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A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year
A witty and addictively readable day-by-day literary companion.
At once a love letter to literature and a charming guide to the books most worth reading, A Reader's Book of Days features bite-size accounts of events in the lives of great authors for every day of the year. Here is Marcel Proust starting In Search of Lost Time and Virginia Woolf scribbling in the margin of her own writing, "Is it nonsense, or is it brilliance?" Fictional events that take place within beloved books are also included: the birth of Harry Potter’s enemy Draco Malfoy, the blood-soaked prom in Stephen King’s Carrie.
A Reader's Book of Days is filled with memorable and surprising tales from the lives and works of Martin Amis, Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Roberto Bolano, the Brontë sisters, Junot Díaz, Philip K. Dick, Charles Dickens, Joan Didion, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Keats, Hilary Mantel, Haruki Murakami, Flannery O’Connor, Orhan Pamuk, George Plimpton, Marilynne Robinson, W. G. Sebald, Dr. Seuss, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Hunter S. Thompson, Leo Tolstoy, David Foster Wallace, and many more. The book also notes the days on which famous authors were born and died; it includes lists of recommended reading for every month of the year as well as snippets from book reviews as they appeared across literary history; and throughout there are wry illustrations by acclaimed artist Joanna Neborsky.
Brimming with nearly 2,000 stories, A Reader's Book of Days will have readers of every stripe reaching for their favorite books and discovering new ones.
At once a love letter to literature and a charming guide to the books most worth reading, A Reader's Book of Days features bite-size accounts of events in the lives of great authors for every day of the year. Here is Marcel Proust starting In Search of Lost Time and Virginia Woolf scribbling in the margin of her own writing, "Is it nonsense, or is it brilliance?" Fictional events that take place within beloved books are also included: the birth of Harry Potter’s enemy Draco Malfoy, the blood-soaked prom in Stephen King’s Carrie.
A Reader's Book of Days is filled with memorable and surprising tales from the lives and works of Martin Amis, Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Roberto Bolano, the Brontë sisters, Junot Díaz, Philip K. Dick, Charles Dickens, Joan Didion, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Keats, Hilary Mantel, Haruki Murakami, Flannery O’Connor, Orhan Pamuk, George Plimpton, Marilynne Robinson, W. G. Sebald, Dr. Seuss, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Hunter S. Thompson, Leo Tolstoy, David Foster Wallace, and many more. The book also notes the days on which famous authors were born and died; it includes lists of recommended reading for every month of the year as well as snippets from book reviews as they appeared across literary history; and throughout there are wry illustrations by acclaimed artist Joanna Neborsky.
Brimming with nearly 2,000 stories, A Reader's Book of Days will have readers of every stripe reaching for their favorite books and discovering new ones.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published November 4, 2013
152 people are currently reading
3093 people want to read
About the author
Tom Nissley
5 books32 followersTom Nissley is the owner of Phinney Books, a neighborhood bookstore in Seattle, and soon will be opening Madison Books, in another Seattle neighborhood. He's also the author of the literary almanac, A Reader's Book of Days, was an eight-time champion on Jeopardy!, and founded Amazon.com's books blog, back when it was called Omnivoracious.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
December 7, 2013
This is not a book to read from cover to cover, but good coffee table or reference book (there is a handy reference index by author or booktitle in the back). Some tidbits were super interesting, while others not so much to me. I found searching for facts by my favorite author the best way to read it.)
October 30, 2013
This book was a Goodreads giveaway.
Tom Nissley’s compendium is a fun addition to the library of anyone who has interest in authors or the craft of writing. Filled with snippets of information, it can be read in one sitting or broken down by days. Lots of surprising tidbits are sprinkled throughout; Jane Austen grumbling to a publisher about a manuscript kept for six years, poor sales figures for the first and second printing of The Great Gatsby, the unexpected connection between William Saroyan and Alvin the Chipmunk. Hemingway’s decision to become a writer holds no surprise as almost each month in the book lists another incident where he was laid up by a fight, a crash, or an accident. I got the impression he was in a constant state of recuperation and needed something to do. The democratic attitude of the listings was a pleasant surprise. Jerry Siegel of Superman fame as well as William Shakespeare receive ink.
