If I’d known a year ago that books about reading books were going to become trendy, I’d be rich. I read all the time, and I write about what I read — I totally could have written a “read about what I read” book. Walk into Barnes & Noble or pretty much any other bookstore, and you’ll see what I mean. Books about reading other books are everywhere.
Did your parents read to you when you were little? You might like “The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared” by Alice Ozma. Do you like using a novel as a means of escape? Nina Sankovitch’s got you covered in “Tolstoy and the Purple Chair.” Are you a “Little House on the Prairie” fan? Try “The Wilder Life,” by Wendy McClure. Did “Sophie’s Choice” leave you in tears? “Reading My Father” by Alexandra Styron is for you.
Ozma’s “Reading Promise” is the story of Ozma’s lifelong habit of reading with her father before bedtime. They did it every night, no matter what: on the train, on the phone, anywhere as long as they got in at least 10 minutes of reading before midnight. This book reminded me of all the great literary experiences I’ve shared with my parents — from “Goodnight Moon” when I was a toddler to the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and “The Hobbit” when I was older. I’m not sure I’d take my parents up on an offer of bedtime reading now, but being read to by people who loved me was an unforgettable part of my childhood.
Sankovitch’s “Tolstoy and the Purple Chair” is a testament to the power of books to rescue you from your everyday life. She started her project to read a book a day for a year after her older sister died unexpectedly of cancer. For her, the books were a way to cope with a life-altering loss. For me, books do the same thing. Being able to escape to Hogwarts or the March sisters’ house for a few hours has helped me survive numerous heartbreaks, the loss of many a pet and the death of my grandfather (reading Westerns reminds me of him most; his Zane Grey collection was immense).
McClure’s “Wilder Life” fulfills one of my childhood dreams. The book describes her adventures reading and searching for the real Little House. McClure churns butter, hangs out in a log cabin and tries to recreate the life Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. I was obsessed with this series when I was younger — my mom read them to me when I was in kindergarten. Getting to visit Wilder’s final home in Mansfield at Rocky Ridge Farm was the highlight of my elementary school years.
Styron’s “Reading My Father” is especially powerful. Styron describes what it was like growing up with the famous novelist William Styron for a father. She recalls the drinking binges brought on by endless writer’s block as well as the parties celebrating the release of each new book. I thought this was the most meta book of them all — you’re reading about her reading her own father’s books. You get an idea of what real-world events really shaped books like “Sophie’s Choice” and “The Confessions of Nat Turner.”
Why are books about reading books so popular? I like reading them because it’s a way to engage with other people who love books just as ridiculously much as I do. Reading is a pretty solitary activity. Book clubs are great, but they aren’t the same as actually getting inside someone else’s head and really understanding why and how a book moves them. Books about reading books give you that intimate portrait — it’s just you and the author, sharing your love of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Tolstoy or any of 100 other writers. It’s the kind of closeness book geeks like me long for. I can easily name 20 books that completely changed my life; I look at the world differently after reading them. Books about reading books give me an opportunity to experience that from someone else’s point of view.
