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Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives

Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives

by Lucy Mangan

Pegasus Books ·2025 ·304 pages ·Culture
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
72/99
Near the Top

74/99

Critics

Near the Top

70/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

96/99

Rating

52/99

Volume

67/99

Rating

73/99

Volume

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About This Book

A celebration of books and a love story to the written word that reveals how books help us connect with other readers through shared stories.As a child, Lucy Mangan was reading all the time, using books to navigate the challenges and complexities of this world and many others. As an adult, she uses her new relationship with literature to seize upon the most important (how) do books prepare us for life? Bookish vividly tells the story of a reader's life from the cusp of teenagehood, when everything – including the way we read – undergoes a not-so-subtle transformation. Lucy vividly recounts her metamorphosis from young bookworm to bookish adult, from the way school curricula impact our relationship with literature, to the growing pains of swapping the pleasures of re-reading for those of book-hoarding.Revisiting the books of all genres (from literary novels and historical saga fiction to apocalyptic zombie novels) that ferried her through each important stage of life—falling in love, finding a job, becoming a mother, and navigating grief—Bookish is a coming-of-age story told through books. It's an ode to our favorite bookish spaces (from the smallest secondhand bookstalls to our favorite libraries, mega-bookshops, and our own bookshelves) and a love story to how books not only shelter our souls through hard times, but also how they help us connect with the people we love through shared stories.


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Reviews

"Mangan is out to show, not show off – to share her favorite books, sing their praises, and explain what they mean to her ..."

Malcolm Forbes· The Christian Science Monitor Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"An exploration that is admirably free of the temptation to show off ..."

Miranda France· Times Literary Supplement Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Tackles the myriad complexities of adulthood ..."

Nick Duerden· The Guardian Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"For anyone who has ever described themself as 'bookish.' It will appeal widely to lifelong readers, spark nostalgia and recognition, and provide rich material for book groups and discussions about the role of literature in shaping lives."

Susan McClellan· Library Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"An enthusiastic paean to the comfort, joy, and self-awareness that we find in literature."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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