Reading has been slow these last few weeks. So my apologies, dear readers. More reviews are in the works – promise. I’ve been thinking a lot about personal libraries of late, and not just my own (though I do have design drawings for bookshelves I’m planning for the living room). It started with Phantoms on the Bookshelves, which made me reconsider the value of a working … Continue reading The “Private” Library
The “phantoms” in the title is misleading. They aren’t what you think. Jacques Bonnet’s explains in his 2012 book of essays, Phantoms on the Bookshelves, that a fantôm is a “sheet or card inserted to mark the place of a book removed from a library shelf, or a document which has been borrowed.” Of course he delights in the play on words – who wouldn’t? … Continue reading Phantoms on the Bookshelves by Jacques Bonnet (translated from the French by Siân Reynolds)
Biblio-porn is a category of books specifically targeting bibliophiles – the true reading fanatics. It caters to the fetishists among us by focusing on all things literary: books, bookshops, readers, etc. Biblio-porn revels in the written word. A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé and translated by Alison Anderson is undoubtedly biblio-porn. An heiress offers a bookshop manager the opportunity to join her in opening the shop … Continue reading A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé (translated from the original French by Alison Anderson)
It’s snowing in the Northeast. Again. Perfect reading weather. Per fect non-fiction reading weather. At the moment I’m working my way through Lyndall Gordon’s Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson & Her Family’s Feuds. It’s a shocking read! I’ve learned from Gordon that the real Emily Dickinson (there’s no nice way to put this) was creepy. And not in a cool, zombie kinda’ way. … Continue reading Emily Dickinson & Stephen Cobert – What Do They Have In Common? Absolutely Nothing!
Yeah, I know. I’ll probably get kicked out of the union for saying that. But it’s the truth. So I thought that instead I’d follow the example of Beth Fish Reads and do more of a wrap-up post for the year rather than a Best Of List (though I will be including a short list of books that stood out for me in 2010). In … Continue reading I Hate End of the Year Lists (2010)
READER AT LARGE 