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A review by blondevalkyrie
Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers by Emma Smith
3.0
Interesting, but very academic
Having read an early preview to this book I was looking forward to reading it. I loved the cover and it did a good job of drawing me in, books to me are portable magic, the author so got it right there with the Stephen King quote.
I found the idea of the subject very interesting but it was not written in a way that I found enjoyable to read at length, maybe it should be read in small spurts, a couple of chapters at a time? After finishing the book I realised I had learnt a lot of interesting facts about the history of books and printing. Although I feel that so many references to the Bible ( I know it is historically important) were overriding inclusions of other books. I did find the writing style slightly disjointed and jumped about more than I like and felt a more chronological method may have suited me better. It did concentrate heavily on the 1500s and 1600s and I would have liked more of the modern side looked at.
I feel that although I learned a lot reading the book, it was more like reading a text book