Entries that mention an author, but fail to list even one published work are a major frustration. Space on one page for each day is limited, but not all readers will be familiar with every name and a tad more information would have been helpful.
I had an advance uncorrected proof with several typos and formatting errors. Although I would recommend this book, the binding was cheaply done. Several pages came loose and fell out. I expect the publisher to correct editorial problems and hope the same will be done for the binding before the first print run.
Tom Nissley’s compendium is a fun addition to the library of anyone who has interest in authors or the craft of writing. Filled with snippets of information, it can be read in one sitting or broken down by days. Lots of surprising tidbits are sprinkled throughout; Jane Austen grumbling to a publisher about a manuscript kept for six years, poor sales figures for the first and second printing of The Great Gatsby, the unexpected connection between William Saroyan and Alvin the Chipmunk. Hemingway’s decision to become a writer holds no surprise as almost each month in the book lists another incident where he was laid up by a fight, a crash, or an accident. I got the impression he was in a constant state of recuperation and needed something to do. The democratic attitude of the listings was a pleasant surprise. Jerry Siegel of Superman fame as well as William Shakespeare receive ink.
Entries that mention an author, but fail to list even one published work are a major frustration. Space on one page for each day is limited, but not all readers will be familiar with every name and a tad more information would have been helpful.
I had an advance uncorrected proof with several typos and formatting errors. Although I would recommend this book, the binding was cheaply done. Several pages came loose and fell out. I expect the publisher to correct editorial problems and hope the same will be done for the binding before the first print run.
October 21, 2013
Perfect for any bibliophile or historian in your life. Author Tom Nissley, eight-time Jeopardy! champion and former bookseller brings stories & anecdotes from authors and time periods to life in this brilliant book. Fun, fascinating and enough facts to make you sound quite clever in any situation.
July 6, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this interesting compilation of facts about writers, books, publishing and plot lines. I loved that I could read a page or two and put it down, pick it up again a few days, weeks or hours later and continue on without feeling like I lost my place. I recommend this book to anyone who likes facts or books about books or books about writing. There is much to learn, read, ponder and enjoy in this book.
The format is with noting. Each month starts with a two to three page summary of the best books to read during that particular month. For example, Tom Nissley recommends that reading Jaws or Three Junes in the month of June. Those two examples may seem obvious, but what about reading A Wrinkle in Time or The Road in October? Whatever time you need inspiration or fresh ideas for what to read next, you can flip through and find ideas here.
After the introduction to the month, you turn to the section for each day of the month. At the top of each page, you find a listing of two authors born on the day and two authors who died on the day, along with a reference to their place of birth or death and two or three of their best known works. This list of authors spans the centuries and includes writers from many nations. I often wondered how much time Tom Nissley spent deciding which authors to list at the top of the page and which works to include.
In the body of the page for each day, Nissley provided five or six entries of events specific to that day, including books that were published, letters or journal entries that were written, notable reviews that were published, and key incidents in stories. Sometimes, the page included an added bonus of a small, fun illustration by Joanna Neborsky, related to one of the entries for that day.
I would recommend this book to anyone who finds joy in reading and writing. It would make a great gift, I think. It might also be a good book for book clubs to use as a guide for books to read in a particular month. Kudos to Tom Nissley for going down many, many rabbit holes to put this compilation together.
For more fun on Joanna Neborsky's illustrations, go to https://joannaneborsky.com/illustrations
The format is with noting. Each month starts with a two to three page summary of the best books to read during that particular month. For example, Tom Nissley recommends that reading Jaws or Three Junes in the month of June. Those two examples may seem obvious, but what about reading A Wrinkle in Time or The Road in October? Whatever time you need inspiration or fresh ideas for what to read next, you can flip through and find ideas here.
