Good little book on lifetime reading, philosophy, etc. Makes you think about why you are reading. ( )

I enjoyed reading Book by Book though it constantly reminded me of how little a dent I have made in pursuit of a basic appreciation of literature. It shall serve as a valuable reference on my bookshelf. ( )

A vastly enjoyable read for book lovers.
I have added so many books to my TBR pile, agreed with many of his assessments and disagreed with a few.

Dirda's objective, which I thought that he achieves:
We turn to books in the hope of better understanding our selves and better engaging with the meaning of our experiences. Let me say, right off, that I believe a work of art is primarily concerned with the creation of beauty, whether through words, colors, shapes, sounds, or movement. But it is impossible to read serious novels, poetry, essays, and biographies without also growing convinced that they gradually enlarge our minds, refine our spirits, make us more sensitive and understanding.

Full of great quotes of which possibly my favourite is:
The development of the faculty of attention forms the real object and almost the sole interest of studies.. . . Attention consists of suspending our thought, leaving it detached, empty, and ready to be penetrated by the object; it means holding in our mind, within reach of this thought, but on a lower level and not in contact with it, the diverse knowledge we have acquired, which we are forced to make use of.—Simone Weil ( )

For some writers, blogs serve as contemporary versions of commonplace books. The classic is Auden's A Certain World which was the first commonplace book that I discovered almost forty years ago. It was a very personal anthology that included adages, short excerpts, poems, and more. Auden organized it alphabetically by categories with his own comments included in some, always brief, as a record of his own thoughts.
My favorite commonplace book is Michael Dirda's own contribution, Book By Book. It is a book-lover's delight and has led me down many trails that I visit and revisit. He shares his personal thoughts about books in a topical way with chapters on "Work and Leisure", "The Book of Love", "Matters of the Spirit", and "Last Things". My favorite sections include "The Interior Library" where he recommends an eclectic mix of reading aimed at getting you away from the bestseller list (never a problem for me) and into a wide variety of books including fantasy fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and intellectual history (the last is a favorite of mine). I also enjoyed "The Pleasures of Learning" where he discusses a foundation of great books (Homer, et. al.) and both books and methods of education. He even includes a chapter, "Sight s and Sounds", that focuses on art and music. It is likely his personal music recommendations include a few of your favorites. Through all his recommendations he includes valuable pithy sayings on which you may choose to meditate.
While Dirda recommends Auden, of course and Cyril Connolly's An Unquiet Grave; I have taken up the challenge of one of my favorite authors, D. J. Enright. So it is with delight that I am exploring, slowly savoring, his own " kind of a commonplace book", Interplay. It is here that I will be able to meditate on the pleasures of reading, mulling both thoughts and words - perhaps cogitating some new ones of my own. ( )

I loved this book immensely, for the lists and recommendations and finding out about all kinds of authors I hadn't heard of before. In fact, there are so many nice lists and recommendations, that I am going to buy a copy of the book. (when one uses more than 20 paper bits to mark a page to go back to for referral, I think it means one should own the book) ( )