Rating: 3 Stars
Source: Gift
Description: This is a collection of essays about all things bookish. Fadiman tackles everything from plagiarism, to how to get you children to read for pleasure and what kind of book owner are you.
Genre: Non-Fiction
Why I Picked This Book: It's a book about books. How could I pass it up?
My Impression:
Pro: The book is so pretty! I loved the cover and just the feel of the book. I really enjoyed the chapter on getting our children to read and on what kind of book owner are you. I tend to be protective of my books and while I have been known to reread a book until the spine gives out the idea of writing in the book makes me cringe! I really liked that it made me examine my reading habits and what books and reading mean to me. I found myself really thinking about what kinds of things I really enjoy reading about, how do I treat books and how do I categorize them.
Con: I think I was expecting to feel like I was listening to a friend talk about books and how they read but I felt like I was listening to one of my college professors. While I enjoyed thinking about books and reading I didn't really connect with Fadiman and I think I would need that to really love this book. As well, the chapter that deals with plagiarism has so many footnotes that it's basically unreadable. I know that it was supposed too but I wish she had incorporated the source information another way.
Overall: I really wanted to love this book and there was a lot I really liked. However, I think to really love this book I needed to find common ground with the author and I just never quite connected with her.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Probably not. While I did enjoy parts of this my lack of connection would probably keep me from reading more.
Would I Recommend this Book?: I think any booklover would enjoy this. Even though I didn't love it did make me think about how I read.
Challenges Met? Alphabet Soup (E)
That's disappointing, it has such a good premise. Would it be worth getting from my library, do you think?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely worth getting from the library. I know a lot of people really loved it. It just wasn't quite what I wanted it to be.
DeleteAh it's a shame the tone wasn't quite as you might have wished in terms of how it was written, I think the cover and obviously the subject matter would have attracted me too.
ReplyDeleteI can't resist a book about books! I think if I was more of an academic reader I would've enjoyed it more.
DeleteI read this a couple years ago. I liked it... I am not sure if I can say I loved it, but I did read her other books...
ReplyDeleteI didn't hate it but I think I went in with really high expectations and this just didn't quite live up to them.
DeleteOoo bummer about the tone, I would have preferred it to be more like a friend as you said.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely have enjoyed it as more of a cup of tea kind of read. It felt a bit more like a college lecture
DeleteI'm sorry you didn't connect with her, because the topics you mention could all be terrific! Like Bea said, I think I'll look into whether the library has it, if I decide to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't like this one better, Katherine. I know I really liked it myself, picking apart each chapter and reflecting on my own reading and bookish habits. It's been so long though, I can't remember what I thought of the author's writing style.
ReplyDeleteI used to eat up anything that had an academic slant to it and dream of going back to school for another degree, but once I passed 50 my whole tone changed. Ha! Going back to college is the last thing I would want to do now and I tend to steer around anything presented in an academic light. I too like a more conversational feel to Non-Fiction. Thanks for the review. :)
ReplyDelete