Title: The Joy of Books

Author: Eric Burns

Publisher: Prometheus Books 1995

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 207

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NonAd); Nonfiction; 52 Books - W21

Burns's compelling yet accessible history of the reading experience rejoices in the diverse motivations and methods in the developing relationship between readers and writers even as he voices concern at the powerful forces of ignorance and censorship that seek to keep them apart.

Ugh! So this was my pick for book club this month and now I'm so disappointed in myself. It's been on my perpetual reading list for years because I've seen it referenced so many times on other literary sites and blogs. And yet, I've found it extremely heavy-handed and boring. The first section about the history of books and reading was fairly interested. I knew 90% of the information included, but enjoyed reading it anyway. And then the focus shifted to a diatribe about how kids these days don't read and our society is going to shit. Burns wrote this book in 1995. Those kids he was speaking of are me. I was 13 in 1995 and exactly in the demographic he was lamenting. I and most of my friends read all the time. We did back in 1995 and we still do. The entire second half of the book angered me. Somehow I made it through to the end, but ugh! I am not impressed.