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Blogging About Books has started the Bookish Books Reading Challenge 2023. The focus is on reviewing only books whose main themes are related to books! Read host Susan's description here.
I can think of Carlos Ruiz Zafon and the four books in his series, the Cemetery of Forgotten Books: The Shadow of the Wind (review), The Angel's Game, The Prisoner of Heaven (review), and The Labyrinth of the Spirits.
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. And The Book Thief are others.
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr, published September 2015 by Harper is all about writing books, namely your memories.
Book's beginning, Ch. 1, The Past's Vigor
At unexpected points in life, everyone gets waylaid by the colossal force of recollection. One minute you're a grown-ass woman, then a whiff of cumin conjures your dad's curry, and a whole door to the past blows open, ushering an uncanny detail. There are traumatic memories that ride u unbidden and dwarf you where you stand. But there are also memories you dig for: you start with a clear fix on a tiny instant, and pick at every knot until a thin thread comes undone that you can follow back through the mind's labyrinth to other places. We''ve all interrogated ourselves -- It couldn't have been Christmas because we had shorts on in the snapshot. Such memories start by being figured out, but the useful ones eventually gain enough traction to haul you through the past.
In The Art of Memoir, Mary Karr synthesizes her expertise as professor and therapy patient, writer and spiritual seeker, recovered alcoholic and “black belt sinner,” providing a unique window into the mechanics and art of the form that is as irreverent, insightful, and entertaining as her own work in the genre. (publisher)
SÅsuke Natsukawa, Louise Heal Kawai (Translator), February 2017
This is a book for bibliophiles, readers, reviewers, and those who collect books. It's also for those who don't read and are sceptical about the value of books.
And contemporary romantic comedy with a book loving heroine: Book Lovers (review) by Emily Henry. The main theme is romance, but books feature prominently.
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
I do so love books about books (inevitably). Over the last year or so I read:
ReplyDeleteMurder by the Book – Mysteries for Bibliophiles edited by Martin Edwards
Burning the Books – A History of Knowledge Under Attack by Richard Ovenden
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
You've given me some ideas for bookish books!
DeleteI haven't read any on your list, but I love books about books!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many. I just have to seek them out.
DeleteAlways love a bookish theme! Have fun with the challenge and happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great list! Thank you for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on this challenge too. Of yours I've read the Ruiz book and Book Lovers. So far this year for the challenge I've read: Book Charmer, Spine Poems, The Personal Librarian, and The Writing Retreat. Ones I'm considering: Black Out Book Club, Book Eaters, Bookseller at the End of the World (nonfic), Littlest Library, Parnassus on Wheels, Summer Hours at the Robber's Library, Bookshop of Yesterdays, The Lost & Found Bookshop, Diary of a Bookseller (nonfic). Hopefully you'll find an idea or two in my list. :) Happy bookish reading.
ReplyDeleteHave a terrific week!
Terrie at Bookshelf Journeys
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is another bookish book I really liked. Thanks for all your suggestions.
DeleteWhat a great theme for a challenge! Your selections all sound terrific.
ReplyDeleteMr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is one of my all-time favorites. My book club read The Shadow of the Wind years ago, but I don’t remember it. And I was disappointed in The Cat…. But I never thought of them as having anything to do with each other. Your list is very intriguing.
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I didn't join the challenge but I got some ideas for books to read from you and others who joined.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a fun challenge. I love books about books!
ReplyDeleteI see two favorites of mine at the top of your list, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadows of the Wind and Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir. I grew up in the exact same locale as Mary Karr (I'm about 7 years older than her), and her writing so perfectly captures the period and the place that I find myself reading her books over and over, often picking them up just for a quick bit of time machine travel.
ReplyDeleteThat must be nice to read books taking place in a familiar place and time.
DeleteI have never tried the Carlos Ruiz Zafon books. I will have to look into them. I do have The Cat Who Saved Books and hope to read that this year. I will check out your review.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I enjoy books about books, I struggle to come up with enough to participate in the challenge. I have a feeling I'd do better if I looked at them as they came as opposed to trying to list them all now.
ReplyDeleteI always say that one of my favorite genres is books-about-books. According to Goodreads, I've read 258 of them so far in my life. Some of my favorites are Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress; The Midnight Library; Cloud Cuckoo Land; and The Uncommon Reader.
ReplyDeleteI also love to read books that are lists or recollections of good books. The last ones of these I've read and enjoyed are The Novel Cure; Dear Reader; and Around the World in 80 Books.
Thank you for sharing your list. I hope to read The Cat Who Saved Books soon.
I didn't list my books under this genre in goodreads, books about books, so I would have to go through them all to count!
DeleteI'm participating in this reading challenge, too, because I do love reading bookish books. Shadow of the Wind is one of my all-time favorite books. And I thought The Cat Who Saved Books was a fun read. And Book Lovers is one of those romances that made me laugh all the way through. Great choices! :D
ReplyDeleteI am doing this challenge as well. I am currently read Twice Sold Tales by Chautona Havig and it is sooo good!!
ReplyDeleteI've seen a lot of people posting about Book Lovers, by Emily Henry. What a cool challenge! :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your challenge! As you know I'm doing this one too. I read Book Lovers last year and loved it! Hope you do, too.
ReplyDeleteOooh! I really want to read Shadow of the Wind! Lots of great books here!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Sunday Post
Please join the Book Photo Sundays and Cover Spotlight
Rabbit Ears Book Blog: WORLD’S WEIRDEST BOOK BLOG!
I LOVE Carlos Ruiz Zafon's books, they're so evocative and mysterious and dramatic. I'll definitely check back for your review on The Angel's Game as well! The Cat Who Saved Books looks great as well. I've currently hot 'If Cats Disappeared from the World' lying on my TBR, which is also from a Japanese author. They've really got the cat+books corner of the market covered xD I hope you have a lovely week :)
ReplyDeleteJuli @ A Universe in Words
Book Lovers sounds cute!
ReplyDeleteI need to read something by Emily Henry! And I do love when a book is about an author or something as one of the main characters. Thanks for sharing these!
ReplyDeleteBooks about books can be so much fun. Emily Henry's book is in my TBR pile.
ReplyDeleteI love that Shadow of the Wind cover. Nice grouping. Books that have the word "books" in the title always get my interest. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteI recently read The Cat Who Saved Books and enjoyed it, I thought it was a perfect book for readers and bibliophiles! I read Books Lovers last year and really enjoyed it too.
ReplyDeleteI hope you love Book Lovers as much as I did.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy Book Lovers - that one's really popular at the store I work at. This sounds like a fun reading challenge!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This is a fun and clever challenge!
ReplyDeleteThe last book I read that would fit is The Book of Stolen Dreams: https://wordsandpeace.com/2023/06/04/sunday-post-86-06-04-2023/
I do have a Goodreads shelf about books on books!
The Shadow of the Wind is still on my To Be Read list after so many years. I will get to it. It seems like a modern classic. I hope you enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the challenge! These are some great suggestions. I love books about books (which is why I decided to host the challenge), although I've only read one of these. I need to check out some of these others.
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