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bookedbymadeline's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
Iâm not a huge fan of all the background stories of the authors she loved growing up. Felt unnecessary and dull I think more so because of the age/generational difference plus Mangan is UK based so maybe these are mostly British childrenâs books of her time. I was bored and uninterested because I couldnât relate most of the time, and felt she overlooked the joy and memories the books brought to her personally throughout the book. She focuses more on the background of the publishers or authors, and in depth summaries of the books (a majority of the time especially in the beginning). This could have been a much shorter book if she skipped the in depth book summaries and publisher/author backgrounds. I think I was just expecting something else which is no fault of the author.
I did enjoy her looking back at her beloved books and how she really wanted her son to love them as much as she did (something I think all bookworms feel).
She casually passed over Dahlâs misogyny by saying that itâs going âtoo farâ and youâd have to overlook his well written female characters, as if you canât be a misogynist and still have decent female rep.Â
I definitely chose this one for the cover and thought it would give me some nostalgia for my childhood reading but it didnât deliver so much on the latter. I did really like the section on CS Lewis and Narnia because I too loved that series growing up. Also Like me, she also had a grandmother she called Nanny! I understood her references to the show Dynasty and comparisons to Sweet Valley High! I was living for her critique of twilight omg đ
I like her argument for letting kids read what they want when they want. Also had a great discussion on how important representation is in childrenâs books
Started skipping chapters and skimming pages in the middle. The second half was more interesting for me and had more of Manganâs thoughts on her reads (maybe because this was when she was older and started reflecting on what the stories she read taught her).
Overall it has bits and pieces I enjoyed but the age and geographic differences didnât help me relate to this book as much as I had hoped. Ending was perfection and captured exactly how it feels to be a bookworm â¤ď¸ I made my heart so happy and I honestly cried a little
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Cancer, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Racism, Suicide, and Fatphobia
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