Thursday 7 June 2018

Review: Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading

Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It is easy to spot a bookworm at a party, they are looking for the first opportunity to slide off to a quiet room or a comfortable seat and fish their book out of their bag where they can immerse themselves in the latest fictional creations. It is not recommended to disturb them as this could be detrimental to your health, just to leave drinks in the close vicinity. And maybe some snacks.

I took the news and the list to my parents. 'I'm going to need all of these,' I said gently

Lucy Mangan is a complete bookworm and has been for as long as she remembers. For her, the worlds that books opened up were places of adventure and full of magic or a place of safe haven where real life seldom ventured. If she had to go out it was invariably to the library or the bookshop to acquire more reading material. They were a source of information too, a way of learning how different people reacted to different situations. The more that she read, the more that she wanted to read further; the discovery of a first book in a series would be a moment of joy as another seam of stories would be mined. As well as books for birthdays, her dad generously provided books on an almost weekly basis, introducing new authors to her. It seems like she hasn't got rid of many of these either as she has 10,000 books, yes TEN THOUSAND books at home!

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one. ― George R.R. Martin

I wasn't a complete bookworm as a child like Lucy was, I read a fair amount as a child, but unlike her, did venture outside to play on bikes and climb trees. However, reading books like this means that I can trawl my memories of the books that formed a part of my formative reading experience. I had some overlap with Lucy's reading, Blyton and CS Lewis to name but two of the authors that we have both have read. I remember being forced to read some dire books at school, but memories of others came like Swallows & Amazons, Stig of the Dump, the Willard Price Adventure books, Adrian Mole and even the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone books that began with the Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

All of my reminisces about childhood books aside, if you're a book lover of any form then you will almost certainly get something from this book and that alone makes it worth reading. Do though be warned there are spoilers for some of the books she talks about and hopefully, you will look fondly back on the books of your childhood too. 3.5 stars.

View all my reviews

5 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this book, probably because we're almost exactly the same age so read almost exactly the same books. It was like coming home, but yes, I suppose there are spoilers if you haven't read all the books she has. Not sure where she fits 10,000 books in, though, I've got 2,500 and that makes a house-full!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought I had a lot of books, but now realise that I haven't. I had read some of what she had, but my reading was more boy orientated

      Delete
  2. the article post.Thanks Again. Really Great.Enjoyed every bit of one's report post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.Major thanks for the website article.Really thank you! Significantly obliged
    miniclip motorbike games, play free a10 game, Friv Jogos

    ReplyDelete

  3. food games 2019
    basketball online games
    soccer games play
    the article post.Thanks Again. Really Great.Enjoyed every bit of one's report post.Really looking forward to read more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is impressive and important post you have done the best work. A good engine for my new blogs because in this way we can generate good blogs for the community. The people should make good engine to their speedy blogs. friv Games
    jogo io
    2player games

    ReplyDelete