I was curious to know how other authors wrote about their reading lives. I figured it was valuable research as I plan to do the same in Categorically Well Read. I didn't find many titles. But the sheer quantity of books these authors claim to have read seriously intimidates me. I also wanted to find book suggestions that were more than just moldy old lists of should be read "classics". I have issues with the value of using my valuable reading time reading a book just because it is a classic--it also has to be a good read. Such as Middlemarch by George Eliot, Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
After reading The Shelf and Morningstar-- my category ran into a little technical difficulty. As I was exploring other "reading and book themed" websites I stumbled across Modern Mrs. Darcy a popular blog created by Anne Bogel. It is very easy to get sucked down a rabbit hole on her site. I noticed she had written a book about her reading life. During a deep dive on her website I found another author, Kathleen Norris with a very intriguing somewhat theme related title and topic. While I was on Amazon buying these two books I found Amazon recommending a third, titled "Book Girl" and I bought it as well.
What I failed to note at first glance was the Christian slant of ALL of these books and websites. While Anne Bogel does a good job keeping her book and her website "secular" rather than overtly "spiritual" -- her book is ranked on Amazon under Christian living and a lot of her followers are definitely living Christians. Nothing wrong with this, to each their own...Anne has a very good eye for very good reading material. In fact I have another category going based on a list of can't put down books I found on her website. And I will be ever grateful for stumbling across Kathleen Norris's book on her site.
I am giving Kathleen Norris a pass on the religious front as the word "monk" is included in the title and particularly because her book gave me the key to unlocking the mysterious malaise I often feel about living life. I have been unable to accurately describe it and now I can. I knew going in that this was a religious book written by a woman with a devout faith, but the demon of which she writes is a universal element in the makeup of human minds.
I skimmed through the included lists but could not make myself read Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson and I tried. I am a little peeved at both Amazon and the publisher to tell the truth. You read "20+ recommended reading lists, the treasures and transforming power of reading, the joys of being a "book girl" but what you never find out until you start reading is that this book has serious religious tones. This fact was not mentioned in the description or on the back cover. The lists--sorry to say-- are more about what to read if you want to be a good Christian and given that the author is an Oxford divinity scholar completely understandable. These comments are in retrospect--I wish this slant had been more fully divulged and I could have saved my book fund the expense.
Unfortunately, I found her writing style irritating, too ingratiating and chummy. And I know I just skimmed but I kept getting this sneaking feeling that she hadn't read all the books she put into her lists. For the record, I do have a rather immense "To Be Read" stack of books but I do not recommend them as must reads (if warranted) until after I have actually read them.
Once again, to each their own, and if these types of religious reading lists are where you choose to spend your precious reading time, it is no business of mine. Just realize that I mostly find my solace and truths elsewhere and read from those lists.
Most of these authors, whose books I did read, wrote a lot about books that influenced their reading lives as they were growing up, which encouraged me to examine mine. I am acquiring my titles for a future reading list.
Some books about the reading life.
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