Pamela Paul

3.5 stars

This book was, overall, better than I expected. I'm drawn to books about books because I love seeing what other people love to read, and why, and hope to find recommendations for books that maybe I will love.

To be clear, though, this isn't really about books. It's a memoir, with the books she read at various points in her life briefly mentioned here and there.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the author can be pretentious - in the fancy-schmancy "literary" books she tends to read and the "big words" she uses (unnecessarily) in her own writing. Paul mentions in her book that she realizes she is privileged - but I think she has no clue just how privileged. (She spends an awful lot of time traveling the world on her daddy's dime and the few times when she starts to seem "average," she then throws in an aside that changes the story she was telling entirely...)

Also, Paul includes spoilers for a number of books! Argh! Readers, of all people, should have the decency not to ruin books for other readers!

And yet, I found the first half, especially, really funny. She talks about her growing-up years and includes things like wanting her local librarians to like her and recognize that she's "one of them." That's the kind of thing I can relate to.

I do wish there was an index of all the books she mentioned. (I actually think this feature should be standard in any book about books.)

Note: Some profanity.

"There is something especially enjoyable about reading on trains and on planes and in coffee shops, where the gesture constitutes a futile cultural rebuke to everyone else's tablet or smartphone. They never notice." p 129… (more)

I enjoyed reading some of these interviews, but they could have been so much better. They could have gone deeper. Some of the questions were a ridiculous waste of space.
"If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?"
"If somebody walked in on you writing one of your books, what would she see? What does your work space look like?"
I really don't care.
And, I want to read about Literature and the writing process, not someone's political ax they feel they have to grind. There were so many cheap shots thrown at Republicans in this book, I felt like I was reading the New York Times. Oh, I guess I was at that.… (more)

I’m a huge sucker for books about books, so it’s probably no surprise that I really like this one. Paul takes us through Bob—her “book of books”—and the life events that surround these titles. It’s a fascinating peek into someone else’s reading life and I love that voyeuristic aspect of learning about someone else’s reading habits. Also fun was hearing Paul’s take on “Kidlit,” a book club group that I’ve read [a:Gretchen Rubin|21246|Gretchen Rubin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1252934548p2/21246.jpg] talk about many times in her books.

I don’t think anything can ever top Anne Fadiman’s [b:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader|46890|Ex Libris Confessions of a Common Reader|Anne Fadiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435782351s/46890.jpg|1468318] for me in terms of books on books—but this was a great one, and I’d recommend it to avid readers who are fascinated by the processes and philosophies of reading.… (more)