A review by nd2712
Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan

3.0

There's something about children's fiction- particularly books you read when you were a child- that give you, as Mangan says, 'the warm fuzzies'. A nostalgia is attached to these stories, regardless of the obvious misogyny, homophobia and just general backward thinking of the authors themselves. If I were to read my favourites now, it would probably just make me sad. This book is just the cure for that. It brings back all those sentimental memories that I have growing up as a bookworm, without me having to confront the problematic nature of those books I enjoyed so much. Some reviews have mentioned that, due to the generation Mangan grew up in, some of the novels go over their heads, but I found myself connecting massively with most of the books she mentions- Milly Molly Mandy, Enid Blyton and her ridiculous back catalogue, Little Women- the list goes on and on. It's a book filled with memories, and if you were just as bookish in your youth as you would be now, this is definitely a book that you should read.