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Buried in Books: A Reader's Anthology
For bibliophiles, life is full of tricky problems: wondering whether a small trunkful of reading material can be taken on board as hand luggage; how to smuggle yet another guilty stash of tomes past the nearest and dearest; bedside tables lost under a sliding mountain of books; and deciding between bathing and showering, because who can read in the shower?
But, as this book shows, bibliophiles are by no means alone: manic readers are evident through the ages. For decades if not centuries, bookish types have been delving in collapsing and dusty boxes (just in case), flirting in the library, and bewailing the oncoming final chapter.
"Buried in Books" is a compilation of more than 350 literary extracts, quotations, and bon mots concerning every aspect of bookish behavior: reading, buying, borrowing, recommending, hunting, even defacing. The selections range from short, pithy quotations to more extensive extracts, and they are taken from diaries, memoirs, novels, plays, and letters by authors from Samuel Pepys to Iain Sinclair, Laurence Sterne to Lucy Mangan. If you are an obsessive reader, stroke this book lovingly, listen as you riffle through the pages, and be proud: you are in good company.
But, as this book shows, bibliophiles are by no means alone: manic readers are evident through the ages. For decades if not centuries, bookish types have been delving in collapsing and dusty boxes (just in case), flirting in the library, and bewailing the oncoming final chapter.
"Buried in Books" is a compilation of more than 350 literary extracts, quotations, and bon mots concerning every aspect of bookish behavior: reading, buying, borrowing, recommending, hunting, even defacing. The selections range from short, pithy quotations to more extensive extracts, and they are taken from diaries, memoirs, novels, plays, and letters by authors from Samuel Pepys to Iain Sinclair, Laurence Sterne to Lucy Mangan. If you are an obsessive reader, stroke this book lovingly, listen as you riffle through the pages, and be proud: you are in good company.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Julie Rugg
21 books4 followersJulie Rugg lives in York with her husband and daughter. An early memory is winning a bet at the age of twelve to read the full 888-page Warren Commission report of the assassination of John F. Kennedy (he dies in the end), but failing in the subsequent challenge to read The Silmarillion (much less compelling). The episode taught her that life is too short to read Tolkien. However, she continues to read largely indiscriminately, and a current favourite is Ten Minutes to Bedtime.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 28, 2020
I bought this interesting little book at a Book Barn, and as it is aimed specifically for Bibliophiles, I thought it would be right up my alley. In this book, there are many extracts and quotes from other books. Some I immediately recognised, but others I didn't.
This is more of a coffee table book, than one to read straight through like I did. There are some excellent excerpts in here, but despite that, the book was lacking some serious structure.
The book lacked order, and the extracts were kind of just thrown in wherever the author saw fit, which really let the overall experience down for me. I think this book could have done with some in depth notes on some of the extracts, so the reader may know where it originated from. Even so, I think this could be enjoyable for some, especially book crazy people like myself.
This is more of a coffee table book, than one to read straight through like I did. There are some excellent excerpts in here, but despite that, the book was lacking some serious structure.
The book lacked order, and the extracts were kind of just thrown in wherever the author saw fit, which really let the overall experience down for me. I think this book could have done with some in depth notes on some of the extracts, so the reader may know where it originated from. Even so, I think this could be enjoyable for some, especially book crazy people like myself.
September 25, 2010
I don't understand why no one has rated this book... Why is it not even on a to read list. so weird.
This is my life:
Karen: Stop being cute.
Me: I have to be cute it's how I'm going to get a boyfriend.
Karen: your going to get a boyfriend by talking about gaddis in public.
Really that is what 24 years of life have actually come to. In reality yes I am one of those people.
I am one of those people who has a list of authors they would marry even though they are old (before you get offended by the term old I am talking irvin yalom and milan kundera old not how ever old you are). By the way is kundera ever going to write another novel the lack is making me cry, although I am of the belief that his novels are a bit too real to life for him to actually be able to write them seeing as he is too old to be a sex fiend. poor poor milan and poor poor me.
