There were not quite so many mutual ticks in this sequel, Bookish, which sweeps across Mangan's reading through high school, university, first job, falling in love, early motherhood, and produces books suitable to each stage of life. I'm not sure which is more satisfying, realising that we both adore the same books (I Capture the Castle, The Long Winter (with caveats), Jane Austen) or grabbing a notebook to write down the books and authors that she loves that I haven't discovered yet (Norah Lofts? The Tenant of Wildfell Hall?) or even bookshops that I hope to visit one day (The Haunted Bookshop in Cambridge is a whole shop devoted to second hand children's books!!!)
We don't agree about absolutely everything (eg she liked The Da Vinci Code, but can't read any history escept medieval and Tudors, and is bored by WWII) but it would be so boring if we were in total concord. Mangan writes with such joy and verve about the love of books and the delights of acquisition -- she is especially eloquent about the pleasures of second hand book browsing -- and she is happily candid about being an introvert and preferring books to people. I could relate to her complaint about pandemic lockdowns, not that she was too isolated from other people, but that she wasn't isolated enough. Bookish is a delicious delight, and I'm sure Lucy Mangan and I would be friends, if we could tear ourselves away from reading long enough to have a conversation.
I loved this too; reading it is like having a long conversation with a book loving friend - admittedly a one-sided conversation! I too noted down some books to seek out, and had fun comparing what I'd read at the various stages of life, some the same (Lace, Valley Of The Dolls), some very different (Damon Runyan's short stories when I was nursing a baby). I enjoyed disagreeing with her about some books (Tenant Of Wildfell Hall) and agreeing about others (Jane Austen). The Venn diagram of our reading in Bookworm had a lot of shared experiences in the middle, whereas for this book there were fewer shared book titles - but the importance of books and reading throughout all her various life stages was hugely relateable.
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