No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader | 
pickThis memoir is a treat. Really nicely written, interesting subject matter, lots to relate to & an author who seems like a genuinely decent person (apart from his opinion on LoTR - no-one's perfect, I guess 🤣) This memoir covers his youth & early adulthood but is also interwoven with the story of his grandfather, an influential figure in his life. Funny, perceptive, poignant & engaging, who doesn't love the origin story of a fellow book-lover?
Starting this gloriously titled book today.
pickMark Hodkinson's memoir of growing up bookish in a community where reading for the sake of it is not common.
The early parts, describing his childhood and teenage years were, for me, more relatable and so interesting, but it did sag rather in the middle when he talks about his time as a journalist covering punk rock and sport (mainly football). The book then picked up when the author talked about his time as a publisher and his bookish life now.
A few weeks, never mind a few years
When you put it like that ....
Reading was the holiday
The walls are closing in. They used to be over there, a few metres away.
@ShyBookOwl
#FirstLineFridays
pickI was relieved to realise that my own personal library (now at 900+ titles) is perfectly reasonable… but equally terrified to learn new-to-me terms like BABLE (Book Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy). This was a thoroughly enjoyable and highly readable overview of another lifelong bibliophile‘s development. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/no-one-round-here-reads-tolstoy-mark-hodkin...
pickI loved this and related a lot to the northern, working class upbringing and the music and the reading.
We had books in my house growing up though, mostly second hand and lots of library books.
An entertaining read. Thanks for the recommendation Helen 😘
#motherdaughterread
Daughter home for reading week (it‘s not as exciting as it sounds though!). There‘s time for a bit of relaxing reading as well 😁
pickI just adored this book; one of my favourites of the year so far! The author grew up in a home where there were no books and reading was a suspicious, frowned-upon activity. The book tells of how he grew to love books, and then to work with words and eventually write his own books.
Loved the appendices, which included ephemera and notes found in his second-hand books, plus details of his TBR piles all around the house. (One in the toilet!)
