akhmalaiman 's review for:

The Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham
3.0

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

A book very much about the history of books, bookstores, libraries, etc. written by Martin Latham, who runs Waterstones in Canterbury. A very insightful read on the (mostly) Western reading culture. Although very detailed, I believe this is not for everyone. This is almost like reading an academic journal (I only later found out that the author has a PhD). Very informative and enjoyable, although I had so much trouble with hundreds of names mentioned in the book. I particularly loved the bits on marginalia (authors' and readers' notes on the side of the books) & Comfort Books. Especially on the history of women in reading.

A well-written almost-academic read.