The Uncommon Reader (original 2006; edition 2007)

This was a fun read! It was intriguing to see how the Queen's staff and the public responded to her newfound love of reading, and then writing. I've often heard that if you want to become a writer, read a lot. It seems to have worked for the Queen in this book! Still, the ending came as a surprise to me, and it made me smile. ( )

A pleasurable book – both in the aspects of the Queen/British Monarch and of being a reader.

The premise is simple. The Queen through circumstances became an avid reader. Much to the chagrin of her household, including her private secretary, the prime minister, and even her corgis, her priority became her books. For a person with a huge spider web of influences, her newly found hobby had a far reaching domino effect from heads of states to the common folks that she visits. What were accepted duties became troublesome chores taking away her reading time. Not unexpected, the reading takes a turn to close the story. I’ll let you discover what that is.

I related a great deal to the viewpoints about reading from this book. One book leads to another, always hungry for more. Reading is a pleasure as well as enlightenment, a means to learn not just facts but perspectives. An indifference – all readers are equal. Reading with a pencil in hand! Lastly, reading is passive – not a ‘doing’ act. Perhaps that’s why (with some encouragement) I started to write reviews, to make my reading more active. Throw in the British touch, the Queen’s possible views, her undeniable power as the Queen, the numerous authors mentioned, this book is a reader’s joy!

Some Quotes:

On Briefing vs. Reading – This reminded me of work. Bullet points, anyone?
Queen: “But briefing is not reading. In fact it is the antithesis of reading. Briefing is terse, factual and to the point. Reading is untidy, discursive and perpetually inviting. Briefing closes down a subject, reading opens it up.”

On Books:
Queen: “Pass the time? Books are not about passing the time. They’re about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.”

On Old Age:
“They sat for a moment in silence, but it was long enough for Sir Claude to fall asleep……….. Sir Claude had come with a message, she understood that and resented it, but perhaps he was a message in his own person, a portent of the unpalatable future……... The equerry returned and raising her eyebrows the Queen indicated the chair on which Sir Claude had been sitting, now with a damp patch staining the satin.”
And
“For one has a long perspective and it was ever thus. At eighty, things do not occur; they recur.” ( )

Delicious little story. Love the language, love the style, love the idea, and most especially love the ending. A real treat. You can read it in one sitting, but you will soon realize you want to drag the story out for as long as possible. ( )

Re-read 03 June 2012:

Re-reading as my concession to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

"What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do."
So true: every book read off the to-be-read list adds at least two more to Mount TBR, and this book mentions so many that at least want to be pushed a bit further up the pile.

First read 26 June 2008:
Short (a mere 120 pages) and sweet, this is a delicious fairy tale and exquisite fun to read, while putting across the 'moral' messages of the tale, as it were: the power of reading to change a person and the importance of actually making time to read. ( )

Terri recommended this book, but I really didn't enjoy it as much as she did. I read it on a rainy day and perhaps wasn't in a mood for the humour.
The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely and intelligently. Her reading naturally changes her world view and her relationship with people such as the prime minister and his repellent advisers. She comes to question the prescribed order of the world, and loses patience with much that she has to do. In short, her reading is subversive. The consequence is, of course, surprising, mildly shocking and very funny. She decides to write a novel and resigns. ( )