Does anyone have any favorite books about books, bookstores, and/or book collectors?

[Pendrench]

I've read Nick Basbanes books, as well as books by Helene Hanff, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, not to mention the following:

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop
Sixpence House
The Kings English
Book Row

Any others suggestions?

Thanks -

Tim

P.S. I have to go to bed now, so I probably won't be able to reply until tomorrow :)

[frazzled]

1. Well, I think the classic piece of writing on book collecting

is Walter Benjamin's essay "Unpacking My Library: A Talk about Book Collecting." It can be found in his famous collection of writings, Illuminations (edited and with an introduction by Hannah Arendt).

Heady stuff, but really quite beautiful as writing and as insight into the social psychology of collecting. Not, however, fiction: Benjamin was in real life a passionate book collector. Tragic that he had to leave all that behind when he had to escape Nazi Germany (he died trying to cross the Pyrenees from France into Spain).

I can't think of any novels offhand that I've read about bookstores and such. But I must have. Just can't remember one.

[Pendrench]

4. You're right...I've read that essay (in a collection called "A Passion for Books")...I'll have to

try and find a copy of Illuminations (it sounds very interesting).

Thanks for the suggestion!

Tim

[TygrBright]

2. 84 Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff

A very winsome little book about a bookshop.

reminiscently,
Bright

[Pendrench]

5. One of my favorites! Have you read any of her other books?

I've read "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street" (about her trip to London after the publications of 84, Charing Cross Road) and "Q's Legacy" - another great book.

Tim

[TygrBright]

7. Interesting! I've read "Duchess," but I'll look for "Q's Legacy" at the library. n/t

[LeftishBrit]

8. I entirely agree with that!

Also, very good play and film based on it.

[ThatPoetGuy]

3. Some children's books about reading....

Parnassus on Wheels

Inkheart

[Pendrench]

6. I'm not familiar with either, so I'll check them out.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Tim

[LeftishBrit]

9. A couple that I like..

Francis Spufford: The Child that Books Built (about his childhood reading experiences)

Edith Devlin: Speaking Volumes: A Dublin Childhood (partly autobiography about her childhood in a poor Protestant family in Ireland, with a difficult father; partly about books and what they mean to her emotionally and intellectually - e.g. Jane Eyre; What Maisie Knew; Hard Times; and others)

A great children's book with a bookshop as a background is Patricia Lynch's "The Bookshop on the Quay".

[Pendrench]

10. Thank you for your suggestions - I'm going to the library later today, and I'll see if they have

any of these on their shelves.

I hope you don't mind me asking, but where do you live in the UK? The reason I ask is because I'm wondering if you've ever been to Charing Cross Road...which I understand has a lot of used bookstores (even though Marks & Co. closed).

Thanks again -

Tim

[LeftishBrit]

11. I currently live in Oxford

In the mid-80s, I did live quite near to Charing Cross Road, and frequently visited the lovely bookshops there - Marks & Co had already closed by then, but there were plenty of others! It's some time since I've been there, so am not quite sure which ones are still open. One downside of Internet book trading is that it has made life a bit harder for second hand bookshop owners.

[Pendrench]

13. Thank you for your reply...I hope you don't mind me asking another question, but would you be able

to recommend any books about Oxford? Chance are I'll never make it to England (fear of flying will do that!) so I try to read books and watch a lot of documentaries about places I find interesting, and recently I've been interested in Oxford and the other British universities (I work at a university here in Maryland).

Thanks again -

Tim

[Hamlette]

12. Here's a great group of lists, including one on the book business

from my favorite bookstore, the King's English's.

http://kingsenglish.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp;jsessionid=abcgxuAPs4zf67d00Four?s=newsletter

click on the PDF file and it should open their publication which includes 30 lists in 30 different categories of their favorite books over 30 years of business.

[Pendrench]

14. Excellent - thank you very much!