A review by jenniferdeguzman
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose

3.0

This book was more of an explanation of how I already do read for me than something that taught me much new. Still, Francine Prose nicely breaks down the different elements of fiction that are important for the writer to pay attention to while reading -- all the way from word choice, to sentence and paragraph structure, to dialogue and details. Not much on plot, however, which is my weakness -- my skills for reading for plot could use some bolstering, and this wasn't the book for helping me with that.

It must have been a quick write for Prose, as most of it consists of passages from works of fiction. She'll have very long quotations, tell you to look for X in it, but not offer her own close reading. I guess it's nice that she wants the reader to do the work, but it also strikes me as a little thin on effort.