A few favourite books about books and reading

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I love reading, and I also love reading about reading! So today I thought I'd share a few of my favourite books which are about books and reading.

Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books by Cathy Rentzenbrink

This is probably my favourite book about books and reading. It's a story about the author's relationship with books, her work involving books, and how books helped her through tragedy. It was interesting to read about her work in a bookshop and I was pleased to read about many books that I've also enjoyed. But for me the best part of the book was the themed sections of recommended reading. I went through the book with my local library app and the Amazon app next to me, busy reserving and adding to my wish list all the books that I wanted to read!

Bookworm by Lucy Mangan

This book is a similar style to Dear Reader, but with more of a focus on children's books and childhood reading. Being of the same generation of the author I found most of my own favourites covered, with only a few that were unfamiliar to me. It really made me think about how important books were to my childhood.

Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman

This book is a collection of essays about books and readings rather than being about specific books or recommendations. Among many things, the author discusses the difficulties of merging a library with a fellow book loving husband, the delight of reading a book in the place in which it was set, her family's obsession with proof reading and about collecting new and interesting words. It's a lovely little book which I often pick up and browse through.

Ex Libris by Michiko Kakutani

Same title as above, but a completely different book! This book is a collection of 100+ books to read and re-read. I consider myself to be quite well read, but I hadn't heard of many of these books. There is a lot of non-fiction and a definite bias towards books that cover topics of American history and politics that don't interest me a great deal, but the book does have beautiful illustrations which make it a gorgeous book to leaf through and feel inspired.

Word Perfect by Susie Dent

This one isn't so much about books but it would definitely appeal to a reader. It's a book filled with words, one for each day of the year. Most of the words are familiar but there are a few more obscure ones mixed in and as well as discussion about the word it's a fascinating look at how language develops and changes over time.