After the introduction to the month, you turn to the section for each day of the month. At the top of each page, you find a listing of two authors born on the day and two authors who died on the day, along with a reference to their place of birth or death and two or three of their best known works. This list of authors spans the centuries and includes writers from many nations. I often wondered how much time Tom Nissley spent deciding which authors to list at the top of the page and which works to include.
In the body of the page for each day, Nissley provided five or six entries of events specific to that day, including books that were published, letters or journal entries that were written, notable reviews that were published, and key incidents in stories. Sometimes, the page included an added bonus of a small, fun illustration by Joanna Neborsky, related to one of the entries for that day.
I would recommend this book to anyone who finds joy in reading and writing. It would make a great gift, I think. It might also be a good book for book clubs to use as a guide for books to read in a particular month. Kudos to Tom Nissley for going down many, many rabbit holes to put this compilation together.
For more fun on Joanna Neborsky's illustrations, go to https://joannaneborsky.com/illustrations
August 31, 2023
Fun facts, silly quotes
some books I've never heard of
I'm too impatient.
Books that sounded interesting: 24
some books I've never heard of
I'm too impatient.
Books that sounded interesting: 24
January 15, 2022
I admit I'm not good reading these kind of books day by day. Cover to cover is the way I go.
September 23, 2013
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway which didn’t influence my review.
When I saw A Reader’s Book of Days offered in a giveaway, I entered to win a copy because I was eager to read a fun and informative book offering trivia about literary figures, past and present. And while I enjoyed some of this book and learned a few things along the way, the book fell short of my expectations. It was not user friendly and it was filled with many mundane entries that I felt were a waste of my time. The copy I read was an advanced reader’s copy. I can only go by what it contains in order to review the book, so if anything changed significantly for the better in copies for sale, it was unknown to me at the time of this review.
A Reader’s Book of Days is divided into months that are divided into days that are divided into years, listing events that occurred within them in the literary world. In my copy, there wasn’t a table of contents, so if a reader is looking for a particular day such as his birthday, or a particular month in general, he will have to flip through the book to find it. My copy didn’t have an index, either, which was even worse. If a reader would like to find entries for his favorite authors or revisit an entry he found interesting, he will have to skim through the entire book to locate these items. Again, this is an advanced reader’s copy. I can only hope an index was added in the final version for ease of use.
Each monthly section starts with a general description of the month and the importance it had in particular novels or author‘s lives. Following this, the book offers a recommended reading list for noteworthy novels set in that month. I thought that these lists were helpful in introducing a reader to novels that he might not be aware of or might have been hesitating to read. Following these lists are a list of births and deaths of famous literary figures that occurred in that month on a particular day. Births list the names of authors and location of birth, deaths list the authors' names, location and age of the deceased, for anyone interested in that trivia.
Now, for the main sections of the book which offer snippets from the lives of literary figures, an average of four or five entries per day. These entries were written, at times, with the most relevant information saved for last to where a reader would have to reread the section to absorb what he had read to the fullest. It didn’t make sense to leave the name of the author or the book to the last as if it were some punch line in a joke. These entries ran the gambit from highly interesting and noteworthy to downright boring, with the two ends of the spectrum racing neck and neck to the finish. The best of them focused on interactions between authors, authors and agents, authors and the public, journal entries, personal relationships of authors, illnesses, sources of inspiration. The worst of them focused on things that had me shaking my head as to why I should care. For example, in April 14, 1939, George Orwell’s goat, Muriel, gave a quart of milk for the first time. Okay. And on April 10, 1881, Thomas Hardy ventured out for the first time after months of bed rest for a bladder infection. I could go on, but enough said. There are many of these strange entries that had me throwing my hands up in frustration when the author could have been listing more of the entries that kept me reading this book to the end. Some examples of what I consider to be quality entries are as follows--how Maurice Sendak changed his book from Where the Wild Horses Are to Where the Wild Things Are because he couldn’t draw horses; how John Steinbeck set a furious pace in writing The Grapes of Wrath, a full 2,000 words per day; How Dr. Seuss began writing children’s books, not because he had any love of them, but because they were one of the few things he could write when under contract with Standard Oil; how Wordsworth invited Emerson to his home, and standing in his garden, recited three of his sonnets to him in all sincerity when Emerson was ready to laugh at him for it, but soon realized the honor of it. And one of my personal favorites concerns Ray Bradbury. On September 2, 1932, at the age of twelve, Bradbury visited a carnival where a sideshow performer named Mr. Electrico tapped him with his electrified sword and said to him, “Live forever!” The author took this as a command to create and a literary giant was born.
