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Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Disappointing and forgettable Review: As a self-confessed bibliophile, I hoped the contributions to this book would evoke and reflect the peculiar state of mind that booklovers get during the reading experience--something on the order of Tom Raabe's "Biblioholism," or "Reading in Bed." However, I found this book to be quite a disappointment. The entries are, as a group, unremarkable and fail to engage the emotions (at least for me). Just a very few of the passages were interesting or evocative enough to flag for future reflection. I did not keep this book, unlike others on the subject of bibliomania.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Essays for book addicts Review: Here's a special selection for those of you who live to read. In 'Bookworms,' edited by Laura Furman and Elinore Standard, you will find a variety of essays and quotes on your favorite subject.The first section was for me the most interesting. Entitled 'The Young Reader,' it contained explanations by a variety of folks on how they first learned to read. If you enjoy keeping a list of the books you have read or if you have ever tried to master one of the '100 books you absolutely have to read' lists, you will enjoy Richard Rodriguez's experiences. The more he read, the more he discovered he needed to read next. 'At the library,' he remembers, 'I would literally trembled as I came upon whole shelves of books I hadn't read. So I read and I read and I read. . . .' Or perhaps you remember those first exciting moments when you discovered a certain author, especially one who had a whole series of books. In this case, you will identify with Hal Borland who first came across real books while visiting a neighbor on the prairies of Colorado. When she loaned him a copy of Cooper's 'The Last of the Mohicans,' he had walked halfway home before he came up for air. 'I had just discovered a world of horizons beyond horizons,' he remembers, 'a world I couldn't see even from the top of the hay stack on a clear day. I had found something that would shape my whole life. As I trudged on, I began to sense my discovery, a discovery even bigger than the plains.' The next section, entitled 'Sorts of Readers.' You will probably concur with Joseph Epstein when he says, 'having too much to read isn't a problem; having to little to read has been on occasion. In paucity, never prolificacy, lies fear.' Do you find that men and women like different kinds of books? Tamar Lewin speaks of 'boy books' and 'girl books,' Men like anything where the point is the ideas, the landscape, or the action; girl books are 'about relationships, families, and the details of daily life.' Thus the war between the sexes is really the battle between 'Moby Dick' and 'Little Women.' Other sections in this fascinating collection are 'Reading Aloud,' 'Reading Ahead' (which contains a timely essay on the impact of computers on the world of books), 'Queen Lear' (dealing with the way we use books to understand ourselves) and 'The Privileges Pleasure' Finally there is a bibliography for those of you who want even more. If you are a book addict, you will enjoy these essays.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Essays for book addicts Review: Here???s a special selection for those of you who live to read. In ???Bookworms,??? edited by Laura Furman and Elinore Standard, you will find a variety of essays and quotes on your favorite subject. The first section was for me the most interesting. Entitled ???The Young Reader,??? it contained explanations by a variety of folks on how they first learned to read. If you enjoy keeping a list of the books you have read or if you have ever tried to master one of the ???100 books you absolutely have to read??? lists, you will enjoy Richard Rodriguez???s experiences. The more he read, the more he discovered he needed to read next. ???At the library,??? he remembers, ???I would literally trembled as I came upon whole shelves of books I hadn???t read. So I read and I read and I read. . . .??? Or perhaps you remember those first exciting moments when you discovered a certain author, especially one who had a whole series of books. In this case, you will identify with Hal Borland who first came across real books while visiting a neighbor on the prairies of Colorado. When she loaned him a copy of Cooper???s ???The Last of the Mohicans,??? he had walked halfway home before he came up for air. ???I had just discovered a world of horizons beyond horizons,??? he remembers, ???a world I couldn???t see even from the top of the hay stack on a clear day. I had found something that would shape my whole life. As I trudged on, I began to sense my discovery, a discovery even bigger than the plains.??? The next section, entitled ???Sorts of Readers.??? You will probably concur with Joseph Epstein when he says, ???having too much to read isn???t a problem; having to little to read has been on occasion. In paucity, never prolificacy, lies fear.??? Do you find that men and women like different kinds of books? Tamar Lewin speaks of ???boy books??? and ???girl books,??? Men like anything where the point is the ideas, the landscape, or the action; girl books are ???about relationships, families, and the details of daily life.??? Thus the war between the sexes is really the battle between ???Moby Dick??? and ???Little Women.??? Other sections in this fascinating collection are ???Reading Aloud,??? ???Reading Ahead??? (which contains a timely essay on the impact of computers on the world of books), ???Queen Lear??? (dealing with the way we use books to understand ourselves) and ???The Privileges Pleasure??? Finally there is a bibliography for those of you who want even more. If you are a book addict, you will enjoy these essays.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Little Sleeper Review: The perfect gift for the real reader! An anthology which includes words from your fellow readers through the centuries. This is a book you can dip into. Keep it by the bed. Read a little here, a little there. Enjoy what other reading addicts have to tell you about the place of reading in their own lives. See how reading continues to change a life, continues to provide openings, escape, a way up and a way out.
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