Thursday, April 2, 2015

One for the Books by Joe Queenan, 244 pages

This is a basically a love letter to books, explaining one person's obsession with books. Joe Queenan is a much more high-falutin' reader than I am, but no less of a voracious reader. I especially agree with his thought on how much of our love affairs with reading and books are tied up in the physicality of books, it's not the same with a Kindle. I myself have books that I have more than one copy of because of where I got it, or what I was doing when I read it, or the appearance of the book itself. I've referred to a copy of a book as "my reading copy" when talking about multiple copies. I do have to disagree with his dislike of libraries or borrowing books. I realize he's an author and depends on royalties from books sales, but considering I read 300+ books a year generally, I can't afford to buy all the books I read. I also thought the author should have cut about 44 pages or so from the book because anything over 200 pages is fluff (inside joke.)
Because I found myself nodding and agreeing in some sections, and getting upset and almost vocally disagreeing in other sections, I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who considers themselves a bookaholic. I would start a support group but it would cut into my reading time.

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