I would like to recommend this book as a good gift for literary lovers or as a coffee table book because of the quality entries like the last ones I listed and more. But I can’t recommend the book with much enthusiasm for all the mundane entries I suffered reading through and the lack of focus in the writing, and the lack of index and table of contents.
When I saw A Reader’s Book of Days offered in a giveaway, I entered to win a copy because I was eager to read a fun and informative book offering trivia about literary figures, past and present. And while I enjoyed some of this book and learned a few things along the way, the book fell short of my expectations. It was not user friendly and it was filled with many mundane entries that I felt were a waste of my time. The copy I read was an advanced reader’s copy. I can only go by what it contains in order to review the book, so if anything changed significantly for the better in copies for sale, it was unknown to me at the time of this review.
A Reader’s Book of Days is divided into months that are divided into days that are divided into years, listing events that occurred within them in the literary world. In my copy, there wasn’t a table of contents, so if a reader is looking for a particular day such as his birthday, or a particular month in general, he will have to flip through the book to find it. My copy didn’t have an index, either, which was even worse. If a reader would like to find entries for his favorite authors or revisit an entry he found interesting, he will have to skim through the entire book to locate these items. Again, this is an advanced reader’s copy. I can only hope an index was added in the final version for ease of use.
Each monthly section starts with a general description of the month and the importance it had in particular novels or author‘s lives. Following this, the book offers a recommended reading list for noteworthy novels set in that month. I thought that these lists were helpful in introducing a reader to novels that he might not be aware of or might have been hesitating to read. Following these lists are a list of births and deaths of famous literary figures that occurred in that month on a particular day. Births list the names of authors and location of birth, deaths list the authors' names, location and age of the deceased, for anyone interested in that trivia.
Now, for the main sections of the book which offer snippets from the lives of literary figures, an average of four or five entries per day. These entries were written, at times, with the most relevant information saved for last to where a reader would have to reread the section to absorb what he had read to the fullest. It didn’t make sense to leave the name of the author or the book to the last as if it were some punch line in a joke. These entries ran the gambit from highly interesting and noteworthy to downright boring, with the two ends of the spectrum racing neck and neck to the finish. The best of them focused on interactions between authors, authors and agents, authors and the public, journal entries, personal relationships of authors, illnesses, sources of inspiration. The worst of them focused on things that had me shaking my head as to why I should care. For example, in April 14, 1939, George Orwell’s goat, Muriel, gave a quart of milk for the first time. Okay. And on April 10, 1881, Thomas Hardy ventured out for the first time after months of bed rest for a bladder infection. I could go on, but enough said. There are many of these strange entries that had me throwing my hands up in frustration when the author could have been listing more of the entries that kept me reading this book to the end. Some examples of what I consider to be quality entries are as follows--how Maurice Sendak changed his book from Where the Wild Horses Are to Where the Wild Things Are because he couldn’t draw horses; how John Steinbeck set a furious pace in writing The Grapes of Wrath, a full 2,000 words per day; How Dr. Seuss began writing children’s books, not because he had any love of them, but because they were one of the few things he could write when under contract with Standard Oil; how Wordsworth invited Emerson to his home, and standing in his garden, recited three of his sonnets to him in all sincerity when Emerson was ready to laugh at him for it, but soon realized the honor of it. And one of my personal favorites concerns Ray Bradbury. On September 2, 1932, at the age of twelve, Bradbury visited a carnival where a sideshow performer named Mr. Electrico tapped him with his electrified sword and said to him, “Live forever!” The author took this as a command to create and a literary giant was born.
