shelves with interesting bookstands and other stuff (not too cheesy though); I love to write letters by hand on special paper with an ink pen and create my own cards (for Christmas for example); I have pictures on the wall next to some shelves depicting art from certain bookish worlds; I even wear book-related socks from time to time and drink out of book-related tea cups. I can spend entire days in a bookstore without ever getting bored.
I dream of what it must be like to have libraries like so many of my American and British friends and I turn green with envy. In short: I'm a book nerd.
This book, then, is a treasure-trove for a bibliophile like me. It tells you of the composition of ink used for books, what was used for keeping written records through the ages (from papyrus to vellum and today’s paper) and how the respective thing is made, what the digits in any given ISBN mean, how Penguin was founded and how it revolutionized the book industry.
Additionally, there are great lists in here such as ten famous authors and their pen names, or what book prizes there are in the world, who won the Nobel Prize in literature when, the most-banned books from around the world, famous first and last lines.
These are just a few examples. The book might not be very big but is certainly is filled to the brim with interesting information from the world of books and there were actually a number of surprises in here as well as some history lessons.
Naturally, the lists could all be longer because we book nerds are never fully satisfied, but the author managed to always give a diverse overview and great mix and I liked how this was such a perfect example of the details a bibiophile can revel and get lost in.