The first thing I liked about this book was the title of the book. Being a reader from the from the deepest core of my heart, how could I ignore this book. Especially when it is Virginia Woolf who wrote this book.
How should One Read a Book is an essay in which Woolf talked about the correct way of reading a book, how could one reader connect to the writer just by reading the book. She explores the lives the of different author of Victorian London and reaches to the reader like no one esle did.
I really liked the book. It is a short read but a pretty amazing as well. Totally loved it. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. During her lifetime Virginia Woolf was considered by critics to be a minor writer and quite often the reviews of her books at the time they were published were quite harsh. The essay How Should One Read A Book was originally a lecture she gave in January 1926 at the Hayes Court Common School. It was later revised and published a couple of times but this is I believe the first time it has been published on it’s own and not as part of a collection. It’s an essay that celebrates reading literature, making up ones own mind about what one reads and how books change us when we read them. I feel it’s meant to be read aloud as that is how it seemed to flow best when I read it. While quite short it’s a book that I think will find a home in my library to be re-read often. Publishing Date: October 12, 2020 #HowShouldOneReadABook #VirginiaWoolf #LaurenceKingPublishing #AdultNonFiction #bookstagram #bookstagrammer ( )

How Should One Read a Book? is an essay by Virginia Woolf that, every time I read it, I seem to learn more about myself as a reader, both good and bad. The rating is for the essay itself, I refuse to mark the book down because of just so-so afterword and a decent introduction.

The wonderful thing about an essay, especially one that was originally, in a slightly altered form, a speech, is that it can be read as speaking to us now without much concern for placing it within the speaker's life and it can be read with an emphasis on what and who might have been behind some of the commentary. In exceptional essays such as this both readings are rewarding.

I don't want my initial comments about the introduction and afterword to be taken as harshly as they likely sound. I found the introduction to be fine, nothing particularly special but probably helpful for those with no knowledge of Woolf. The afterword I just found uninteresting. It did not speak to me and I found the tone to be off-putting. Which means nothing more than it didn't appeal to me or add anything to my reading of Woolf. You results may vary.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Waardevolle inzichten, slordige redactie. ( )

This chapbook edition of a Virginia Woolf lecture was a bonus included in the first package of this year's inaugural edition of the Parisian bookstore Shakespeare and Company's Year of Reading subscription series. The subscription provides 12 books (chosen by the store) over the course of the year in 3 mailings with assorted bookbags, poems typed by the store's "tumbleweeds," bookmarks & posters (based on my 1st package).

I was enormously pleased with the first package which included Exit West (signed edition), Her Body and Other Parties, In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses and The Territory Is Not the Map as well as the Woolf chapbook bonus.

The essay itself makes for a pleasant read with an uplifting, though perhaps somewhat smug, ending. The edition although beautifully presented in its 16 page chapbook format is not the easiest of reading for the eye however. It uses red ink and a rather tiny font (the dies of which were recreated based on samples of the originals which had been thrown into the Thames (based on the historical footnote provided). Of historical interest yes, but not necessarily a favour for the reader. ( )