Sign in with Facebook
The Top 10 Most Popular Books About Books on Goodreads
You know you’re a next-level bibliophile when the books you read are about books themselves. These are the stories where cavernous libraries, charming bookshops, ancient manuscripts, and magical tomes take center stage. Between their pages, both readers and characters can share the joy that books bring.
For this roundup, we focused on fiction titles where books play a major role in the plot. From there, we surfaced the most popular titles with at least 100,000 ratings on Goodreads. So fan favorites with a lower number of overall ratings like The Eyre Affair, The Library at Mount Char, and The Book of Lost Things are under the cut. You can add to our list by sharing your favorite books about books in the comments. Don't forget to add what catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf.
For this roundup, we focused on fiction titles where books play a major role in the plot. From there, we surfaced the most popular titles with at least 100,000 ratings on Goodreads. So fan favorites with a lower number of overall ratings like The Eyre Affair, The Library at Mount Char, and The Book of Lost Things are under the cut. You can add to our list by sharing your favorite books about books in the comments. Don't forget to add what catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments Showing 1-50 of 78 (78 new)
The Library and Mount Char is not featuring books, though. :)
The Princess Bride, in a way, is also a book-about-books, when you take into consideration all of the S. Morgenstern sub-plot/back-drop that adds to the fairy-tale-like setting.Also, maybe The Invisible Library? I haven’t read it yet, but I just bought it thanks to a Goodreads Recommendation.
Julia wrote: "I love books about books! Inkheart and Fahrenheit 451 are two of my favourite books of all time!Have also read The Neverending Story, and my sister read The Library at Mount Char!"
Ironically, Library at Mount Char wasn't really about books at all. One of those books I went into now knowing what it wasn't about. I wasn't disappointed, per se, but I was thrown for a twist.
LOL -- I guess I qualify for a "next level bibliophile": I've read 9/10, and have wanted to read the 10th. :-)
Just reading a book about books, "Ink and bone" by Rachel Caine and I like it.
Brent wrote: "Julia wrote: "I love books about books! Inkheart and Fahrenheit 451 are two of my favourite books of all time!Have also read The Neverending Story, and my sister read The Library at Mount Char!"
..."
Oh, I just saw it listed in this post as one of the books they considered for this list, so I assumed it was about books! My sister was thrown for a twist with this one, too... I know she voted for it on Listopia’s list of “Trippy Books.”
https://images.gr-assets.com/featured...I just loooove the picture accompanying this topic. My dream library... gods, I wish there were magic in this world so that I could have a library like this in my basement. Imagine having such an extensive library at your disposal.
How on earth is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde not on this list! Thursday is literally a Literary Detective who can travel INTO books.
I second the invisible library series
also libromancer has a very book theme.
also libromancer has a very book theme.
The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers should definitely be on this list, too!
Read and loved half of these and most of the other half are want-to-read...Inkheart was a major childhood favourite, so nice to see it here. <3
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe was wonderful.
Marcia wrote: "How on earth is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde not on this list! Thursday is literally a Literary Detective who can travel INTO books."If you read the full blog post, it doesn't meet the qualifications with 98,000+ ratings
"From there, we surfaced the most popular titles with at least 100,000 ratings on Goodreads."
I loved, loved The All Souls Trilogy. The Discovery of Witches had caught my eye at Borders when it went out of biz. A blogger had mentioned it reminding me about it and I bought the Kindle book to read. I wasn't disappointed at all.
Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher (City of dreaming books) von Walter Moers <3
Don't forget "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks
Julia wrote: "The Princess Bride, in a way, is also a book-about-books, when you take into consideration all of the S. Morgenstern sub-plot/back-drop that adds to the fairy-tale-like setting.Also, maybe The In..."
Yes. The entire series is a trippy melange of various tropes and resonates with all the bibliomaniacs who ever felt that they would be justified in nicking books because no one else would ever love them like they did:)
Loved the Yellow lighted bookshop by Lewis Buzbee.
Parnassus on Wheels, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
I'm excited to start reading these! Another good book about books is "Too Loud A Solitude".
Erin ☕ *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "Marcia wrote: "How on earth is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde not on this list! Thursday is literally a Literary Detective who can travel INTO books."If you read the full blog post, it doesn't ..."
Oh so close! Oh well - it's an excellent book. One of my absolute favorites.
