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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.
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I would also like to add The Little Paris Bookshop which I loved.
Many short stories by Jorge Luis Borges would fit the bill, and nicely, too.
Inga wrote: "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 s..."
Thanks Inga for the info. It's indeed a magical place! I think I could loose myself in there, at least for a couple of days, weeks, ...
Krystal wrote: "The Club Dumas was absolutely brilliant! One for the scholars in particular, I think!"Erika wrote: "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,..."
I shall have to check those out! :)
Another of my favorites that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys both 19th century English literature and fantasy, is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Books — rare books, magical books, collecting books and writing books — feature throughout this Regency era alternate history (really historical fiction plus magic as no major events are altered as is often meant by alternate history).
Read most of these and also many of the recommendations club Dumas is a particular favorite).One not mentioned is The Bookman’s Tale which I read recently. It was great.
Erin wrote: "My favorite novel, purely about books and reading them, is If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino!"Very surprised they left out this gem.
John Irving has used authors as protagonists on multiple occasions. For this list I recommend The World According to Garp.If comic books can be counted – and why would they not? – then props for Michael Chabon’s terrific The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay.
I owe Nick Hornby a debt of gratitude for his reflections in Ten Years in the Tub which greatly added to my 'to-read' list as well as inspired me to more consciously document my own reading accomplishments. (So maybe GoodReads owes Hornby a debt of gratitude, too.)
For non-fiction, John McPhee is such the consummate professional, and recent Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process is delightful.
And how about the heroism documented in The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu?
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..."I totally agree!
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."And The Well of Lost Plots from that series takes place in "book world" with too many references to count!
The Jane Austen Book Club is another good choice for this list.
Chelsea 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."And The Well of Lost Plots fro..."
Yes! The Well of Lost Plots is also amazing. I just love that whole series and Jasper Fforde in general. I'll have to look into The Jane Austen Book Club!
Azar Nafisi’s *Reading Lolita in Tehran* is quite good.
I must be doing okay. I have read all of those listed at the top of the page. There are so many more than these too.
Rona wrote: "I'm excited to start reading these! Another good book about books is "Too Loud A Solitude"."Hi there, I just looked up this title to read the blurb and it reminds me of a recent read of my own: The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean Paul Didierlaurent - translated from French, it is a "cozy" short read but his job is also in a paper mill...it's a quirky little book I really enjoyed it as it was something different.
Erin wrote: "My favorite novel, purely about books and reading them, is If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino!"I'm going to look into this one it sounds amazing! Thanks so much!
So many books I have recently read, have name-dropped book titles and I love it- my Want to read list gets longer every time I come across one!I would recommend YOU (by caroline kepnes), THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOKCLUB (will schwalbe), and SHADOW OF THE WIND (carols Ruiz zafron).
And for Music Name drops, try the HARRY HOLE SERIES (Jo Nesbo).
For none fiction that might appeal to those commenting I would recommend:The Library - A World History - talk about gorgeous pictures of libraries!
Books on Fire - another history of libraries and there destruction through the ages
The Secret Library - a history of western civilisation told through books...
To some extent, we can feature Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, too though, can't we? I mean, it has a lot of reference of this book volume named The Tales of Peculiar, after all.
I wish that "The Invisible Library" by Genevieve Cogman was on this list. A book about inter-dimentional librarian spy who collects books from different realities. Spy stories, dragons, fae, and a whole slew of other magical creatures and steampunk technology. Combine that with quick wit and sassy comebacks, Irene is my one of my favorite literary characters.
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..."
The Invisible Library is one of my favorite series. It's wonderful! I hope you love Irene and the boys as much as I do. Enjoy the quick wit, sass, and well placed references to tea as much as I do.
The Sacred Combe by Thomas Maloney is a great novel about an amazing private library and the collection of books overs centuries.
Jule 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."Exactly - the best and most detailed books ..."
Jeffrey wrote: "Hitchhikers Guide -- sort of"
Absolutely, Jeffrey, Hitchhikers is a book about a book and The Eyre Affair is as amazing as Hitchhikers. Both great books abt books.
Don’t forget “The Little Paris Bookshop.” Gorgeous, sumptuous descriptions, especially regarding food, and the tango.
Here are just a few more I enjoyed reading!
"Books About Bookstores" from Goodreads Listopia
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...