Y’all know I love books, right?! Right. I also love all the book-ish things too. For example, the only two podcasts I listen to are both about books. The first podcast is from the owner of a cute bookstore in Thomasville called The Bookshelf (her podcast is “From The Front Porch”), and the second podcast is by a blogger/author I love, Anne Bogel.
Anne began blogging at Modern Mrs. Darcy in 2011, and started her podcast five years later in 2016. I finally just found her earlier this year though, but instantly loved it all, and dove straight in. I started listening to old podcast episodes, as well as new ones she releases every Tuesday. Anyways, this was just some back-story for today’s post, because today I’m sharing all about Anne’s brand new book, which is being released on 9/4/18, titled “I’d Rather Be Reading.”
To be completely clear – I applied for, and was chosen, to be a part of the launch team, and received a free book in exchange for my honest review and social media promotion. But y’all, I would have bought it anyways, because hello? Why wouldn’t I have? It was sent directly to me from the publisher, Baker Books, along with the adorable bookmark and postcard-sized print, and a signed bookplate on the first page. And y’all, that watercolor image on the cover is of Anne’s personal library, right in her very own house! Swoon-worthy, right?!
It’s a delightful little book (at only 160 pages), and I really enjoyed reading it. The subtitle for the book is “the delights and dilemmas of the reading life,” and that hits the nail on the head for all of us book-lovers, bibliophiles & bookworms. It’s a collection of short essays, in which each chapter relates to a different book-ish delight or dilemma.
The first chapter is “Confess Your Literary Sins,” in which she shares some “sins” other readers have confessed to her. (You can listen to her read the first chapter here.) Like an English Lit major who wrote term papers on “Important Novels,” without having actually read any of them. One of my my confessions – I read “Pride and Prejudice” a few years ago, but didn’t like it. It was difficult and boring for me. In fact, I much prefer to watch the Kiera Knightly movie-version instead. I also have no interest in attempting any other Austen novels…
One of my favorite chapters/essays was “Life Imitates Art.” There’s a whole comparison/reference in that chapter to Kathleen Kelly & “You’ve Got Mail,” that I just loved. It made me really think about how reading can enrich our daily lives, when we experience something IRL (=in real life), that we’ve already read about in a book, and vise versa. This quote below is in the first paragraph of that chapter, and it’s so spot on, I’m a little confused that it wasn’t me who wrote it:
“I’m grateful for my one life, but I’d prefer to live a thousand–and my favorite books allow me to experience more on the page than I ever could in my actual life. A good book allows me to step into another world, to experience people and places and situations foreign to my own day-to-day existence. I love experiencing the new, the novel, the otherwise impossible–especially when I can do it from my own comfy chair.”
I am an introvert (and if you’re into personalities, 81% introverted ISFJ), so reading is naturally one of my favorite hobbies, since it’s a solitary, individual activity. But add in the part about doing it all from my own comfy cozy chair, and that’s my perfect way to spend time at home while the baby naps…
Anyways, I really enjoyed this little gem of a book (4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads!), and if you also love reading, I think you’ll enjoy it too. You’ll find so many truly relate-able things in it, and find yourself saying, “Hey, me too!” to a good portion of things.
If you pre-order the book (online or in person at any bookstore) anytime before 9/4/18 you get some awesome pre-order bonuses: FREE digital download of the audio version read by Anne, access to her new class (“7 Ways to Get More Out of Your Reading Life”), and the digital artwork to print yourself. OR, since this book is so giftable, if you pre-order two or more copies, you get all that I already mentioned, plus a signed bookplate, the bookmark, the postcard, and cute book-ish stickers from her shop.
And I’d highly recommend ordering at least one copy y’all. Mainly because it’s a great little book to actually read, but it’ll look really cute on your shelves too. And it’s also super affordable. It’s only $10.52 for the hardcover on Amazon Prime, and you get all those cute, freebie bonuses!
If my little gushing review has interested you at all, go check out the website, idratherbereading.com, and get the book for yourself! Happy reading!