I am one of those people with 15 books on their currently reading lists. One of those people who periodically breaks something by overloading it with books and who annoys the security guards with multiple books every morning just in case by some magical incident I get through a hundred pages at lunch. I even time books so that I can finish them on the subway to work because I don't like waiting 6 hours for the end.
This is my copy of that book karen is always talking about
notice the backcover falling off. also notice how well the book is made that even though I've trashed it, it is mainly in one piece. It's totally my fault I read it outside in a rain storm. I had to walk somewhere and I didn't want to stop reading.
and this is not the only book that looks like this. There is a bible covered in red ducttape that most of the pages are falling out of. Several with broken spines (robert greene, the schopenhauer cure). Both Thus spake zarathustra and a book on existentialism are held together with packing tape.
notice also in that picture I have too many books. Both dressers and cabinets in that picture have books in them. there is a 6ft bookshelf not shown and still books are piled on the desk. I just carried all these books up 4 flights of steps last week so I am painfully aware how many there are.
So this book is me and to tie this to my first totally unrelated point I am cute. Really, honestly, it's all I have. I'm not sexy with my bookish library ways and my frizzy hair and basically never seeing sunlight. Could I be? probably but I am a bit too busy reading to bother. But I have an adorable thing, and a big part of that is my books, it's certainly not my demeanor. I have for example 3 versions of alice in wonderland, the wizard of oz and peter pan. but not just in context but in the way I feel about my books. I think there is a habit of people in the general population who don't understand bookish ways to pat someone on the head and say oh how cute they read.
Recently I have started writing in books again. A long time ago greg gave me a lot of crap about it, but I saw stuff in this book that reminded me why I had started doing it in the first place. there is something about talking back to a book that means you have to be more engaged. you have to care. I loan these books sometimes I don't know how people feel about reading books with my notes, but I hope it isnt too miserable. Some are unreadable, that copy of zarathustra I mentioned earlier:
I didn't actually finish that book. heidegger looks like that too and what I've read of Baudrillard. Basically books are me, and I don't read them to know what nietzsche had to say I'll never know I read them to find myself. Perhaps that is why I tend not to finish them. But I destroy them and I write in them and I dog ear pages (don't worry I am nice to any book I borrow, and I never write in library books). There is something about cuddling up with a good book that makes me me and not well... any one else in my family or at my school. Some day I would like to be karen, but I'm not quite there yet.
this book is about people like me, and it's about people who want to be people like me and people I want to be like. It covers all perspectives. some say wear gloves while you read a book some say a book is worth more if it's falling to pieces. no matter what your position this book will justify you. and that is why you should have it. Don't even read it just keep it on your bedside table unopened.
it is also a very pretty book.
*******************
this book was part of my birthday present to myself.
This is my life:
Karen: Stop being cute.
Me: I have to be cute it's how I'm going to get a boyfriend.
Karen: your going to get a boyfriend by talking about gaddis in public.
Really that is what 24 years of life have actually come to. In reality yes I am one of those people.
I am one of those people who has a list of authors they would marry even though they are old (before you get offended by the term old I am talking irvin yalom and milan kundera old not how ever old you are). By the way is kundera ever going to write another novel the lack is making me cry, although I am of the belief that his novels are a bit too real to life for him to actually be able to write them seeing as he is too old to be a sex fiend. poor poor milan and poor poor me.
I am one of those people with 15 books on their currently reading lists. One of those people who periodically breaks something by overloading it with books and who annoys the security guards with multiple books every morning just in case by some magical incident I get through a hundred pages at lunch. I even time books so that I can finish them on the subway to work because I don't like waiting 6 hours for the end.
