An avid reader is always searching for their next conquest. What better genre could there be for a lover of reading to peruse than books about books? Check out these “bibliobooks” from your local library for further investigation into the beloved pastime of reading:
Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live by Peter Orner – A collection of 41 short essays about reading and life reflects the acclaimed writer’s beliefs about the role of stories in shaping his identity and includes entries on the censoring of the works of Isaac Babel and Zora Neale Hurston, the paradoxical loneliness of Franz Kafka and the dubious insanity of Robert Walser.
The Literature Book edited by James Canton – A global assessment of the forefront works of literature and the themes that unite them is presented through a collection of 100 articles, infographics, photographs and author biographies and is complemented by suggestions for additional reading.
The Books That Changed My Life edited by Bethanne Patrick – Including contributions from Al Roker, Carl Hiaasen, Gillian Flynn, Liev Schreiber, Tim Gunn, Margaret Atwood, Mayim Bialik and many others, 100 of today’s most prominent literary and cultural icons share the books that changed their life, why they love them and their passion with readers everywhere.
Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living With Books by Michael Dirda – A latest volume of writings by the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and Washington Post columnist shares personal essays on diverse topics ranging from literary pets and cursive writing to book inscriptions and the pleasures of science-fiction conventions.
What We See When We Read: A Phenomenology by Peter Mendelsund – A Knopf art director presents a fully illustrated investigation into how we visualize images while reading works of literature, sharing example fragments of artwork that provide insights into how authors imagined their characters and settings.
The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (And Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life by Andy Miller – Chronicles the author’s year-long adventure reading fifty great tomes, reminding readers why they should make time in their lives for books.
Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books by Wendy Lesser – The founder and editor of “The Threepenny Review” draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing to describe a life lived in and through literature, exploring plays, poems, and essays as well as a range of fiction and nonfiction works from a variety of perspectives.