Enjoy these memoirs of reading, bookstores, and libraries, and lives spent between the pages of books.
Bragg, Melvyn, 1939-
2006
Melvyn Bragg presents a vivid reminder of the book as agent of social, political and personal revolution. He is the author of "The Adventure of English".
White, Heather Cass.
2021
Heather Cass White writes about the pleasures of reading and its power in shaping our internal lives. It advocates for a life of constant, disorderly, time-consuming reading, and encourages readers to trust in the value of the exhilaration and fascination such reading entails. Rather than arguing for the moral value of reading or the preeminence of literature as an aesthetic form, Heather illustrates the irreplaceable experience of the self that reading provides for those inclined to do it. Print run 15,000.
Bythell, Shaun.
2020
In 2018, Shaun Bythell's The Diary of a Bookseller (soon to be a major U.K. TV series) introduced readers to the joys and frustrations of his life as the owner of The Bookshop, the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland. Now, Confessions of a Bookseller, sardonic and sympathetic in equal measure, returns to chart the highs and lows of another year in the life of a cantankerous-yet-lovable man passionate about books.
Spence, Annie, author
2017
Bogel, Anne, 1978- author
2018
Orlean, Susan, author
2018
The morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As one fireman recounted, "Once that first stack got going, it was 'Goodbye, Charlie.' Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, reporter and bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.
Conroy, Pat
2010
Conroy revisits a life of passionate reading. He includes anecdotes from his school days, accounts of how reading pulled him through dark times, and even lists of books that particularly influenced him at various stages of his life, including grammar school, high school, and college.
Jacobs, Alan, 1958-
2011
The author argues that reading is alive and well in America. Millions of devoted readers support hundreds of enormous bookstores and online booksellers. Jacobs's interactions with his students and the readers of his own books, however, suggest that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading well, with proper focus and attentiveness, with due discretion and discernment. Jacobs offers an insightful, accessible, and playfully irreverent guide for aspiring readers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of approaching literary fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and the book explores everything from the invention of silent reading, reading responsively, rereading, and reading on electronic devices.
Ozma, Alice
2011
When Alice Ozma was in 4th grade, she and her single father, an elementary school librarian, made a pact to see if he could read aloud to her for 100 consecutive nights. Alice's father read aloud to her every night without fail until the day she left for college. Told in a series of vignettes about Alice's relationship with her dad and the life lessons she learned from the stories he read to her.
Shea, Suzanne Strempek.
2004
Sankovitch, Nina
2011
After the death of her sister, Nina Sankovitch found herself caught up in grief, dashing from one activity to the next to keep her mind occupied. But on her forty-sixth birthday she decided to stop running and start reading. For once in her life she would put all other obligations on hold. Instead, she would devote herself to reading a book a day: one year of magical reading in which she found joy, healing, and wisdom.
Edim, Glory, 1982- editor
2018
An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature. Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives--but not everyone regularly sees themselves on the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all--regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability--have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature. Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology). Whether it's learning about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, finding a new type of love in The Color Purple, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, the subjects of each essay remind us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her book club-turned-online community Well-Read Black Girl, in this anthology Glory Edim has created a space in which black women's writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world and ourselves.
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Walton, Jo, author
2014
Manning, Molly Guptill, 1980- author
2014
2020
Moving, joyful, and insightful collection of conversations with today's living literary legends about the books that changed their lives, made them think, and brought them joy, from 'American's Librarian' Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager.
Miller, Andy, author
2014
