Yet another fascinating account of the world of books and ideas from Nicholas Basbanes, who has become, by any objective standard, the leading chronicler of print culture. Very highly recommended.

I liked the content of this book, but the way the information is presented is very poor. The author jumps from discussions of one institution or person to another with little more than a double-space to let you know a change in course is taking place. It felt disjointed and abrupt, and did not make for a pleasurable reading experience. The topics that the author covered were interesting, and the sections on book collectors and sellers were particularly fun. Given that the material was good, I wish that the author had done a better job of presenting it to the reader. ( )

I love books. I really do. And I love bookstores and libraries and book people in general. So, it makes sense that I would love this book.

Nicholas Basbanes also wrote A Gentle Madness, a book I stumbled upon in my public library a few years ago and fell in love with. So, I picked this one up and read it with glee. It’s over 20 years old and reading it for me was like a trip to my professional past as a librarian. The arguments librarians, their administrators, and the public had decades ago brought back so much angst for me.

I’m happy to say that some of these questions have been settled, sort of. Back then, some people saw the future of libraries in digital materials. They were ready to turn print lose to perish or thrive entirely in the wild. However, most people now realize that the demand for print books isn’t going away soon.

But libraries aren’t the only thing Basbanes discusses in this book. He talks about the people who collect rare books and the people who sell them. I don’t live with the kind of money he’s talking about, so I don’t keep up with the rare book market. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find it captivating as any self-respecting bibliophile would.

I admit to gushing a bit in this review. While reading about all these private, academic, and extensive public book collections was like a fairytale for me. It felt like reading Victoria magazine as a newlywed, setting up housekeeping, and dreaming of the possibilities. While I’ll never have room to store 50,000 volumes in my house, Basbanes has me dreaming of how that would look. And that’s almost as good as actually having it. ( )

Loved chapter 1, the history chapter. ( )

Not as interesting, to me, as Basbanes's A Gentle Madness, but a nice diversion. Where A Gentle Madness mainly chronicled individual bibliophiles, bibliomaniacs, and even bibliokleptomaniacs, this covers places sacred to the history of the book, tells of book sellers and their bookstores, and libraries and librarians. Though I found many bits to be interesting, I found several others that were boring. The reading dragged in places. ( )