Friday, January 4, 2019

"I'd Rather Be Reading" by Anne Bogel

I believe it was Mel at Stirrup Queens who first piqued my interest in Modern Mrs. Darcy by mentioning her (several times, I think) in her blog.  Eventually I clicked over & wound up adding MMD to my blog reader.  (MMD, whose name is actually Anne Bogel, also hosts a book-focused podcast called "What Should I Read Next?"  which I have yet to actually listen to, but have on my to-do-someday list.)

"I'd Rather Be Reading" is an extension of both the book and the podcast:  21 chapters/mini-essays about books and reading and loving both, and how to get more out of your reading life.  I love books of essays & short stories like this that you can dip in & out of at your leisure -- each essay/chapter complete in itself but thematically linked to the others.  Among the topics Bogel writes about:

  • literary "sins"
  • books that "find" you at just the right time in your life 
  • books that break your heart 
  • living next door to the local library 
  • the book that hooked you on the power of story 
  • bookshelf envy 
  • books & real life 
  • organizing your bookshelves
  • being "book bossy" 
  • familiar bookworm problems
  • the readers we have been at different stages of our lives 
  • reading deadlines 
  • reading the author's acknowledgements 
  • coming of age as a reader 
  • being a bookseller (the fantasy vs the reality) 
  • book twins 
  • re-reading books 
  • "book people" and bookstores 
  • keeping a reading log 
  • how our favourite books are windows to our soul 
If you love books and reading (as I do), you are bound to love this book.  My one caveat: when I finally found it at the bookstore, I was surprised at what a slender little volume it was. My sister saw the price tag on the back, & commented, "$18.49 (Canadian)(the U.S. price is $14.99) is a lot of money for such a little book!"  It kind of is -- although I did enjoy it thoroughly. :)  Maybe I just wished there was more of it to enjoy. :)

I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

This was the 27th & final book that I read in 2018. I surpassed my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books by 3 books, or 113%!  :)

2 comments:

  1. I love that podcast. I have to admit that I also saw this book at Barnes and Noble and did a double take when I noticed the price. I'll try to track it down via my library, as it sounds great.

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  2. It sounds absolutely delightful. And having just produced my little meme book, I can understand why little books are so expensive!
    Now I'm going to have to remember to a) check out the blog and b) listen to the podcast. Thanks, Loribeth!

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