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Rating: 
Summary: a dying world?
Review: Like the author i can remember the books i read as a child (with great fondness), i have those books even today, and like her they are my old and familiar friends. But unlike her most of those books have been nonfiction, for i thought/think those were the way to see the real world. After reading this book i realize that the gap i thought existed between nonfiction and fiction isn't really important. For she sees books, like i imagine most readers do, as a funny kind of mirror which reflects the reader's inner world at the same time as displaying the author's world. I think the gap is between readers and nonreaders, who like those described this book as visual or picture people, identify with films rather than books. The book is a memoir which asks the big question on our reading minds-- does it matter if i can't remember what is in the books? She answers it- "For in the end, even if all my books where to vanish, I would still have them somewhere, if I had read them attentively enough. Maybe the words on the page are not even the true book, in the end only a gateway to the book which recreates in the mind and lasts as long as we do." The book is a real treat for anyone who like her, is often asked, "haven't you wasted your life, by reading rather than experiencing life?" She answers this with the thought that her life is so intertwined with the books she has read and thereby experienced, and so made a part of her. That it doesn't matter, which is books and which is real life for they together make her, her. It's a good book, short, poignant with echoes and parallels apparent to any readers life. Go for it, spend a pleasant hour with this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A delightful gem for book lovers
Review: Lynne Schwartz' "Ruined by Reading" has languished on my bookshelf for quite some time while I continued to read the latest bestsellers. I regret that I did not read this delightful essay on the joys of reading earlier. Filled with anecdotes about her childhood and her initial exposure to books, this paen to reading reminds us of how we felt as children when we first entered the kingdom of books and were whisked away from the "here and now" to enchanted lands. As I read her book, I was taken back to the two-room schoolhouse as a teacher exposed us to Long John Siver and "Treasure Island". I also recalled reading Leon Uris' "Exodus" as a teenager and the profound impact it had in shaping my view of the world and the evil that humans are capable of. No doubt you too will be reminded of similar experiences if you choose to read this delightful little gem for book lovers.
Rating: 
Summary: an uncommon look at a common subject
Review: Ms. Schwartz reminded me of when I was a little girl--perhaps that's why I enjoyed reading this book so much. It was a fun read!! But it's no intellectual diatribe on bibliophiles--good for easy, entertaining reading only.
Rating:
Summary: You might be ruined by reading this book too seriously!
Review: THE PLOT Schwarz starts from a commentary by a Chinese scholar that some people are handicapped by reading too much, and not thinking enough about what they read. From there, she looks at the books she has read in her life and the role they have played. It is not a particularly serious tone throughout, but rather a personal commentary on the books that have been important to her in her life, and the elements of her life that took place in and around books.WHAT I LIKED - Emptying your mind for meditation vs. filling it up during a life spent reading (pg. 14) - On the un-importance of the authors vs. the impact of the words themselves (pg. 17) - A life spent reading (pg. 96) - Choices of reading material (pg. 107) - Ruined by reading (pg. 114) - On self (pg. 119) OVERALL RATING Certainly not a serious tome, but the tone was pleasant, the writing fair, and the material thoughtfully presented. Give it a 3.5 out of 5.0.
Rating:
Summary: A delight for book lovers
Review: This is part personal memoir, as the author tells about her own
childhood and the books that influenced her, and part essay on
why we read and how what we reads shapes our lives. Schwartz begins with the key question: Why do we read? One
Buddhist scholar she quotes says that reading is a handicap. "It
is better to keep your own mind free and to not let the thinking
of others interfere with your own free thinking." As she thinks
about her own life, she realizes that she doesn't remember much
of what she's read and wonders if this means that she has not
gained by it. She even commits heresy by saying that she has managed "not to
finish certain books," and is proud of it. Still, she is unable
to throw away any of those unread books; they remain on her
shelves, even those she feels have no merit. She may hide them on
a high shelf, but they remain part of her life. She finally concludes that "unlike love, reading is a pure
activity. It will gain us nothing but enchantment of the heart."
But for those of us who are "book addicts, perhaps that is
enough. This is a rather short book (119 pages), but I think book lovers
will enjoy it.
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