I would like to recommend this book as a good gift for literary lovers or as a coffee table book because of the quality entries like the last ones I listed and more. But I can’t recommend the book with much enthusiasm for all the mundane entries I suffered reading through and the lack of focus in the writing, and the lack of index and table of contents.
September 21, 2013
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. My review is based on the Advance Reading Copy; there may be small changes in the finished product.
Unlike most of the books I review, I have not read every word of this volume, though I certainly intend to. The format is a page a day of births and deaths of authors, interesting incidents in writers’ lives and fictional events that happened on that day. In addition, there is an introduction to each month, and a recommended reading list of books that take place during that month or are thematically appropriate. Small illustrations by Joanna Neborsky break up the text a bit.
Like many people do with such books, the first date I checked out was my birthday, then an assortment of other relevant dates. (For example, September 21st (today as I write this) is the birthday of both H.G. Wells and Stephen King.) I’ve read a few of the monthly essays, and checked the reading list.
As might be expected, the tidbits shared on each day are somewhat scattershot, some fascinating, some trivial. They’re short, and if one doesn’t please another comes right after. There seems to be a wide selection, not just the standard dead white men authors being represented. The introduction mentions an index, but that has not been included in the advance copy.
Overall, this strikes me as the sort of book you give to a reading-loving friend or family member as a Christmas present, and would work well for that purpose.
Unlike most of the books I review, I have not read every word of this volume, though I certainly intend to. The format is a page a day of births and deaths of authors, interesting incidents in writers’ lives and fictional events that happened on that day. In addition, there is an introduction to each month, and a recommended reading list of books that take place during that month or are thematically appropriate. Small illustrations by Joanna Neborsky break up the text a bit.
Like many people do with such books, the first date I checked out was my birthday, then an assortment of other relevant dates. (For example, September 21st (today as I write this) is the birthday of both H.G. Wells and Stephen King.) I’ve read a few of the monthly essays, and checked the reading list.
As might be expected, the tidbits shared on each day are somewhat scattershot, some fascinating, some trivial. They’re short, and if one doesn’t please another comes right after. There seems to be a wide selection, not just the standard dead white men authors being represented. The introduction mentions an index, but that has not been included in the advance copy.
Overall, this strikes me as the sort of book you give to a reading-loving friend or family member as a Christmas present, and would work well for that purpose.
October 2, 2013
I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book to review. It's not the kind of book you pick up and read from cover to cover, so I have to admit that I haven't read the whole thing. There is an entry for each day of the year, so naturally, you pick it up and read what literary events happened on your birthday. Some are quite interesting, and some are unbelievably dull. In the introduction, the author discusses how he spent a year just combing through books to find any references to dates, and that's how most of the book reads -- just a collection of random, interesting, boring, significant, and/or irrelevant events (fictional or real-life) that happened on that day.
So who might like this book more than I do? Maybe writers, English teachers, librarians. It would be a fun book to have available for anyone wandering into your office, but not interesting enough to just sit and read.
So who might like this book more than I do? Maybe writers, English teachers, librarians. It would be a fun book to have available for anyone wandering into your office, but not interesting enough to just sit and read.
January 6, 2021
At first, I was a bit skeptical. It looked like a compilation of some literary anecdotes. And it is. But done with a lot of care and love. Not only are a lot of the little stories in themselves interesting. They are also superbly written.
And I liked that fictional characters are treated in the same way as the real writers.
For my taste, Virginia Woolf with 20 entries is overrepresented. Only one for Arnold Bennett. Which is, I think, exactly the wrong ratio. But I can live with it.
One thing that fascinated me is the books he chose for the people every day whose birth or death is remembered. In nearly all cases there are two books. But in rare cases only one, or three. I could not see any pattern.
I planned to read one page every day, but of course, I did not. But nearly.
And I liked that fictional characters are treated in the same way as the real writers.
