I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life

by Anne Bogel

For everyone who’s ever finished a book under the covers with a flashlight when they were supposed to be sleeping.

As a reader, I love to read authors' dedication pages at the beginning of every book. The dedication page tells us so much about the author: who is important enough in their lives to earn a spot on the dedication page? As an author myself, I didn't have to debate about who I wanted to dedicate it to. I wasn't even tempted to overthink this! I knew I was writing this book for avid readers like myself: for us, reading isn't just a hobby, or a pastime, but a lifestyle. Reading is an essential part of who we are as people, and I loved how this visual—of a reader under the covers with a favorite book and a flashlight—captured that sentiment.

Can you recommend a great book?” Because I’m a writer, certified book nerd, and all-around bookish enthusiast, people ask me this question all the time. I talk about books like it’s my job—and in a sense, it is. I make book recommendations every day.

This introduction was born out of personal experience: I blog at the "lifestyle blog for nerds, Modern Mrs Darcy. My podcast is called What Should I Read Next, where I help every reader find their next read. People come to me with this question all the time. And yet I've learned that this seemingly simple question is deceptively complex. Read on to find out why... Modern Mrs Darcy blog at https://modernmrsdarcy.com What Should I Read Next podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-should-i-read-next-book-talk-reading-recommendations/id1073499086?mt=2

You’re looking for a book that reminds you why you read in the first place. One written well and that will feel like it was written just for you—one that will make you think about things in a new way, or feel things you didn’t expect a book to make you feel, or see things in a new light. A book you won’t want to put down, whose characters you don’t want to tell good-bye. A book you will close feeling satisfied and grateful, thinking, Now, that was a good one.

This passage is born out of so much personal experience! I've learned that when readers ask me to recommend a "great" book they can read next, they're not looking for a book that's technically amazing (though it might be) or worthy of literary awards (though it might be). They're looking for a certain kind of reading experience—one that's tailor made for THEM. It's my pleasure and privilege to help them find the right books for their own To Be Read list.

To hand you a great book, I don’t just need to know about books; I need to know you.

I don't make book recommendations in a vacuum—I take my job as a professional book whisperer too seriously to do that! A great reading experience has two components: the right book AND the right reader. Too often this second component gets neglected.

C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Friendship . . . is born at the moment when one man says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’”

I've always loved this quote, and find it captures the way books bring people together. I've said it a thousand times, and I'll keep saying it: when it comes to the reading life, whatever experience you've had, whatever opinion you hold—it's NEVER just you.

it’s uncanny how often I seem to be reading just the right book at just the right time.

I'm a huge believer in bookish serendipity: books seem to find their way to us when we need them. I'm so glad I included this sentence in this book, because as a result my inbox has been full of readers' tales of bookish serendipity for a year and a half now, and I hope it never stops.

There's something magical about hearing a reader share the book that made them fall in love with reading. I wanted to tell readers my own story, and nudge them to remember their own.

A good book allows me to step into another world, to experience people and places and situations foreign to my own day-to-day existence. I love experiencing the new, the novel, the otherwise impossible—especially when I can do it from my own comfy chair.

I've always been fascinated by the idea that no one else experiences in the world in quite the same way we do. And isn't that the power of a good book?

If you have more books than shelves, consider that any shelf holding books is a bookshelf.

My husband Will suggested I include a passage that says by that definition, the top of the toilet tank totally qualifies as a bookshelf. I, uh, politely declined to incorporate this idea. 😂

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” We are readers. This is how we decorate.

This quote is from Anna Quindlen, and I nod fervently every time I read it again. I'd like to think you're doing the same.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I weren’t a reader.

I don't want to get too earnest on you but I 1000% believe this to be true.

A good book, when we return to it, will always have something new to say. It’s not the same book, and we’re not the same reader.

This passage was inspired by the proverb that originates with the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who wrote, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." I'm an avid re-reader, and my own experience with returning to my beloved books (or, in certain circumstances, my once-beloved books) has convinced me that there exists a strong parallel to the reading life.

Reading is often viewed as a solitary act; that’s one of the reasons I love it, and it’s certainly my favorite escape and introvert coping strategy of choice. But reading is also a social act: readers love to connect over good books.

Yes and amen: books bring people together! Whether we're sharing common experiences about the reading life or about other areas in our lives, like with my new book, Don't Overthink It, good books make us feel like we're in good company. You can find out more about Don't Overthink It on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46161166-don-t-overthink-it .

I would rather be reading than memorializing what I’m reading; I’d rather experience the thing than record the thing. But I’ve grudgingly learned to do it anyway, inspired, I’m sorry to say, by pure envy.

My publisher suggested the title "I'd Rather Be Reading" for this book. When they told me they'd drawn the title straight from the text, I couldn't remember where in the book I'd said those words! Then they pointed to this passage.

We are readers. Books grace our shelves and fill our homes with beauty; they dwell in our minds and occupy our thoughts. Books prompt us to spend pleasant hours alone and connect us with fellow readers. They invite us to escape into their pages for an afternoon, and they inspire us to reimagine our lives. Good reading journals provide glimpses of how we’ve spent our days, and they tell the story of our lives.

These are the final words of the title essay, which closes the book.Since I first wrote these words, I designed and released my own reading journal called My Reading Life: A Book Journal. The entire time I've been working on this project my thoughts keep drifting back to this essay on book journaling and what it can mean for a reader. For those who currently track their reading, I hope this essay makes you feel seen. For those who haven't yet begun to log their books, I hope this essay inspires you to begin!