SATURDAY SMORGASBORD – Books about Books

I am such a book geek. And I say that with pride. I love finding people and authors and communities that love books as much as I do. Here are some books – for all ages – that share a love of books, reading and bookish places.

Books for Kids


Bunny’s Book Club – There are a couple books on this list that are TBRs rather than books I have read. This is one of those. I haven’t found this one in person to check it out, but it looks perfect. I hope to read this one soon.
Doris the Bookasaurus – Doris’ love of books is annoying to her little brothers because it keeps her from playing with them. When she shows them a book they love, though, everything changes. This is darling.
Library Lion – I always looked forward to reading this story about a lion in the library to my students. It’s lovely, and students really connect with it.
Madeline Finn and the Library Dog – Madeline struggles with reading, but a program at the library where she can practice her reading with a dog helps her grow as a reader. This is delightful. You can read my review here.
Wild About Books – This is one of the picture books we often by for new babies. Sure, it’s not a book they can enjoy right away, but it is such a great love letter to books that we are confident families will grow to love it like we did. This was another favorite to read aloud when I was teaching.

Books for Older Kids/Teens


Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library – The epitome of books about books! This outstanding middle grade story about kids competing in a book-based contest in a futuristic library has been a hit with every student I ever handed it to. Book 3 in the series comes out this fall and a movie of this first book will be coming to Nickelodeon soon.
Finding Serendipity – First in a series about a girl who discovers a land where stories live. In book one, Serendipity gets help finding her missing mother by the main character in her mother’s famous books. I enjoyed sharing this series with students.
Fish in a Tree – The main thing I remember about this book is the origin of the title which is a quote reportedly from Einstein that says if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will always think it is stupid. The main character in this book has dyslexia and finally has a persistent and observant teacher who discovers it and helps her. This was a fantastic story!
The Losers Club – I just finished this AWESOME story (I’m still trying to find a review slot for it here on the blog). At the center of the story is a boy who is getting in trouble every day at school – for reading. So he starts a club for kids who want to read, but he calls it the Losers Club so a lot of people don’t join and mess up his quiet reading time. Not only did the story highlight reading, but it also talked about a lot of books kids might enjoy.
The School Story – Andrew Clements wrote The Losers Club and also The School Story which is about a girl who writes a book and secretly tries to get it published. This is one of my favorite early Clements stories along with Frindle, No Talking and The Last Holiday Concert.
Bookishly Ever After – Earlier this year I reviewed this book for older teens about a book nerd who tries to use the characters from her favorite books to help her negotiate a romance.
I Kill the Mockingbird – I adore this book about a group of teens who hide copies of To Kill a Mockingbird in order to get everyone talking about it.  While this one is written for a middle grade audience, I found that my older students connected with this better than the younger ones. This works for all teens.

Books for Adults


Classified as Murder – This is the second book (my favorite) of the Cat in the Stacks mystery series about a college librarian who works in the archives. Fantastic mystery series, terrific cat that adds a fun component to the series. Here you can read a review of the most recent book in the series.
A Dark and Stormy Murder – Outstanding mystery series about two writers collaborating on books while solving mysteries. You can read my review here.
The Eyre Affair – This is the other book on this list I have not read. I have several of the books in this series about a literary detective, but I haven’t tried it yet. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s Nursery Crimes series.
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops – This nonfiction book is laugh-out-loud funny while also being a little sad when it comes to true stories from folks who work with books.
The Writing Desk – I recently read this fantastic Christian novel about two writers in different time periods and the ways their stories connect. Excellent.

 

Do you have any favorite books about books?

REVIEW: Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira

Summary


Phoebe is a devoted book nerd. She is always reading and knows about all the popular and upcoming books. Not caring how it looks to others, she dresses in costume for book releases and author signings. She even looks to her favorite books and characters to help her find romance.

While Phoebe has a crush on the class president, Kris, her best friend is convinced that Dev likes her. Kris doesn’t seem to know Phoebe exists, but Dev is around all the time. So Phoebe attempts some of her bookish moves, trying to channel the strong, confident heroines from her favorite books.

But Phoebe isn’t really like those characters. She’s uncertain and awkward. She loves what she loves, and she doesn’t hide it. So when a more confident girl moves in on Dev, Phoebe wonders if she should just stick to fictional relationships after all.

Review


This was SO fun! There are some GREAT bookish lines in the story. As a book nerd like Phoebe, some of these statements really clicked with me.

I loved Phoebe. I enjoyed her “nerdishness” and passion for books and knitting and music. The banter with Dev and Em and some of the other characters was great fun to read. The scenes from Phoebe’s books got old at times – I was far more interested in the characters in this story. But I loved that Phoebe tried to use her passion for fiction to help her in real life.

This reminded me of Fangirl and Geekerella – stories with characters who are passionate about something like pop culture, science fiction shows, book series, etc. I identify with these sorts of characters, and I find their stories fun to read.

This is a great Young Adult book. There’s a little bit of language and a gay relationship in the secondary characters that might make this a better fit for older teens in some cases. Book 2 in the series, Dramatically Ever After, which focuses on Em and Kris from this book, released earlier this month.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