Gail brought this little gem to my attention and I decided to use it as a test of the Amazon Prime free book option. I’ve been a member of Amazon Prime for about two years now and have not availed myself of the their free book-borrowing service at all. What a fool I am! It was a piece of cake.
This was a quick and thought-provoking book about books. I like books about books, the most influential of all being Housekeeping vs The Dirt by Nick Hornby, which was hugely influential in my life and was responsible for turning me on to James Lee Burke and Persepolis. I’m very thankful for that.
This book was different from Hornby’s in that it didn’t talk much about the content of books, but focused on the activity of reading books. It gives up simple tips like “read in line at the DMV” and “have a next book stack next to your bed.” These are obvious, but it also had many insightful hints and theories that made it a valuable read for me.
One thing for sure, I’m done with “genre shame.” I noted this:
Read what you want. Embrace your you favorite genre: sniff out a mystery, fall for a romance, mosey into a Western. As young dystopian thriller author Veronica Roth says, genre shame is a waste of time.
This statement actually inspired me to toss in some Louis L’Amour on a more frequent basis.
I liked his thoughts on taking a lot of notes and exploring the meaning of stuff you read. It’s worth a read just to get you thinking about the craft of reading. Yes, I think it’s a craft, more than a hobby.