8 Quotes from I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life [NF Review]

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.

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Review ✍🏻

“The Delights and Dilemmas”

I’d Rather Be Reading captures feelings and experiences any book blogger or book lover can relate to. Here’s a quote from the introduction that made me think I would enjoy this book:

You’re looking for a book that reminds you why you read in the first place. One written well and that will feel like it was written just for you – one that will make you think about things in a new way, or feel things you didn’t expect a book to make you feel, or see those things in a new light. A book you won’t want to put down, whose characters you don’t want to tell good-bye. A book you will close feeling satisfied and grateful, thinking, Now that was a good one. […] But finding those books – for myself or for any other reader – isn’t so easy.

I’d Rather Be Reading 7%

YES. Aren’t we always chasing this feeling? And, though you may read many wonderfully written stories, isn’t this particularly feeling a difficult one to recapture? With thousands and thousands of new books every year, it takes particular skill and no doubt a good helping of luck to find those just-for-you titles. I found Bogel’s observations relatable on smaller levels as well:

We’re the kind of people who understand the heartbreak of not having your library reserves come in before you leave town for vacation.

I’d Rather Be Reading 9%

Ugh, yes, I’ve experienced that more than once. This is still in the introduction, as Bogel lays out the purpose of I’d Rather Be Reading: a dive into the personal nature of reading.

Keep confessing to your fellow readers; tell them what your reading life is really like. They’ll understand. They may even say, “You too?” And when they do, you’ve found a friend.

I’d Rather Be Reading, 14%

Raise your hand if this is part of your motivation for book blogging. 🙋🏻‍♀️ Finding such friends ‘IRL’ can be challenging. Book blogging gives us a vast community in which we can find our likeminded readers. Later on, Bogel dedicates an entire essay to the topic.

I’m constantly on the lookout for like-minded readers, those kindred spirits whose circles overlap my own on the Venn diagram of reading tastes. I would be lost without my fellow readers who tell me what they enjoyed, and why. Who gives me clues as to what I will enjoy, or not. Will that book be worth my time? I rely on my reader companions to guide me. I know their taste and I understand how it relates to my own.

I’d Rather Be Reading, “Book Twins”, 72%

I have so many other spots highlighted where Bogel gives words to a reading experience I feel must be widely shared among readers but is rarely talked about. Or she describes a ‘dilemma’ in such a way that she cuts to the heart of things in a way that I’ve only felt and never voiced.

For readers, the great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other readers you’ve been. Sometimes you think fondly of the readers you used to be; sometimes looking back makes you cringe a little. But they’re still here. They’re still you.

I’d Rather Be Reading, “The Readers I Have Been”, 49%

Aside from the sheer impossibility of choosing just one favorite book, her question was daunting for another reason: I felt like I’d been asked to lay my soul on the table. Reading is personal and never more so than when we’re sharing why we connect with certain books.

I’d Rather Be Reading, “Windows to the Soul”, 86%

The reflections throughout aren’t all so deeply introspective; a few made me laugh out of loud. You may find certain points in the essay “Bookworm Problems” feel like personal attacks. 😜 I know this one did:

Your bookstore is having a three-for-two sale. You easily find the first two, but you cannot for the life of you decide on a third book. You buy nothing. You regret it later.

I’d Rather Be Reading, “Bookworm Problems”, 44%

Perspective

I did not know when I picked up this book that Bogel is a book blogger/online personality. Her writing clearly comes from her perspective as a well-off adult white woman. I am also a well-off adult white woman, so I related to many of her experiences. As I hope I demonstrated above, much of what she describes will be relatable to all dedicated readers. But comments throughout the book will remind you of her privilege, such as buying a house at 21, travelling on vacation, or library fines piling up or cards being cancelled. It’s that final point that did irk me a bit. It may be funny for Bogel, but such fines can be a real barrier to would-be library users. I wish she had acknowledged it as such, as she does when describing why some people think they aren’t or can’t be ‘readers’:

But the truths of many readers’ reading lives make them uncomfortable; their gap isn’t a source of amusement, but frustration. They’re certain their taste is questionable, their opinions are wrong, their habits are poor, and it’s only a matter of time before the book police track them down.

I’d Rather Be Reading, 11%

The Bottom Line 💭

A delightful look at the little joys and challenges of being a committed reader, there is something for every reader to relate to in I’d Rather Be Reading.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Book webpage, hosted on the author’s blog
🍂 Interview @ Washington Post
🍂 Related: I’d Rather Be Reading pairs well with Daniel Pennac’s The Rights of the Reader, which reads like a manifesto for reclaiming your enjoyment of reading by examining how children who once loved reading start to hate it.

Do you enjoy reading about reading? What books on the topic would you recommend?