For my taste, Virginia Woolf with 20 entries is overrepresented. Only one for Arnold Bennett. Which is, I think, exactly the wrong ratio. But I can live with it.
One thing that fascinated me is the books he chose for the people every day whose birth or death is remembered. In nearly all cases there are two books. But in rare cases only one, or three. I could not see any pattern.
I planned to read one page every day, but of course, I did not. But nearly.
November 27, 2013
This book just arrived in the mail from Goodreads. I am the oh-so-happy recipient of this Firstreds book! Haven't read it cover to cover as I want to read each entry on it's designated day. I have flipped through and chosen a few blurbs from significant dates for me. I am really looking forward to beginning each day with a good cup of coffee and this book. It already has a designated home in my library!
December 31, 2015
I didn't read this book as intended by the author. It took me two years to read it. Once I finally incorporated it into my daily reading, it was a joy! It is full of facts and fun tidbits about books (my favorite!). Plus each day had a few author's birthdays. A good read for any Jeopardy! fan. I'm going to pass it along to another bibliophile I know, so he can start the new year right.
January 28, 2016
I received my copy via GoodReads First Reads Giveaways - thank you!!
Obviously I haven't finished this one yet, as I just received it today, but I did read the introduction and today's entry and I can tell that I'm going to love this book! Excited to work my way through the year!
Obviously I haven't finished this one yet, as I just received it today, but I did read the introduction and today's entry and I can tell that I'm going to love this book! Excited to work my way through the year!
January 1, 2015
Eh, it was OK. Some entries were too cleverly-constructed (clauses within clauses) that didn't make apparent why a particular anecdote was chosen for that day. Not easy to read in long stretches.
But I did find out that PD James and I share a birthday.
But I did find out that PD James and I share a birthday.
February 8, 2014
Really enjoyable if you like trivia and/or all things bookish. I caught one glaring error, however, in that the author referred to Stewart O'Nan's magnificent novel as "The Last Day at the Red Lobster". The correct title is "Last night at the Lobster".
December 31, 2016
This book is quite engaging. Thanks to Hannah for recommending it to me - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
June 16, 2018
A most wonderful bedtime read. It's a book of days, the calendar in order, one day per page, with a short list of writers who were born or died on that day, and where. Then five or six entries about writers, or characters, for which that date is significant. A wonderful compendium of interesting facts, silly facts, very well stated personal opinion about books that might be unfamiliar to others, and accidents that caused physical injury to Ernest Hemingway (there were plenty, from plane crashes to accidentally shooting himself while trying to kill a shark he and John Dos Passos hoisted aboard the Pilar).
I looked forward to reading it every night, and look forward to reading it again at some point in the future. Very well written throughout.
I will remember the sly compendium of Hemingway facts, the judicious blending of biographical info about writers and what happened to characters in books, when dates can be established in the text. I will look back upon this as a source of inspiration for new writers to try.
I looked forward to reading it every night, and look forward to reading it again at some point in the future. Very well written throughout.
I will remember the sly compendium of Hemingway facts, the judicious blending of biographical info about writers and what happened to characters in books, when dates can be established in the text. I will look back upon this as a source of inspiration for new writers to try.
September 12, 2021
There is an story story or 3 for every day of the year, and each one concerns an author, a book, a poem - and each one is massively interesting to a reader. For instance, the entry for July 21, 1940 concerns H.A. and Margret Rey escaping Nazi France to end up in New York with a pile of manuscripts and drawings about a mischievous monkey named Fifi - later changed to Curious George. The 21st was the actual day they sailed from Lisbon to Rio, but the entry briefly covered the back story and the conclusion to their journey. I read it rapidly because I found it so interesting, but now I keep it by my bed to read each night before sleep.
December 31, 2023
I intended to read a page or two every day of this year... I managed to do that until March and then sporadically picked it up once or twice. I then panic-finished reading the majority of the book the last week or so of December.
It's a well-researched book, but it is quite dry. I personally gravitated to the entries about authors or books I've read, but there was some interesting facts about other writers I've never heard of too. This is certainly a good coffee table book, but a riveting read? Not for me.