This is my copy of that book karen is always talking about
notice the backcover falling off. also notice how well the book is made that even though I've trashed it, it is mainly in one piece. It's totally my fault I read it outside in a rain storm. I had to walk somewhere and I didn't want to stop reading.
and this is not the only book that looks like this. There is a bible covered in red ducttape that most of the pages are falling out of. Several with broken spines (robert greene, the schopenhauer cure). Both Thus spake zarathustra and a book on existentialism are held together with packing tape.
notice also in that picture I have too many books. Both dressers and cabinets in that picture have books in them. there is a 6ft bookshelf not shown and still books are piled on the desk. I just carried all these books up 4 flights of steps last week so I am painfully aware how many there are.
So this book is me and to tie this to my first totally unrelated point I am cute. Really, honestly, it's all I have. I'm not sexy with my bookish library ways and my frizzy hair and basically never seeing sunlight. Could I be? probably but I am a bit too busy reading to bother. But I have an adorable thing, and a big part of that is my books, it's certainly not my demeanor. I have for example 3 versions of alice in wonderland, the wizard of oz and peter pan. but not just in context but in the way I feel about my books. I think there is a habit of people in the general population who don't understand bookish ways to pat someone on the head and say oh how cute they read.
Recently I have started writing in books again. A long time ago greg gave me a lot of crap about it, but I saw stuff in this book that reminded me why I had started doing it in the first place. there is something about talking back to a book that means you have to be more engaged. you have to care. I loan these books sometimes I don't know how people feel about reading books with my notes, but I hope it isnt too miserable. Some are unreadable, that copy of zarathustra I mentioned earlier:
I didn't actually finish that book. heidegger looks like that too and what I've read of Baudrillard. Basically books are me, and I don't read them to know what nietzsche had to say I'll never know I read them to find myself. Perhaps that is why I tend not to finish them. But I destroy them and I write in them and I dog ear pages (don't worry I am nice to any book I borrow, and I never write in library books). There is something about cuddling up with a good book that makes me me and not well... any one else in my family or at my school. Some day I would like to be karen, but I'm not quite there yet.
this book is about people like me, and it's about people who want to be people like me and people I want to be like. It covers all perspectives. some say wear gloves while you read a book some say a book is worth more if it's falling to pieces. no matter what your position this book will justify you. and that is why you should have it. Don't even read it just keep it on your bedside table unopened.
it is also a very pretty book.
*******************
this book was part of my birthday present to myself.
December 18, 2016
I love to collect books about books, and I like to keep one like this by my bedside to pick up for a few minutes when I don't have time or energy for anything else. Enjoyable book quotes and anecdotes.
January 29, 2016
Lover of books have a only one problem; where to put all the books they own. Pratchett got around not having enough book shelves by inventing L space, the distortion of time and space that the presence of many books creates. The author of this has scoured novels, memoirs, diaries and quotations by authors famous and not so famous and complied them into one slim volume on all things bookish.
So far so good.
Or so you would think. There is a lovely little introduction, and the author has spent a lot of time finding these quotes and extracts and then collating them into chapters with a common themes, but then failed to actually link them with any sort of narrative or personal anecdotes. It is a shame really because there are some superb quotes in here.
So far so good.
Or so you would think. There is a lovely little introduction, and the author has spent a lot of time finding these quotes and extracts and then collating them into chapters with a common themes, but then failed to actually link them with any sort of narrative or personal anecdotes. It is a shame really because there are some superb quotes in here.
January 4, 2011
I adored this book.. It deserves more then a mere five star review..I have never been one to underline passages in books that I liked but I found myself getting my pencil out and underlining every other quote in this little treasure .. It is a book lovers dream filled with beautiful and funny quotes that you cant help but gush at..I urge you to get up of your seat and go out and buy this book straight away as you are doing yourself no favours by not having this in your collection of books..It's a keeper :0)
January 19, 2016
I enjoyed this book of bookish quotations quite a bit. I found some amusing and a few interesting enough for me to seek out the books from which excerpts were taken and add them to my tbr list. The index of authors and subject index will make this book a handy reference tool when needing to find a particular quote.