There's also Die Buchspringer/The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser <3
Karen Floyd wrote: "Parnassus on Wheels, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend"Yes! I loved The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend! Such a lovely, joyful book.
There are tons of good books and series featuring books but that 100,000 rating criteria sure eliminates most of the newer ones. I see other people mentioning books that don't meet that rating level so here's a few more good series - All of Vicki Delany writing as Eva Gates' "Lighthouse Library" series as well as Vicki Delany's own "Sherlock Holmes Bookshop" series and the very good "Book Collector Mystery series by Victoria Abbott. Lots of individual books or parts of series too like Eric Wright's "The Hemingway Caper".
Disclaimer a book about a book and it reflects unknowingly the life of the owner with a secret horrific event. 👀👀
Love this list I also loved The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster - it wasn’t necessary about books but a bookstore in Brooklyn played a big part.
I love Gaarder's Bibbi Bokkens Magic Library. It's fun to get cozy in a library while playing detectives.
I loved The Club Dumas, I wish more people would read it!
What about the Harry Potter series? Books are pretty prominent in those stories and played pivotal roles: Tom Marvolo's diary (a major plot point to CoS AND DH); the giant tome featuring Nicholas Flamel (SS); the potions book once belonging to the Half-blood Prince (HBP); the frequent trips to Flourish & Blotts; the forbidden section of the Hogwarts library...
My favorite book about a book is S. by J.J. Abrams. I'm just getting ready for a re-read.
I would add "The readers of Broken Wheel recommend..." by Katrina Bivald, because it's a book about how books can change people's lives. I loved it and everyone who loves reading will love it too!
Rachel wrote: "What about the Harry Potter series? Books are pretty prominent in those stories and played pivotal roles: Tom Marvolo's diary (a major plot point to CoS AND DH); the giant tome featuring Nicholas F..."And don't forget "The Tales of Beedle the Bard"! :)
Marcia wrote: "How on earth is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde not on this list! Thursday is literally a Literary Detective who can travel INTO books."Exactly - the best and most detailed books about books - and brilliant
I will have to check some of these out! The Thirteenth Tale comes to mind too. It's like a beautiful love letter to books, especially the novels of the Victorian Era, and it has a charming, moving, mysterious plot.
The Book Shop on the Corner, by Jenny ColganThe Little Paris Bookshop, by Nina George
The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett
The Reading Group, by Elizabeth Noble
The Book of Air and Shadows, by Michael Gruber
Voices, by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Telling, by Ursula K. LeGuin
If On A Winter's Night A Traveler, by Italo Calvino
Margot wrote: "I would add "The readers of Broken Wheel recommend..." by Katrina Bivald, because it's a book about how books can change people's lives. I loved it and everyone who loves reading will love it too!"Just checked this out and it looks fabulous- another book on my TBR
Chris wrote: "Dunning's Bookman series didn't make the cut? That's a shame because the first two books at least are quite readable. The series is about ex-homicide detective Cliff Janeway who loses his badge and..."Mr. Dunning is the man whom my husband blamed for my purchasing "EXPENSIVE books" as he called them. I would just look at his garage full of tools.... same difference...
Amy wrote: "The Library and Mount Char is not featuring books, though. :)"But it IS about a library - a massive, amazing library!
My favorite novel, purely about books and reading them, is If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino!
I loved The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend! Another book I would suggest to all of us “next-level bibliophiles” is Goodnight, June by Sarah Jio. A true treasure of a book about a bookstore! For younger readers, Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick is excellent( adults would enjoy it also!)
Really, the Stephen King 'Bill Hodges' trilogy is about books- especially the (2nd?) book where the kid finds that manuscript....The 3 books are: Mr. Mercedes , Finders Keepers and End of Watch
---Jen from Quebec :0)
Yvette wrote: "https://images.gr-assets.com/featured...I just loooove the picture accompanying this topic. My dream library... gods, I wish there were magic in this world so that I could ..."
It's the Long Room of Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. The Book of Celts is on display there too. Magical place.
I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one missing If on a Winter's Night a Traveler!I'd add the Ian Sansom Mobile Library mystery series. Also Lorna Barrett and her Booktown Series and Ellery Adams with the Book Retreat series.
Have also read The Neverending Story, and my sister read The Library at Mount Char!