Reddit mentions of The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to World Literature, Revised and Expanded

People of the Book is almost pornography for bibliophiles. This book had me seriously considering going back to school to learn about document preservation.

I went through a period of wanting to read a lot of books about books about a year ago. I think I even have an old submission in r/books on the same subject. Here are a bunch of books I still have on my amazon wishlist that date to around that time. This will be a shotgun blast of suggestions, and some may be only tangentially related, but I figure more is better. If I can think of even more than this, I'll edit later:

The Man who Loved Books Too Much

Books that Changed the World

The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages

How to Read and Why

The New Lifetime Reading Plan

Classics for Pleasure

An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books

The Library at Night

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

Time Was Soft There

I have even more around here somewhere...

Edit: Ok, found a couple more....

Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book-Hunter in the 21st Century

At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries

Candida Hofer

Libraries in the Ancient World

The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read

A Short History of the Printed Word

Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption

Medieval Illuminators and Their Methods of Work

The Book on the Bookshelf

A History of Illuminated Manuscripts

Bookmaking: Editing, Design, Production

Library: An Unquiet History

Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms

A Passion for Books: A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Lore, and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for, and Appreciating Books

A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books

And yet I still can't find the one I'm thinking of. Will get back to you...

Fuck yeah, I found it!

That last is more about the woman who own the store than about books, but it's awash in anecdotes about writers and stories we all know and love. Check it out.

You seem to have the will and desire, which are more important than an education and natural intelligence. Diligence and discipline are everything in writing, not how 'smart' you are.

There are two roads you must take here, both simultaneously. First, you must become a great reader. Start off by reading authors who are 'accessible,' meaning they do not initially make great demands on their audience. In the west, these are authors like:

1.) Mark Twain (Huckleberry Fin)

2.) George Orwell (Any of his books)

3.) Ernest Hemmingway (Check out his short stories)

4.) Jack London (Call of the Wild)

5.) Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice)

Here are the rules of reading:

1.) Read slowly. Imagine each scene in your head. Evoke your memory to make the text come alive.

2.) Read everything twice.

3.) Have a dictionary on hand and look up EVERY word you don't understand.

Here is a book recommending some of the best books in history. Each book has an introduction; flip through it and see what interests you.

Here is a book that provides a guide on how to read anything well.

Second, you must become an addicted writer. You must write everyday, it doesn't matter about what. The only key thing is that you enjoy it. Once you get into the habit of reading+writing, and you enjoy it, start looking into books that help you improve your writing. There are a lot to choose from; here are two examples:

1.) How to Write a Sentence, by Stanly Fish

2.) Elements of Style, by Shrunk and White

If you continue to read and write everyday, pushing yourself into more difficult books and more elaborate writing, you'll start to develop a taste for good reading/writing yourself, and be able to distinguish it in the world around you. From there, it depends on what your goals are. Good luck.

One of my degrees is in English. One of my favorite things to do is read. I'm also old, so I've had many, many, many years to read books. I'm constantly on the lookout for lists such as the one Austin-G was kind enough to compile for us. I've diligently attempted to plow through books found in The Lifetime Reading Plan and 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I also love listening to Nancy Pearl on NPR and checking out her book suggestions.


Somehow people found this so very offensive that they thought I deserved downvotes for not contributing to the conversation.


TL;DR: Some people are sad, pathetic and petty.


Because of all this, it's not surprising that I've read most of the books that are in the top 200 books that fellow redditors have read too.