Who knew Ernest Hemingway got injured so frequently though? Not me until after reading this book. (I could have survived without knowing that though...)
It's a well-researched book, but it is quite dry. I personally gravitated to the entries about authors or books I've read, but there was some interesting facts about other writers I've never heard of too. This is certainly a good coffee table book, but a riveting read? Not for me.
Who knew Ernest Hemingway got injured so frequently though? Not me until after reading this book. (I could have survived without knowing that though...)
Read
April 18, 2022I came across a copy of this book at a writers colony where I stayed a few months ago. The few excerpts I had read were so interesting, and I'm finally getting around to ordering a copy of the book for myself. Here is a memorable quote of the author from the introduction to the book:
"In the piles of books around me I looked for historic events..., but I also had my eye out for moments that were less momentous, the way the days in our lives usually are, and I've filled the corners of this book with reminders...of the sheer dailyness of even the most eventful of lives."
"In the piles of books around me I looked for historic events..., but I also had my eye out for moments that were less momentous, the way the days in our lives usually are, and I've filled the corners of this book with reminders...of the sheer dailyness of even the most eventful of lives."
June 18, 2021
My near-daily companion for the past year (with some vacational gaps), this book, while not life-changing in itself, can certainly lead to some life-changing books, and is therefore highly worthwhile. It's also written in a pleasant, affable style, and is a lovely thing to read with some coffee in the morning. If, like me, you are curious about the varied lives of authors, and also about the vastness of literature in general, this book is probably right up your alley.
January 24, 2022
Literary book of days
I confess, I want to write my own. He miss some of my favourite authors, poets and quotes. (What no Robert Burns?) I started looking up todays date, then birthdays, then favourite people and finally started from the beginning to just be surprised. There are a lot of gems in here, interesting personality bits from letters and articles I would never have uncovered. It took a couple of weeks to read as you keep savoring days and quotes.
I confess, I want to write my own. He miss some of my favourite authors, poets and quotes. (What no Robert Burns?) I started looking up todays date, then birthdays, then favourite people and finally started from the beginning to just be surprised. There are a lot of gems in here, interesting personality bits from letters and articles I would never have uncovered. It took a couple of weeks to read as you keep savoring days and quotes.
December 22, 2019
A book with an amazing miscellany of book and author tit bits.
I use it as a part of my morning ritual while drinking coffee.
I dip into Timothy Keller's Daily Devotions in the Psalms (or Proverbs)
for the day.
Then the 'A Reader's Book of Days' for the day.
Often following an author in '1000 books to read before you die!'
by James Mustich, or some other 'Book on Books'.
I use it as a part of my morning ritual while drinking coffee.
I dip into Timothy Keller's Daily Devotions in the Psalms (or Proverbs)
for the day.
Then the 'A Reader's Book of Days' for the day.
Often following an author in '1000 books to read before you die!'
by James Mustich, or some other 'Book on Books'.
December 31, 2023
This book started each day of 2023 for me
Spending a few minutes each morning getting to know authors and books was great fun. Although it did cause significant growth for my TBR list. If you enjoy trivia, gossip and insights into author's daily lives you might give this book a try. I enjoyed it.
Spending a few minutes each morning getting to know authors and books was great fun. Although it did cause significant growth for my TBR list. If you enjoy trivia, gossip and insights into author's daily lives you might give this book a try. I enjoyed it.
March 5, 2019
The premise of this book was intriguing but did not hold my interest.
January 1, 2020
Like a good flip calendar, A Reader's Book of Days is full of fun facts and anecdotes for lit lovers. Loved this. Perfect company for your morning coffee...
January 13, 2020
Amazing and definitely quirky.....so much wonderful author and book trivia and fabulous reading suggestions.
September 30, 2020
DNF at ~75%
October 20, 2021
Review to come.
December 31, 2021
Fun book of daily readings. Provided me with many new books to add to my reading list and fun facts about authors and books.
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