There is a particular allure to books about reading. And it is drawn from more than the meditative quality of the narrative, for to read about reading is to submit to a slower pace. It comes, in addition, from the very nature of the exercise, as reading about reading nudges us to examine our immersion in the written text, to work out how the written word shapes our interior selves and prepares us better to live the examined life.
At another level, it also forces us to analyse the physical experience of reading: the location where the book is read (a place that may hold special memories or a place that connects with the book), the form in which the book is read (paperback, hardback, e-book, audio-book), the ways in which we make pages our own by underlining, highlighting, jotting notes in the margins, dog-earing, book-marking, etc.
No two reading experiences will be the same, and here are some books on reading that may get you thinking more deeply about the common and unique ways in which you go about what is a daily activity.
Three of my recent favourite go-to books:
| Ex Libris Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman. |
| Where I’m Reading From The Changing World of Books by Tim Parks |
| Why I read The Serious Pleasure of Books by Wendy Lesser |
