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“For us, reading isn’t just a hobby or a pastime; it’s a lifestyle.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself, Anne. I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life is a collection of short, non-fiction essays on the reading life. It’s the second of three books published by Anne Bogel, who you should all know by now is the creator of Modern Mrs. Darcy, “a lifestyle blog for nerds,” and the What Should I Read Next and One Great Book podcasts. What Should I Read Next? launched in 2016 and focuses on bibliotherapy, literary matchmaking with one or two guests per show, and all other things books and reading.  One Great Book is where Anne “pulls one book off her personal bookshelf and tells us all about it in ten minutes or less” which just launched in 2019. In addition to the blog and podcasts, she hosts a monthly subscription Book Club where there are live and recorded discussions with the authors, members, booksellers, and other bookish life experts. She lives in Louisville, KY with her husband, four children, and dog.  

The day I was reading this amazing collection of essays I texted my mother about how I had already met my Goodreads goal of 75 books for the year…in the first week of July. And that amazing woman decided to share this semi-personal (I only had 8 Goodreads friends when I was reading this book in 2019, and 15 now, the list is growing!) reading goal accomplishment on Facebook. I was a little embarrassed that she decided to tell the world about this milestone without my knowledge, because I wasn’t looking for any kind of public acknowledgement or kudos. I also feel like someone reading that post would feel despair over their own reading life by comparing their list to mine. I would never want to dissuade anyone from reading! I wouldn’t want someone to play the comparison game and feel lesser because of the ridiculous number of books I consume. One’s reading life is a solitary and personal challenge (that we’re currently sharing with you, our readerly friends). I’m all about helping someone reach their personal goals, but please don’t set those goals based on anyone else’s reading life besides your own! Your reading life is about what is going to bring YOU joy, not about being ‘better’ than someone else. A healthy reading life is a life in which you ARE reading, whatever that looks like for you. This quote from Anne kinda gets to the point: 

Reading should always be about pleasure, friends.

In the pursuit of readerly pleasure, I read a lot of non-fiction, but it’s not usually biographical and personal in nature, so this was a breath of fresh air about LIFE in a way that’s not about business, or  money, or woo-woo self-helpy. It makes you feel like you’re looking through a window into the reading life of your nextdoor neighbor. That much of the book is about how Anne lived literally next door to her local library is part of the charm. I seriously don’t know if there are enough words to describe my feelings about this book. I need to share my goodreads comment on an update of Nikki’s, as I think it sums up those feelings rather nicely. I said: “It might be 10:50[pm] and I might be drinky on one bottle of white wine and I am LOVING this book. I am crying and laughing and seriously I just want to read it out loud to all my friends because I FEEL ALL THE THINGS!” I have since purchased a hardback copy of this book, hidden somewhere in the storage unit, and chances are high it’ll be purchased for the kindle as well, since I read it on Kindle Unlimited last year (it’s still available there).  You never know when you’ll need a quick reminder that you are not the only one who has these feelings about books and reading. Because even Anne says this little gem: “Reader, you’re not the only one. Keep confessing to your fellow readers; tell them what your reading life is really like. They’ll understand. They may even say, “You too?” And when they do, you’ve found a friend. And the beginnings of a great book club.” Or a blog.

But I think my favorite part of the whole book was chapter/essay #8 “How to Organize Your Bookshelves.” It’s 14 poignantly hilarious statements about every book addict’s never ending struggle. I would have highlighted the entire chapter but I limited myself to 5. Just remember #4, “You’re a reader; your hobby is organizing your bookshelves.” Or for those times when “you accept that it’s time to cull your personal library. You lovingly handle each book, determining if it brings you joy. It does. They all do. You are full of bookish joy, but still woefully short on shelf space.” Even though you’ve bought $350 worth of Billy bookshelves from Ikea for your collection and the shelves still aren’t big enough to fit all the books your husband brings into the house, too… And you’re not remotely sorry about any of it, until you have to up and move across the country AGAIN, and then it’s only for the minutes you’re worried about the weight-limit in the uhaul truck. – A true life story –

~Ashley

Anne Bogel and I go back, way back to maybe 2013 when I started reading the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog.  I enjoyed the blog (and still do), and adored the shift into literary matchmaking on the page.  When Anne started her first podcast, What Should I Read Next?, I just didn’t get podcasts and wasn’t about to listen to one.  After skimming the show notes for two years, I finally started listening and haven’t looked back since.  Ok, so I have looked back to the episodes I missed because I’m 100% working my way through the backlog and finding some AMAZING titles there, including a couple of favorites (at least three favorites annually for the past three years actually).  It is not unusual in our reading life to #BlameAnne for bookish struggles of lacking sleep due to reading too late, having too many books in the TBR pile, and being too distracted by a current title to have any desire to adult. I do try to restrict the blame to when the title (or the rabbit hole that led to the title) actually came from Anne or one of her guests, and I guess I can’t really blame her for my current reread of A Court of Thorns and Roses, or can I?  

I’d Rather Be Reading is like a delightful cup of coffee with a good friend, on a couch, with a blanket, on a rainy afternoon.  Perhaps it is the years I’ve spent reading Modern Mrs. Darcy, how bookish I really am, or a combination of the two, but this was a really nice collection of essays about readerly things.  Nice seems condescending (just me? ok), but I don’t mean it that way at all. It’s really thoughtful, the prose is carefully selected, and if you enjoy this title, then you should try some of Anne’s other offerings (or vice versa).  This book gets me and my bookish struggles and I adore it. Will I reread it? Maybe. Did I purchase a hard copy just to loan out to bookish friends and have on my shelf because it’s gorgeous? Absolutely. This title does make me want to dig more into the backlog of What Should I Read Next Podcast and pick up Anne’s other books (especially Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything).  Anne is insightful and skilled, and her essays say things most readers have experienced at some point.  If “you’re looking for a book that reminds you why you read in the first place,” this is probably a good choice.

Learning how much I have in common with Duke Ellington was a highlight of this book for me.  “I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline.” This…this is why my library books get read and my purchased books don’t.  I’d Rather Be Reading is really a blessing and a curse – I feel seen by this book, by Anne, and by other readers in it.  While I want to be seen as a reader who loves to talk about books I’ve enjoyed, I don’t want to be seen as a reader whose “house is a disaster because a clean house is a sign of a misspent life, and [I] spend [mine] reading.”  Oh well, the secret is out.  

This book is nostalgic for readers.  It’s light, fun, and thought provoking.  I’m not sure how Anne does it, but I’m ready for more!  Oh readers, how Anne gets us, because she’s one of us.

If this is you, we want to be your friend, and we want to know your fictional friends too, if we don’t already. 

~Nikki