Hi guys,

I really need your opinion on this one as it is a bit different than some of the other reviews I've done. Please make as many comments as you like.


The announcement of a new book by Nicholas Basbanes is an occasion of joy for any devoted reader who loves reading about books. My copies of Basbanes’ works are the backbone of my collection of books about books and it is he who introduced me to the dazzling world of the “gently mad.”

Since reading A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books, I eagerly await each installment to discover what secret corridors and door he will open next. Basbanes’ works act as a secret handshake that allows entry to a world any serious bibliophile longs to enter, that world devoted to the care, handling and love of the printed word.

In Every Books Its Reader: the power of the printed word to stir the world, the social history of the book is explored from the perspective of the reader. Basbanes explores the meaning readers give to texts through the their personal experiences, and how that experience helps connect with others - “We are not only the product of what we read, we are in association with others who have read the same things.”

Early I discovered 84 Charing Cross Road, a book that became a dear friend to be revisited often. Helene Hanff showed what a love of reading can truly bring to a life, the journey one can take through books and with a helpful guide. Nicholas Basbanes easily fills this role. His pages resonate with quotes and stories and his love of books fairly bursts off the page. He carries the reader to a new path that leads to books, “a book casually encountered by an imaginative mind, lighting a spark that ignites a flame of creativity…”

At the start of Every Books Its Reader, Basbanes shares a story that ends “…if ever I go to Heaven I know where to find her. I shall go straight over to the corner by the bookcases.” When I get there, I shall expect to find Nicholas Basbanes there holding court.

Wow! Very impressive review Anth. :D

to discover what secret corridors and door he will open next.

Okay... here, the problem is corridors are plural and door is singular. *I* would use (and this is a style thing, which is why the emphasis on myself) something like, "to discover what secret corridors and which unopened doors he will reveal to us now."

any serious bibliophile longs to enter, that world devoted to the care

I'd exchange the comma for a semi-colon, or say, "any serious bibliophile longs to enter, a world"

through the their personal

I think you can figure this one out. It ain't a style thing. ;)

the journey one can take through books and with a helpful guide
"and" -- I think I'm either missing your point or else this word's not necessary.

Okay. Now we've gotten the nits out of the way. On to the good stuff! B)

The conversational tone works beautifully, possibly because your reverence for your subject matter (not to mention knowledge) shines through. That's the strongest thing I come away from this review with: your sense of awe at this book and your reverence for it.

I don't know that I can praise your work any more highly than to say that. Because you left me with a very strong emotional resonance, you can be sure that the next time I'm visiting Z at Borders and I happen to come across this book, or one by the same author, I'll smile at it and probably buy it, just because you've struck an emotional chord in me.

Books are, to me, in large part about emotion. When I have an emotional connection to a book for whatever reason: I love it, or my daughter was born on Yom Kippur just like the woman in The River Midnight, or the story echoes a nightmare I had and renders it no longer scary, that's important. Those are the books I buy and put in my PC and refuse to share with anyone, even my mother or sisters. Instead, I buy them their own copies.

So in a roundabout way, Anth, what I'm saying is that this review kicks major ass. ;)

Okay, you made me tear up with those comments S&M. Wow....thank you so much. I'll work on the nits and repost.

:wub:

Here is the reworked version fixing the "nits".


The announcement of a new book by Nicholas Basbanes is an occasion of joy for any devoted reader who loves reading about books. My copies of Basbanes’ works are the backbone of my collection of books about books and it is he who introduced me to the dazzling world of the “gently mad.”

Since reading A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books, I eagerly await each installment to discover what secret corridors and unopened doors he will next open. Basbanes’ works act as a secret handshake that allows entry to a world any serious bibliophile longs to enter, a world devoted to the care, handling and love of the printed word.

In Every Books Its Reader, the social history of the book is explored from the perspective of the reader. Basbanes explores the meaning readers give to texts through their personal experiences, and how that experience helps connect with others - “We are not only the product of what we read, we are in association with others who have read the same things.”

Early I discovered 84 Charing Cross Road, a book that became a dear friend to be revisited often. Helene Hanff showed what a love of reading can truly bring to a life, the journey one can take through books with a helpful guide. Nicholas Basbanes easily fills this role. His pages resonate with quotes and stories and his love of books fairly bursts off the page. He carries the reader to a new path that leads to books, “a book casually encountered by an imaginative mind, lighting a spark that ignites a flame of creativity…”

At the start of Every Books Its Reader, Basbanes shares a story that ends “…if ever I go to Heaven I know where to find her. I shall go straight over to the corner by the bookcases.” When I get there, I shall expect to find Nicholas Basbanes there holding court.

Wow,Antheras. That sounds great!

You definately have me sold! Wonderful wordings, deeply expressive......two giant thumbs up!

Ok, I got in here a little earlier than expected...
Anth, wonderful review! :thumbsup:
I love the ending!

Looking at the nits-fixed one, I only have one thing:

This part here:
"Early I discovered 84 Charing Cross Road, a book that became a dear friend to be revisited often. Helene Hanff showed what a love of reading can truly bring to a life, the journey one can take through books with a helpful guide."

I like what you're saying and it really fits in with the general tone of your book, but the first time I read your review I was a tad bit confused by it.
(of course, that might be because I'm haven't yet gotten my morning dose of coffee into my system :whistle: )
After a second reading it sounded fine, but the first time I think I was confused that you were "talking" about another book in your review. I think mentally I started reading it as "early in the book I discovered..." so that when I read the rest of the sentence it made no sense because you were talking about a related experience not about something that you experience while reading this book.
Ok, this doesn't make all that much sense :unsure: and I don't really think you need to change anything, but I guess I thought I should point out the one problem my non-caffienated self :blink: had when first reading the review.

I actually had to do a double-take at that, too, Morsie, but decided that it worked. Somehow. :huh:

Certainly, if I were teaching a journalism class, I'd tell my students to avoid referencing another work by another author, but Anth pulls it off. Sort of like the two-sentence lead in a news story: hard to do but when you can, man, you can!