"For so many people, reading isn't just a hobby or a way to pass the time--it's a lifestyle. Our books shape us, define us, enchant us, and even sometimes infuriate us. Our books are a part of who we are as people, and we can't imagine life without them.
I'd Rather Be Reading is the perfect literary companion for everyone who feels that way. In this collection of charming and relatable reflections on the reading life, beloved blogger and author Anne Bogel leads readers to remember the book that first hooked them, the place where they first fell in love with reading, and all of the moments afterward that helped make them the reader they are today. Known as a reading tastemaker through her popular podcast What Should I Read Next?, Bogel invites book lovers into a community of like-minded people to discover new ways to approach literature, learn fascinating new things about books and publishing, and reflect on the role reading plays in their lives.
The perfect gift for the bibliophile in everyone's life, I'd Rather Be Reading will command an honored place on the overstuffed bookshelves of any book lover."

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel
Genres: Nonfiction

Another book about many other books!

About rereads:

– Thousands of years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

– “A good book, when we return to it, will always have something new to say. It’s not the same book, and we’re not the same reader.”

– “When we revisit a book we’ve read before, we see how life has woken us up to understand passages that previously went over our heads. The book itself highlights the gap between who I am and who I used to be. I imagine this is why readers frequently revisit their childhood favorites: they take us back to who we were then, reminding us of times long gone by. Rereading helps us see how we have changed.”

“As Italo Calvino wrote, “A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” Great books keep surprising me with new things.”

“Read ‘Anne of Green Gables‘ once, and you’re shocked when she cracks the slate over Gilbert’s head. Read it the second time, and you read that scene through the lens of knowing everything that will come after. Read ‘Persuasion‘ the first time, and you shudder at every successive relational plot turn. Read it again, and—remembering the ending—you read it differently, knowing every character’s inner thoughts, motivations, and shortly-to-follow resolutions.”

“I experienced this vividly recently when I reread ‘Crossing to Safety‘ for the fourth or fifth time. Stegner’s work continues to improve for me on each successive reading.”

“In Gabrielle Zevin’s delightful novel ‘The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry‘, her fictional character owns a bookstore on a remote East Coast island. It’s a love letter to the power of books and bookstores to bring people together. At one point, A. J. Fikry, a wise man despite his fictional status, explains to his daughter, “You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book?”

“We are readers. Books are an essential part of our lives and of our life stories. For us, reading isn’t just a hobby or a pastime; it’s a lifestyle.”

“Reading is personal and never more so than when we’re sharing why we connect with certain books.”

Some references in this book:

Allen, Sarah Addison – The Sugar Queen
Atkinson, Kate – A God in Ruins
Austen, Jane – Pride and Prejudice
Backman, Fredrik – Beartown
Cairns, Scott – Short Trip to the Edge
Calvino, Italo – The Uses of Literature
Cash, Wiley – The Last Ballad
Cleave, Chris – Gold
Crouch, Blake – Dark Matter
Currey, Mason – Daily Rituals
De Los Santos, Marisa – Love Walked In
Doerr, Anthony – Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
Duhigg, Charles – The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Enger, Leif – Peace Like a River
Freeman, Emily P – A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live
French, Tana – The Trespasser
Hillenbrand, Laura – Seabiscuit: An American Legend
Jackson, Joshilyn – The Almost Sisters
Jahren, Hope – Lab Girl
Klosterman, Chuck – But What If We’re Wrong?: Thinking about the Present As If It Were the Past
Lamott, Anne – Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace
Latham, Jennifer – Dreamland Burning
Lawhon, Ariel – The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress
L’Engle, Madeleine – The Irrational Season
Lewis, C. S – The Four Loves
Martin, George R. R. – A Dance with Dragons
Martin, Shannan – Falling Free: Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted
Pink, Daniel – Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us
Quindlen, Anna – Thinking Out Loud: On the Personal, the Political, the Public, and the Private
Russo, Richard – Empire Falls
Simonson, Helen – Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
Towles, Amor – Rules of Civility
Trelease, Jim – The Read-Aloud Handbook
Vanderkam, Laura – I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time
Ward, Jesmyn – Salvage the Bones
Whalen, Marybeth – The Things We Wish Were True
Zevin, Gabrielle – The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry