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How Reading Changed My Life

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A recurring theme throughout Anna Quindlen's How Reading Changed My Life is the comforting premise that readers are never alone. "There was waking, and there was sleeping. And then there were books," she writes, "a kind of parallel universe in which anything might happen and frequently did, a universe in which I might be a newcomer but never really a stranger. My real, true world." Later, she quotes editor Hazel Rochman: "Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but, most important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Indeed, Quindlen's essays are full of the names of "friends," real or fictional—Anne of Green Gables and Heidi; Anthony Trollope and Jane Austen, to name just a few—who have comforted, inspired, educated, and delighted her throughout her life. In four short essays Quindlen shares her thoughts on the act of reading itself ("It is like the rubbing of two sticks together to make a fire, the act of reading, an improbable pedestrian task that leads to heat and light"); analyzes the difference between how men and women read ("there are very few books in which male characters, much less boys, are portrayed as devoted readers"); and cheerfully defends middlebrow literature:
Most of those so-called middlebrow readers would have readily admitted that the Iliad set a standard that could not be matched by What Makes Sammy Run? or Exodus. But any reader with common sense would also understand intuitively, immediately, that such comparisons are false, that the uses of reading are vast and variegated and that some of them are not addressed by Homer.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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About the author

Anna Quindlen

90 books4,474 followers
Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of eight novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and Miller’s Valley. Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a number one New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at The New York Times she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear.

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5 stars
1,136 (26%)
4 stars
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3 stars
1,234 (28%)
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54 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 640 reviews
Profile Image for Pakinam Mahmoud.
985 reviews4,470 followers
November 22, 2024
"حبّ الكتب، إنه يجعلك تحلّق في سماء المتعة، طالما هناك نبض في قلبك.."😍

كيف غيرت القراءة حياتي؟
رحلاتي في ثنايا الكتب بتاخدني إلى عوالم أخرى..عرّفتني من أنا، ومن أردت أن أكون...
القراءة جعلتني أعيش في بُعد مختلف عن البعد الذي يعيش فيه جميع من أعرفهم...
أصبحت مثل جواز سفر ليا إلي عالم لا يعترف بحدود جغرافية أو عوائق زمنية...

عندما أقرأ لا أكون لوحدي، بل أصبح محاطة بالكلمات و سواءً كان كتاب حلو أو دمه تقيل، يبدو لي دائماً إنه على قيد الحياة يتحدث معي...

إحنا القراء ..اللي بنغفوا بينما يبقى كتابنا مفتوحًا على الطاولة جانب السرير..
إحنا القراء ..اللي بنقرأ عشان نستمتع ،عشان نفهم أنفسنا علي نحو أفضل ونبطل نحكم علي الآخرين..
إحنا القراء ..اللي القراءة بتعرف تاخدنا إلي مكان آخر لنتقمّص فيه الحياة التي نريدها والتي لا يمكننا أن نعيشها مباشرة من خلال واقعنا....

الكتاب جميل جداً..صحيح في أجزاء كتيرة فيها كلام عن كتب معرفهاش أوي بس في كلام حيلمس أي قارئ و حيحس إنه مش لوحده و إن في ناس كتير زيه:)
وزي ما القراءة غيرت حياة الكاتبة،غيرتنا إحنا كمان بشكل أو بآخر وبدون شك أكيد.. غيرتنا للأحسن:)

"يستمر الكتاب في تقديم ما اعتاد أن يمنحنا إياه على الدوام...'الملاذ الآمن'..."❤️
Profile Image for Brina.
1,141 reviews4 followers
November 14, 2016
Anna Quindlen is a veteran novelist and New York Times columnist who has won the Pulitzer Prize for her journalism. In this short book of essays that packs a punch, she takes us down her memory lane to tell us why she reads, citing her favorite books along the way. For this lovely reflection on the reading and writing life, I rate How Reading Changed My Life 4 stars.

People have been reading for various reasons since the first printed word appeared on cuneiform thousands of years ago. Books have changed in many ways, shapes, and forms since then, but the object has remained the same- to inform people about the world. Whether the person is a heavy worked business person or inquisitive school girls, books remain their window to the world.

Quindlen attended catholic school as a girl and had her love of reading fostered by her school library and a neighbor. She spent gorgeous days inside reading classics while her friends jumped in leaves or threw snowballs. Even today she would rather snuggle up with Anna Karenina or To Kill a Mockingbird than engage in outside activities. Her rereading of these classics lead her to the writing life as she points out that books remain timeless.

She ends with an essay describing how books may be on the decline in this digital age, yet she does not fear books ever going out of style because there will always be someone looking to escape, to learn, to see the world. As someone who loves to read, I enjoyed this refreshing book of essays. How Reading Changed My Life reminded me why I enjoy Anna Quindlen's writing, and I look forward to reengaging myself with her books.
Profile Image for Diane.
1,090 reviews3,060 followers
February 9, 2015
I have a fondness for books about books. I love it when writers and fellow bibliophiles wax nostalgic about their favorite reading experiences. Reading is a way of exploring the world without leaving your living room, and reading about other readers reminds me that I am not alone in my love of curling up with a good book.

This is a thoughtful collection of essays by Anna Quindlen on various topics about books and reading. It is a slim book, only 70 pages of prose and then a few lists of favorite titles at the back. But I went through this collection slowly, savoring the journey of another reader.

I nodded in agreement when Anna mentioned how many times other people made her feel weird for preferring to stay home and read. She praises a kind woman from her childhood who shared books with her when Anna had started to outgrow her school library. She discusses the folly of banning books, and remembers when her mother tossed aside a Philip Roth novel, calling it dirty, the first thing Anna did was pick it up and read it.

My favorite essay was about books that are considered part of The Canon, and how sad Anna was when she got to college and learned that one of her most beloved novels, John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, was not considered a Great Book by her professor.


The first book that ever seized me so completely by the throat that I read and reread it several times turned out to be one that epitomized both this utter falling into a book that is the hallmark of the way women often read, and the kind of intellectual snobbery that characterizes much of the discussion of books among those people who are considered experts in them...

Unlike most books I love, I do not press it upon other readers, even the ones I know best ... This is my book.


These essays were first published in 1998, and part of their charm is that they come from a different era. The internet existed in '98, but it wasn't as overwhelming and all-powerful as it is now. She mentions how some books were available on the computer, with no conception of how widespread e-readers and smart phones and tablets and wifi will eventually be.

She also mentions that concerns over reading have been happening for centuries. Naysayers have been fearing the demise of reading whenever there is a new invention, such as radio, or movies, or television, or the Internet. The fear goes back to the Ancient Greeks, when they worried that poetry would die once people started writing things down, because poetry was an oral tradition.

If this book reminded me of anything, it reminded me of the power we readers have. Empires can crumble, the Internet can go down, but books will be treasured as long as there are readers.

Favorite Quotes
"Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I did, although, in my everyday life, I had nowhere to go and no imaginable reason on earth why I should want to leave. The buses took to the interstate without me; the trains sped by. So I wandered the world through books."

"Perhaps only a truly discontented child can become as seduced by books as I was. Perhaps restlessness is a necessary corollary of devoted literacy."

"While we pay lip service to the virtues of reading, the truth is that there is still in our culture something that suspects those who read too much, whatever reading too much means, of being lazy, aimless dreamers, people who need to grow up and come outside to where real life is, who think themselves superior in their separateness. There is something in the American character that is even secretly hostile to the act of aimless reading, a certain hale and heartiness that is suspicious of reading as anything more than a tool for advancement."

Henry David Thoreau: "How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book. The book exists for us perchance which will explain our miracles and reveal new ones."

Further Reading
Here are some of my other favorite books about books:

Used and Rare by Lawrence Goldstone
Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Profile Image for Heba.
1,188 reviews2,850 followers
Read
July 25, 2024
الكاتبة الصحفية " آنا كويندلين " مُغرمة بعالم الكتب والقراءة الساحر...حيث تستدعي ذكريات طفولتها الجميلة التي قضتها في عالم الكتب...يمكنك ان تدعوها " دودة كتب "...، وبالرغم من إنها نشأت في إحدى الضواحي الهادئة الخضراء المزهرة بولاية " بنسلفانيا " إلا أن ذلك لم يكن ليُغريها للتخلي عن مكانها الآمن هناك بين طيات الكتب...
عاشت الكلمة المكتوبة بروحها العاشقة لها...
تشاء الأقدار أن تتعرف على عالم مختبيء في قبو منزل السيدة " لوفورنو" صديقة والديها لتصبح حياتها حافلة بالقراءة على الدوام...
تتابع افتتانها بكل كتاب قرأته على مدى حياتها وكيف ساهم في تشكيل شخصيتها وتحقيق ماهيتها ورؤيتها الواعية لواقع الكتب في ظل عصر لا يعترف بملمس الصفحات وعبقها بين يدي قارئها....
كيف يمكن ان تعاود قراءة كتب مراراً وهذا ما قادها لعالم الكتابة حيث باتت الاجواء والشخصيات مألوفة وأفسحت الطريق لملاحظة تقنيات الكتابة ، وعين جديدة تقبض على ما وراء الكلمات...
عالم من الشغف..الدفء...الرفقة المُخلصة..وكسر العزلة بالتواصل مع شخصيات الروايات...
تراءى لي بأن لو أوجزت حياتها في جملة واحدة لكانت تحليق بعيد بينما قدماها لا تزال تلامس أرض الواقع......
ربما من الصحيح أننا في أعماقنا نحن القُراء ، هناك عدم
رضا كامن بهدوء يجعلنا نتوق إلى أن نكون في مكان آخر ، أن نلجأ إلى الكلمات لنتقمص الحياة التي نريدها والتي لا يمكننا أن نعيشها مباشرة من خلال واقعنا....
Profile Image for Rowena.
501 reviews2,700 followers
November 18, 2012
I enjoyed this book for the most part. It's quite biographical, as the title implies, but it also has a lot of information about the history of books, reading etc. Great quotes about reading by famous writers are also included.

I could definitely relate to many of Quindlen's experiences as a reader. For example, the hostility and suspicion that some look upon readers.I did find that she made some assumptions though. For example, not all children who were readers were solitary and preferred their own company, at least not in my case. She also made a point about how scarcely anyone reads the Catcher in the Rye after the age of 21. Well, I was in my mid-twenties when I first read it but I guess because she is American, the books she included were popular American literature and were part of the American school system . As I grew up in the UK, I read most of the books she mentioned at a later age than Americans did.

So although the book isn't great, it's interesting, hence the 4-stars. There are also some good booklists towards the end. I would really love to read a similar book written by a British author, I feel I could relate more to the book choices (I'm sure Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and E.Nesbit would make an appearance). However, I did enjoy this book because as a reader I'm always curious about other people's personal journeys into the world of books.
Profile Image for Carol.
825 reviews
August 5, 2016
If you have been a book lover since you were a child, this book is for you! I felt as though Quindlen was speaking directly to me, and expressing my same thoughts about reading. She talks of changes as she grew up (50s/60s) with books like Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and how today things are changing with technology. She writes "It's 30 years since man first walked on the moon, and when people sit down to a big old fashioned supper it is still a plate of roast beef and mashed potatoes, not a capsule and a glass of water. When they buy a creamsicle, it's 3dimensional, wet and cold and wonderful. That's because people like the thing itself. They don't eat mashed potatoes with gravy because they just need to be nourished, but because mashed potatoes and gravy are wonderful in so many ways: the heat, the texture, the silky slide of the gravy over your tongue. And that is the way it is with books. It is not simply that we need information, but that we want to savor it, carry it with us, feel the heft of it under our arm. We like the thing itself. It is not possible that the book is over. Too many people love it so." In 84 pages this book it packed with memories, intimacy, joy and tears, & everything we love about reading books. (She also includes her 11 reading lists.)
Profile Image for Shaimaa شيماء.
476 reviews322 followers
February 1, 2023
كتاب صغير عن عشق القراءة.. عن المتعة الخالصة.
تتحدث الكاتبة عن غرامها بالكلمات المكتوبة منذ طفولتها واعتبارها طفلة غريبة الأطوار لأنها تفضل القراءة عن اللعب.
تحكي الكاتبة عن ذكريات قراءات الطفولة وهي ذكريات يتذكرها كل قارئ عشق الكتاب منذصغره. وعن نشأتها في أسرة لا تفضل القراءة وتأنيب أمها المستمر على قضائها الكثير من الوقت في القراءة.. تحكي عن سيدة تعرفت عليها وكيف فتحت لها مغارة على بابا (قبو ممتليء ب��لكتب) كانت تغوص فيه.
تناقش الكاتبة أيضا فكرة القراءة للفائدة فقط او قراءة الأعمال العظيمة..وتتحدث عن اهمية قراءة أنواع مختلفة من الكتب حتى الهزلي والخفيف، فكل منها يعطي تجربة قراءة مختلفة ويتيح للقاريء تجربة مشاعر وخبرات متنوعة.

❞ هذا يعني أن للقراءة العديد من الوظائف كما حال الجسم البشري، وأنّ بعضها لا يرتبط بالجانب الفكري، فمجرّد الترفيه هو أحد تلك الوظائف، وكذلك الابتعاد الممتع عن الحاضر؛ كما أن هناك وظيفة أكثر أهمية، ليست فكرية
ولكنها جادّة على النحو ذاته كتب رولد دال (Roald Dahl) في رواية ماتيلدا (Matilda) عن بطلة الرواية الشغوفة بالقراءة «لقد تعلمتْ شيئًا مريحًا، أننا لسنا وحدنا» هل من الممكن أن يعتبر المرء استخدام القرّاء للكلمات والقصص على هذا النحو بغاية الارتباط بالآخرين عن طريق تخفيف حدّة العزلة الإنسانية وتوسيع المعرفة البشرية، أمرًا لا يستحق المحاولة، أو غير ممكن، أو غير هامّ ❝.

كذلك موضوع الكتب المحظورة وهل نسمح لأطفالنا بقراءة كل شيء!!!

كما تناقش فكرة الكتاب الورقي والكتاب الالكتروني على اجهزة الكمبيوتر.. طبعا الكتاب نشر في نهاية التسعينات قبل عصر التلفون والتابلت واجهزة القراءة المتخصصة.

تشير الكاتبة في النهاية إلى بعض قوائم القراءة المتنوعة التي تلائم مختلف الأذواق.

الكتاب متاح على أبجد.
Profile Image for Barbara.
1,809 reviews26 followers
February 10, 2017
This very short book praises the act of reading. Quindlen who was educated in Catholic parochial schools (as I was for 6 of my K-12 education) described an educational experience that was very familiar. My family also had a set of encyclopedias, and Reader's Digest condensed books. We got the daily newspaper, the weekly Catholic Transcript newspaper, and Reader's Digest. But form a young age, I had a library card. Libraries were essential. Books were expensive and Quindlen discusses the fact that few families bought books. We were a military family and due to frequent moves books were something we couldn't accumulate. This may explain why as an adult I live in a house jammed with books, and as an academic, I have the biggest library in my department.

This book was published in the late 1990's when many book lovers were concerned that digital texts would lead to the decline of physical books. However in 2016, physical books are outselling e-books. This article :WHY I’M PUTTING EBOOKS ON THE SHELF FOR 2016
https://michaelhyatt.com/ebooks-2016....
includes the primary reason I read physical books much more often: out of sight, out of mind. I forget I have the e-books AND it is much less satisfying to finish an e-book.

Quindlen provides best of lists at the end which I enjoyed, but some might see as filler. Overall this is another book about the joy of reading that was a joy to read for me.
Profile Image for Manar.
168 reviews122 followers
May 15, 2024
التقييم 3.5

❞ لكن الحقيقة المطلقة هي أن هؤلاء الكتّاب ما يزالون أحياء بيننا إن مؤلفي الكتب لا يموتون حقًا؛ بل حتى شخصياتهم، حتى تلك الشخصيات التي ترمي نفسها أمام القطارات أو تُقتل في المعارك، هم وشخصياتهم يعودون إلى الحياة مرارًا وتكرارًا ❝

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آنا كوليندلين هي روائية وصحافية ظهرت أعمالها في قوائم الكتب الأكثر مبيعًا في مجالات الأدب والكتب الواقعية وكتب المساعدة الذاتية. وهي مؤلِّفة لسبع روايات.


كتاب صغير وممتع عن علاقة الكاتبة بالكتاب والقراءة منذ نعومة أظافرها ، كيف أثرت بها الكتب ، كيف تساعدنا الكتب على أن نصل للنضج ، وأصبحت من قارئة صغيرة ل قارئة كبيرة ونهمه حتى وصلت إلى أن تكون كاتبة ، رغم ان الكتاب صغير ولكن كنت أتمنى مايخلصش لذلك كنت بقرأه بتمهل .
كام واحد فينا نام وهو في حضنه كتاب ؟ كام مره نقعد نفكر ونسأل نفسنا هو انا من غير القراءة والكتب حياتي كانت هتبقى ازاي ؟
❞ اتّضح أنه عندما فكرتُ حين كنت صغيرة في أن يكون لي جناحان، أردت فقط أن أسمح لروحي بالتحليق. الكتب هي الطائرة، والقطار، والطريق. إنها الوجهة، والرحلة؛ إنها دفء المنزل. ❝

كم مره قرأنا كتب بتعبر عننا وشخصيات تشبهنا وحيوات تشبهنا ، كام مره فضلنا الجلوس في البيت مع الكتاب على أننا نخرج بره البيت عشان عايزين نخلص رواية معينه . أو نبدأ رواية جديدة ورحلة جديدة
سقراط بيقول أن الكتب مش هتبقى مفيده لأنها لم تأتي بالجديد او أنها مجرد بتذكر المرء بما يعرفه مسبقًا ،رغم أن أرسطو جعل من الاسكندر مدمن وعاشق للكتب، لو كنت عايش دلوقتي كان زمانك ليك رأي تاني أكيد مسكين يا سقراط .

نحن الذين كنا على الدوام نغفوا بينما يبقى كتابنا مفتوحًا على الطاولة جانب السرير، سواء كان كتابًا مُشترىً أو مُستعارًا نحن الذين نشكل الأتباع المخلصين الحقيقيين للكتاب، الذين لا يقرؤون كي يحكموا على قراءة الآخرين، بل كي يحسّنوا فهم ذواتهم

الكاتبه عرضت كمية روايات كبيرة جداً في هذا الكتاب لكتاب مختلفيين في أزمته مختلفه منهم قليلون اعرفهم ومنهم كتير ماكنتش عرفاهم بس اتعرفت عليهم .

كان نفسي احطلكم كل الاقتباسات عن الكتب بس كسلانه الحقيقة 😂

تمّ8/5/2024 📖♥️
Profile Image for Kelly.
465 reviews153 followers
June 23, 2008
The part of this book that I liked talked about what it means to be a lover of books. Her voracious reading of books as a girl mirrors my childhood as an avid reader. I would brush my teeth reading a book! I would hide under the covers with a flashlight reading books so my dad wouldn't know I was still awake! I liked that she challenged the perception "non-lovers of books" have about book lovers being lazy because they read so much. She also reinforces my belief that we don't always have to read books considered "literature", but that there is a purpose in reading for pleasure's sake alone. There are many purposes for reading and times for different kinds of books.
Profile Image for Victoria Evangelina Allen.
430 reviews143 followers
March 6, 2011

~TIME OUT OF TIME~

I love being on planes, love being in airports; sometimes I truly feel that I like journey more than the destination: it is a time out of time, a moment in life to fully relax and take all the responsibility off my shoulders, and, as Anna Quindlen helped me to fully realize, a time to read:

"This is what I like about traveling: the time on airplanes spent reading, solitary, happy. It turns out that when my younger self thought of taking wing, she wanted only to let her spirit soar. Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home." (88%)

Bookworms escaping the real life and hallucinating in the imaginary world: this is how many people perceive us, avid readers. How to explain to them that for us reading is the miracle of bringing other worlds to life with the power of this miraculous process of turning the little black ants of letters in flowing rivers of strong feelings that move the soul and make us laugh and cry and ultimately become better people? But why to even try to explain it? Because every reader wants to share the joy of reading like parents who leave books open on catchy pages; like librarians who take kids down into the basements filled with the marvels of Renaissance novels. God bless their hearts; if not for them, would there be such a page-turners army that stays strong and even growing despite the constant distraction of TV, social life and money-making pressure?

This slim volume tells a story every reader and writer can relate to: reading changes our lives in ways we never fully realize; it makes us who we are; it trains the muscles of our soul and the joints of our brain. For Anna Quindlen, reading became re-reading, and ultimately, a glorious writing career. After reading the masterpieces of world's literature, she decided that "I know that I will never, ever write as well as this, but that if anything even dimply like this power, to enthrall, to move, to light in the darkness of daily life, lies hidden like a wartime cryptogram within the Royal manual typewriter on my dorm room desk, I must try to make a go of it." (73%) It is a joy for us that she gave it a try: check out the raving Amazon.com reviews on her books, both fiction and non-fiction.

We, readers, are never alone: as long as we can read, we have a company of myriads of other people, the authors, the fictional characters and the other readers who have read same books as we. How Reading Changed My Life warmed my heart and reminded me of that. And several reading lists Mrs. Quindlen shares at the end of the book added a good 40+ jewels to explore to my TO READ SOON list.

Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya
Profile Image for Kevin.
1,561 reviews89 followers
March 26, 2017
I love to read books about books. When surrounded by many who have no desire to read I sometimes find myself losing some faith in humanity's future. I truly do not understand the lack of desire. I can't imagine going anywhere without a book and guess what, because of that I'm NEVER bored.
By the way, why is it socially unacceptable to read a book instead of stare at your phone?

At a young age I was taken by my father to our local library. He truly read everything. He would pick out a large stack of books and I believe initially to emulate him I would do the same. He taught me that ideas on becoming a better person and learning came from books. To understand others circumstances, we read. To lose prejudices we read. Reading is a pathway to the world where there are no boundaries.

Anna Quindlen echoes many of my feelings about reading. She talks about being told by her mother to go outside and play and would invariably sneak a book and read it outside. She also gives us hope that new technologies will grow our abilities to read and learn more effectively.

I find myself thankful that with you, my book recommenders on goodreads, I feel a kinship..."A world in which people read, read constantly, avidly, faithfully, in a way in which I imagined only I did." Thanks!
Profile Image for ولاء شكري.
1,004 reviews423 followers
April 26, 2024
"القراءة تقع في منتصف الطريق بين الحياة والحلم، فهي تحافظ على وعينا بالكامل، ولكن تضعه تحت تأثير تعويذة عقل شخص آخر"
Profile Image for Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*.
2,688 reviews1,153 followers
January 27, 2016

3.5 stars

“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”

I've been in such a mood to read books about books and love of reading. This short book has an author who always loved reading - the first part of the book was the best. After that it became a little flawed, but overall there are points in each chapter worth noting.

So far I'm in love with this author's writing style! It's interesting how she opens the book with not only her love of reading, but making points of being isolated from it, sharing others stories like Oprah Winfrey for the negative stigma, and how there is a cloud of literary snobbery over America for its duration. Fascinating thoughts that I kept nodding to and agreeing with while reading.

She focuses a lot on her childhood and how she preferred books over playing outside. She touches upon the isolation of a reader, something sometimes overlooked. It's not a straight rule all readers are strictly loner personality types, but it does sometimes go hand-in-hand. She focuses on this isolation and difference as a child and teenager growing up.

Did you experience any comments or negatives for being too much of a reader as a kid? I had a few run-ins with insensitive comments and misconceptions myself.

Her points about some people being driven to books and their isolated, soothing worlds could be because of troubles or pains they were experiencing. Needing to go outside themselves into safer worlds in between pages. I don't want to stereotype and say this is true for every child that is a heavy reader; I do know in my own case it is true.

Her next emphasis is on the dangers of literary criticism and the proper pedigrees of college, how so many get it wrong, not just to pretend to understand things they do not, but to shape their views according to the popular thoughts and beliefs of the institution. Ironically this is the opposite that should be done when considering literature, which dares to be different about controversial topics for its day and age.

"Not for nothing did the Nazis light up the night skies of their cities with the burning of books. Not for nothing were free white folks in America prohibited from teaching slaves to read, and slaves in South Carolina threatened with the loss of the first joint of their forefingers if they were caught looking at a book; books became the greatest purveyors of truth, and the truth shall make you free."

I didn't personally encounter any of this in college since I didn't live in campus or study literature, but I found it fascinating anyway. Her words about the dangers of professional critics and how so many get it bent was interesting and something I agree with. She's definitely against snobby.

The second half loses some cohesiveness - it strangely scatters random thoughts, which brought it down a star.

She ends the book with some short top ten reading lists. I have high respect for her as a reader and want to check out some of her fiction as soon as I can. Not sure how much I'll like her work, but I know she is what I consider a "true reader to heart"

Overall I dug the parts that were biographical (find other readers experiences reading fascinating - yes, I'm a dork.) I also dug the reading and book history she put in that I wasn't aware of, as well as her unconventional notes on snobbery and isolation (very true stuff, loved those sections.)

Profile Image for Maha Moustafa.
Author 5 books244 followers
July 27, 2024
في ناس بتقول جميلة هي الكتب اللي تتحدث عن الكتابة أو القراءة
بس أنا بعد الكتاب ده بقول عادي يعني 😂 مش كلهم.
أنا شوفت الكتاب عادي، كاتبة وبتحكي تجربتها عن القراءة مع بعض قوائم ترشيحات كتب في النهاية.
في المجمل بالنسبة الكتاب عادي، يمشي حاله يعني 😁
Profile Image for Laurie.
930 reviews1 follower
October 30, 2016
As a fellow voracious reader, Quindlen's reasons for reading pretty much mirror mine. She says "Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion....I did not read from a sense of superiority, or advancement, or even learning. I read because I loved it more than any other activity on earth." Yep, I completely understand and relate to that feeling . We bookworms were made to feel weird and nerdy and possibly freakish as a child. I wasn't made to feel that way at home because I come from a family of big readers. But some people were. Quindlen relates that Oprah Winfrey was. But at school, no one could understand my obsession.

So I spent much of this very short book thinking, Me, yes me again, and again me, me, me. Of course , I haven't spent my life translating my love of reading into a career of writing as the author has. But her love of reading and the need to escape into the world of other lives and places is mine as well. She states "Perhaps it is true that at base we readers are dissatisfied people, yearning to be elsewhere, to live vicariously through words in a way we cannot live directly through life...Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home." Yes, ma'am I agree.
Profile Image for Julie Suzanne.
2,032 reviews81 followers
December 4, 2013
Before sending this to an interested fellow bookcrosser, I flipped through the pages as a way of saying goodbye. I ended up reading the whole book again! Initially, this book was required reading for a college seminar course about "how we read." It was the best course of my life for many reasons, but this book was one of probably 20 books I was reading in a 3-month period. So I'm sure I got more out of it this second time.
It's wonderful! Inspiring! Quindlen is an outstanding writer who makes any topic enjoyable to read about. In this book, she discusses the politics of books, the stupidity of labeling some books "low-brow" as if they're not worthy of reading, and makes a good case for the value of such books. This book is about how reading (especially lowbrow books) can inspire students to become writers and how reading can, as the title states, change your life! Any reader will relate to the truthful musings of this established writer and you will have a deeper appreciation for your books and yourself as a reader after reading this. :)
Profile Image for Sue Dix.
640 reviews19 followers
January 27, 2020
I am always going to rate books about reading and books very highly. Because this was written in 1998, before e-readers, the section about the experience of reading on a laptop is funny. I still prefer hard copy books. Oh, also, there are a few reading lists at the end. I love reading lists. Long live the written word.
Profile Image for Beth Bonini.
1,364 reviews303 followers
April 25, 2017
I was first assigned this book as part of a Young Adult literature class I was taking for my Master's degree in reading education. I have a real soft spot for books about books and personal essays about the all-absorbing pleasure of reading. I could identify with Anna Quindlen: not only had we read and loved so many of the same books, and been formed by them, but at some fundamental level we are both people who would rather be reading than doing almost anything else. I suspect that 98% of the world judges us, but the other 2% (the truly book-obsessed) completely understand the compulsion.** Like Quindlen, I was fortunate to grow up in a happy home in a fairly idyllic, child-centred neighbourhood; and yet I was always want to 'escape' to somewhere else . . . and always wanting to live inside my books.

It was quite a surprise when this book - such a pleasurable reading experience for me - was panned by the majority of the class. This was quite a few years ago, but I seem to remember words like 'smug' and 'privileged' being lobbed at Quindlen. On rereading this book, I still like it very much; except for Quindlen's Catholic education, which I did not share, it rings absolutely true. If you are a fan of Quindlen's writing, and of books about book-love, I suspect you will enjoy it, too. The ten themed reading lists at the back are a definite bonus.

"Reading lists are arbitrary and capricious, but most people like them, and so do I. My most satisfying secondhand experiences as a reader have come through recommending books, especially to my children." Anna Quindlen

** These statistics are entirely made up by me. I'm not sure if 2% is too high or too low, but my gut instinct is that it is not much more than that. When I was teaching, I did meet some other avid readers and book-lovers - but they were by no means the norm.
Profile Image for shams hoter |.
329 reviews89 followers
March 2, 2024
« الجهل هو الموت ، والعقل المغلق هو النعش »
يقول سكوت في رواية «أن تقتل طائرًا محاكيًا» (To Kill a Mockingbird) :
«لم أشعر بحبي للقراءة إلى أنْ خشيت أن أفقدها ، فكيف للمرء أن يحب التنفس »

تتحدث كويندلين عن تأثير القراءة في حياتها فمن طفولتها وهي تقرأ خاصة في ذلك القبو البسيط المليئ بالكتب إذ تقول : “ أصبحت القراءة جواز سفر إلى عالم لا يعترف بحدود جغرافية أو عوائق زمنية ”..
عاشقة للكتب لدرجة أنها تفوّت ندوة عن كتّاب عصر النهضة وقت دراستها في الجامعة لتتمكن من إنهاء رواية (الأبناء والعشاق) لأنها كانت محلّقة في عالم آخر !.
تقول أن هناك طريقتين فقط لتصبح مؤلفًـا : الأولى أن تكتب ، والأخرى أن تقرأ
أجمل الأشياء في الكتاب الفصل الأخير منه .
الكتاب ممتع ، وفيه أشياء كثيرة تستحق القراءة .
Profile Image for Nadia.
1,221 reviews425 followers
March 21, 2024
تجربة الكاتبة مع القراءة و ربطها لعناوين أدبية بمراحل حياتها .
العمل هو نوع من السيرة الذهنية للكاتبة و فيه كشف عن دور القراءة بالنسبة لها و التي بالمناسبة أتفق معها في الكثير من ما تؤمن به عن القراءة.
Profile Image for Sassa.
284 reviews6 followers
December 18, 2019
Quindlen’s lists of books at the end pushed it to a 4-star !
Profile Image for Amal Dawas.
561 reviews68 followers
September 14, 2023
كتاب صغير سابقيه بالقرب من رأسي انه يمثلني
Profile Image for Jen Brodehl.
476 reviews50 followers
April 23, 2019
4 Stars- This is a super short 80 page book. I love how it went over so many positive and beneficial things around being a reader. And explains why books are so amazing. There are some quotes in here that will stay with me forever!
Profile Image for Amy.
Author 2 books158 followers
February 26, 2015
Yum. What reader isn't gonna give it 5 stars?
Profile Image for Aya Khairy.
278 reviews88 followers
March 15, 2024
قراءات عام 2023

❞ نحن الذين نقرأ لأننا نحب القراءة أكثر من أي شيء آخر في هذا العالم، ونكنّ للمكتبات الشعور ذاته الذي يكنّه الآخرون نحو المجوهرات. ❝

كتاب سيرة شخصية عن تجربة الكاتبة مع القراءة وكيف أثرت في حياتها في العديد من الجوانب وكيف كانت البداية وكيف تدرّجت، تتناول أيضاً فيه بعض الفصول عن صناعة الأدب والكتابة نفسها، والكُتّاب وآراء الناس في القراءة بل وبتفصيل أكثر عن الآراء في قراءة الروايات وهل هي الأكثر فائدة أم الكتب، ذاك الصراع الأزلي بين القراء، تتناول الكاتبة كل ذلك وأكثر بتحليل جيد وبطرق مبتكرة وغير تقليدية في الغالب.

❞ لم تكتف رحلاتي في ثنايا الكتب بأخذي إلى عوالم أخرى، بل جعلتني أغوص في أنحاء عالمي أيضًا، إذ عرّفتني من أنا، ومن أردت أن أكون، وما قد أطمح له، أو أتجرأ أن أحلم به، سواءً بشأن عالمي أو ذاتي أيضًا ❝

أيضاً هناك جزء جميل جداً عن أهمية القراءة للنساء تحديداً والفرق بين نظرة المرأة للكتب والقراءة وأهميتهم وأثرهم وبين نظرة الرجل، أيضاً إحصائيات عالمية بين الجنسين فيما يخص هذا الشأن.

❞ النساء لا يعتبرن القراءة مجرّد نشاط انعزالي، بل فرصة للتواصل العاطفي، ليس فقط مع الشخصيات في الرواية ولكن مع الآخرين الذين يقرؤون أو قرأوا الرواية ذاتها بأنفسهم، إننا نعطي ونرشح الكتب المُحبَّبة إلى الأصدقاء، ونناقشها على الهاتف ❝

يمكن أن يكون الكتاب كنز ترشيحات لقراءات عديدة وخاصة في الكلاسيكيات، فالكاتبة ذكرت العديد من الأعمال منها ما لم أسمع عنه من قبل ومنها ما قرأته بالفعل وأحبه للغاية مثل "مزرعة الحيوان" لجورج أورويل و"لا جديد على الجبهة الغربية" لإريك ماريا ريمارش، وهما من الكتب المفضلة لدي، ومنها كلاسيكيات أريد قراءتها منذ زمن ولم أقرأها إلى الآن مثل: شجرة تنمو في بروكلين ومرتفعات ويذرنج وذهب مع الريح والحارس في حقل الشوفان.

❞ كنت أحب الكتب الت�� تشعر يدي بثقلها، التي تتمتع بنوع من إثبات الوجود القوي، كنت أحب الكتب الثقيلة وكأنها كيس من السكر. ❝

أيضاً هناك بعض الكتب المذكورة التي شاهدت أفلامها ولم أقرأ الروايات الكاملة لها بعد مثل: كبرياء وهوى وكونت دي مونت كريستو (ويعتبر الفيلمين على رأس مفضلاتي من الأفلام المأخوذة عن الأعمال الكلاسيكية).

❞ الكتب هي ما أنقذ سلامتي العقلية في ذلك الوقت، فقد كانت ملاذي الذي أهرب إليه، حتى لو لم يتجاوز ذلك خمس عشرة دقيقة فقط قبل أن أغفو حتمًا في السرير ❝

بشكل عام تجربة مؤنسة وينصح بها وبالتأكيد سيجد كل قارئ نفسه هنا وسيشعر بلا شك في مواضع كثيرة بأنه هو من يقول هذا الكلام وليست الكاتبة، فجميع القراء لديهم نقاط مشتركة ومشاعر وخبرات وتجارب متشابهة مع سحر الكتب، حتى وإن كانوا مختلفين إسماً وعِرقاً ولغةً وثقافةً ويفصل بينهم قارات وبحار ومحيطات وجبال.

❞ وقالت، كما لو كانت تخاطب نفسها: «لم أعد أستطيع القراءة بعد الآن» كانت الكلمات حزينة ورنانة كجرس كنيسة. شعرتُ كأنها تعلن موتها، وراودني إحساس بأنها شعرتْ بذلك أيضًا عندما قالت كلماتها تلك. ❝

تمت - 2023
Profile Image for Maria Sherine.
163 reviews14 followers
September 2, 2024
لسه مخلصة كتاب كيف غيرت القراءة حياتي ❤📚
مترجم pdf على أبجد
112 صفحة
الكتاب بيكلم عن رحلة الكاتبة في قراءة واتكلمت عن موضوعات كتير بتخص القراية وكتاب وشخصيات الكتاب حقيقي لذيذ بيدي سعادة
هي كاتبة امريكية ❤📚
آنا كويندلين
Profile Image for Laura Stenzel.
50 reviews2 followers
January 31, 2008
A lovely retrospective for all of us who had to be forced to "put down that stupid book".
Profile Image for Madiha Ahmed.
203 reviews95 followers
October 29, 2021
إذا ما كان هناك كاتب لينصف شغف القرّاء بالكتب فستكون هذه الكاتبة آنا كويندلين حيث قالت:

‏”لم أكن أقرأ بدافع الشعور بالتفوق أو التقدم أو حتى التعلم؛لقد كنت أقرأ لأنني أحببت القراءة أكثر من أي نشاط آخر على سطح البسيطة”

رائعة جدا آنا لقد قالت مافي قلبي وما يثار تجاهنا نحن عشاق الكتب

“في حين أننا نولي اهتماما كبيرا لفضائل القراءة بأطراف ألسنتنا إلا أن الحقيقة هي أنه ما تزال ثقافتنا تعاني من علة الارتياب من أمر أولئك الذين يقرؤون “أكثر من اللازم” أيا كان المعنى المقصود فهم مجموعة من الحالمين الكسالى بلا هدف لا يملكون ما يكفي من النضج لأن يغادروا كهف قراءتهم”

هنا تحدثت عن الكتب التي منعت
تحدثت عن شغفها وأول كتاب أسرها
وذهابها لبيت السيدة لوفورنو حيث يوجد في القبو مكتبة فتأخذ ما تشاء من الكتب
وأنهت كتابها بعدة قوائم للكتب المقترحة والتي جذبتني جدا لاقتنائها
كتابها جاء كاليد الحانية لتذكرنا نحن مدمنوا القراءة كم هي حياتنا جميلة وقصيرة لنقرأ ونقرأ ونحيا وسط هذا الحشد من الكتب فلا صوت يقول لك “لماذا كل هذه الكتب؟”
مجرد حب حقيقي ومتبادل بين القاريء وكتابه
هنا ستجد ضالتك عزيزي القاريء
آنا كانت بمثابة عرابة الكتب الرائعة
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