In the author's introduction she says, "I can't recall offhand a whole novel about a book's life, but it could be a worthy tale." I can remember one five-star rated novel, PEOPLE OF THE BOOK by Geraldine Brooks, based on a true story about the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the earliest volumes ever to be illuminated. While a rare-books expert works on the book to conserve it, she finds clues that help her imagine its story as it passed from hand to hand throughout its long existence. Fascinating! So heads up, Julie Rugg!
book-vipers-monthly-read: January
book-vipers-book-hunter: BOOKS
In the author's introduction she says, "I can't recall offhand a whole novel about a book's life, but it could be a worthy tale." I can remember one five-star rated novel, PEOPLE OF THE BOOK by Geraldine Brooks, based on a true story about the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the earliest volumes ever to be illuminated. While a rare-books expert works on the book to conserve it, she finds clues that help her imagine its story as it passed from hand to hand throughout its long existence. Fascinating! So heads up, Julie Rugg!
book-vipers-monthly-read: January
book-vipers-book-hunter: BOOKS
January 10, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. If you need a quote about books and libraries, this little book can provide some real gems! Many of these quotes show the great humor of readers/writers across several centuries.
This was light, refreshing reading; just what I needed after the Fall semester of teaching.
This was light, refreshing reading; just what I needed after the Fall semester of teaching.
June 22, 2013
A memento of a weekend in Hay-on-Wye. Since I couldn't bring back all the books I wanted, an anthology of quotes about other bibliophiles. Nice.
February 9, 2017
An interesting collection of quotes and extracts on the topic of books. These are gathered together by topics such as libraries, annotations in books, bibliophiles etc.
This is more a book to dip into, than to read cover to cover. There are some apposite and quirky quotes, and the contributions cover a wide range of time periods and authors.
What it lacks for me is some context, and any input from the author outside finding and arranging the content. The best anthologies offer notes or explanation of the more unusual extracts - with some unfamiliar ones I was struggling to understand what point the extract was making- or some view of the connections and contradictions.
This is more a book to dip into, than to read cover to cover. There are some apposite and quirky quotes, and the contributions cover a wide range of time periods and authors.
What it lacks for me is some context, and any input from the author outside finding and arranging the content. The best anthologies offer notes or explanation of the more unusual extracts - with some unfamiliar ones I was struggling to understand what point the extract was making- or some view of the connections and contradictions.
May 10, 2011
Fun! I thought it might be a memoir, but instead it's quotes and excerpts from authors...some scenes from books, like Scout's first day at school, some one liners like: "You are what you read, and for a while I was Rupert the Bear." There are lines from letters and diaries...Charles Lamb and Robert Southey complaining about their friend Coleridge and his habit of not returning books. I found some lines to illustrate many of the lessons I'm trying to teach in my class...and I found a new book I must read: Leave Me Alone; I'm Reading!
October 25, 2013
This book is a reader's passionate love. It just brings all these quotations on book-reading, book-keeping, collecting, library, second-hand books etc all in one place and you just turn the pages and you will be stricken by someone who has put your thoughts to words, and this happens on every page.
It is a testament to why we read, it is our bible and of course it is my only love.
It is a testament to why we read, it is our bible and of course it is my only love.
August 4, 2011
Great book for browsing for a book lover... will keep this one close by when I get sad about the state of literacy in the US ;(
December 29, 2015
How did I live life this long without reading this anthology?!?! I love it I love it I love it
January 5, 2020
Because this is not a book I would typically buy or borrow, I acquired this book in the perfect way; from a free library at a transfer station. I had 1 minute while my partner sat in the car to browse the fridge-makeshit-shelf and just grabbed this one in a panic.
It's perfect for deeper reflection on one's reading style, book hoarding practices and enjoyment of literature because it contains quotes from all sides of the debate.
I finished my first reading challenge last year, as a means to get away from pointless social media scrolling, and now I've reached the point of going beyond just being "literary" and instead improving my reading experience, speed (by slowing down) and information retention overall.
So if you relate to that, reading about bibliophiles through the ages in this book would be time well spent.
It's perfect for deeper reflection on one's reading style, book hoarding practices and enjoyment of literature because it contains quotes from all sides of the debate.
I finished my first reading challenge last year, as a means to get away from pointless social media scrolling, and now I've reached the point of going beyond just being "literary" and instead improving my reading experience, speed (by slowing down) and information retention overall.
So if you relate to that, reading about bibliophiles through the ages in this book would be time well spent.
November 4, 2017
Wonderful collection of anecdotes about books and readers, ranging from 1400’s to modern day and from one sentence to a few pages. Covers a range of subjects that bibliophiles will relate to and enjoy! Can easily be read a little bit at a time or all together - should be equally enjoyable. Highly recommend for any bibliophiles out there!
April 4, 2018
Lovely read - full of fascinating quotes about reading and books. Laughed out loud in some places - a nice collection.
April 21, 2024
Lovely book to dip and out. Had some lovely quotes that i did annotate throughout reading.
June 29, 2017
This is such a neat collection of quotes from all different books. I liked it.
November 20, 2013
"Buried in Books" is a book that every bookish person should have in their libraries. Seriously, if you or someone you love is a book lover, get ye to the bookstore and get this book. This book is filled with tons and tons of quotes about all different aspects of books and bookish life.
The book opens up with the author's musings on reading and what it means to be a true bibliophile and after reading those musings, I knew that I had found a kindred spirit in Ms. Rugg. She has one section in particular where she's talking about hiding her new books amongst the current piles and piles of books that she has in her house and I read that and said to myself, "Hey, self, you do that too!"
Some of the quotes I had heard, some I haven't. Regardless of whether or not I had heard of them, it is nice to have all of those lovely quotes and excerpts in one place. This book also lent quite a bit to my already massive TBR list. I found myself jotting down a lot of the books named in this book to read later on.
This book is a love letter of sorts to book lovers everywhere. I know this is a book that I will be referring back to a lot in the future!
The book opens up with the author's musings on reading and what it means to be a true bibliophile and after reading those musings, I knew that I had found a kindred spirit in Ms. Rugg. She has one section in particular where she's talking about hiding her new books amongst the current piles and piles of books that she has in her house and I read that and said to myself, "Hey, self, you do that too!"
Some of the quotes I had heard, some I haven't. Regardless of whether or not I had heard of them, it is nice to have all of those lovely quotes and excerpts in one place. This book also lent quite a bit to my already massive TBR list. I found myself jotting down a lot of the books named in this book to read later on.
This book is a love letter of sorts to book lovers everywhere. I know this is a book that I will be referring back to a lot in the future!
January 5, 2017
This book really made me think about how I read. It's fascinating to read about how others treat and think of their books, of people who like books, of people who collect books, etc.
April 8, 2013
A book of quotation and passages that take an unusual turn to the usual bookish quote-dom. Like loving your lover for his books! I have part two of this volume. For insight into bookish behaviour a good book.
Read
July 7, 2014Lightweight reading, something to match an extremely lazy weekend or to snack on to ease craving during busy week. Nice anthology of book quotes, most of them I haven't read anywhere and some of them absolutely hilarious.
three stars.
three stars.
January 16, 2016
Boring, just some quotes which some research student has put together quickly. No real connections. About half-way through the book stopped reading every quote and just read those which looked vaguely interesting.
January 26, 2015
I loved this anthology. I felt like I was saying good bye to an old friend when I finished it. Definitely one I'll reread for fun.
January 16, 2014
Some great passages gathered together and fab quotes. Thought it might take a while to get through but whizzed it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
August 9, 2014
I am usually fond of books on books but this one left me wanting. It is a series of quotes, none of which are particularly interesting. A disappointment.
December 4, 2015
Some of the anecdotes were a bit long, but most of them were quite entertaining.
August 14, 2014
Charming!
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews