Since 1988, Pamela Paul has been keeping a reading diary of all the books she reads. She nicknamed it BOB (Book of Books). In My Life With Bob, Pamela Paul writes about what books meant the most to her over 30 years of reading. Pamela Paul has a lot ups and downs in her Life, but books are always there to help get her through her crises and victories. I’m a sucker for a book like My Life With Bob with its focus on reading and books. Pamela Paul writes about crying while reading Henry James’s Portrait of a Lady (I did, too!). When Pamela Paul becomes CHILDREN’S BOOKS EDITOR for the New York Times Book Review, her children became readers as she brings home a bag of new books each day! You’ll find fun and sadness and wisdom in the pages of My Life With Bob. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Why Keep Track?
Chapter 1: Brave New World: You Shouldn’t Be Reading That
Chapter 2: Slaves of New York: The Literary Life
Chapter 3: The Trial: A Book with No Ending
Chapter 4: Catch-22: Never Enough
Chapter 5: The Norton Anthology of English: Required Reading
Chapter 6: Into that Darkness: Voyeurism
Chapter 7: The Grapes of Wrath: Among Readers
Chapter 8: A Journey of One’s Own: Books That Change Your Life
Chapter 9: Anna Karenina: Heroines
Chapter 10: Swimming to Cambodia: The Company of Narrators
Chapter 11: Wild Swans: Inspirational Reading
Chapter 12: The Secret History: Solitary Reading
Chapter 13: The Wisdom of the Body: In Love with a Book
Chapter 14: The Magic Mountain: Different Interpretations
Chapter 15: Autobiography of a Face: On Self-Help
Chapter 16: Flashman: I Don’t Like Your Books
Chapter 17: The Master and Margarita: Recommendations
Chapter 18: The Hunger Games: No Time to Read
Chapter 19: A Wrinkle in Time: Reading with Children
Chapter 20: Bad News: Tearjerkers
Chapter 21: Les Misérables: Why Read?
Chapter 22: A Spy Among Friends: Other Writers
Epilogue: The Lives We Read
Acknowledgments
Also by Pamela Paul
About the Author
As I recall, Roger Ebert also said PORTRAIT OF A LADY was one of the few books that made him cry.
Deb, PORTRAIT OF A LADY made me cry right at the end.
This is – obviously – my kind of book too (books! lists!) and has been on reserve at the library since I first read about it.
PS – I am having to type in my information again too.
Jeff, no word from WORDPRESS yet. Maybe the malware attack is affecting them, too!
She doesn’t like Flashman?
Bill, Pamela Paul loathes FLASHMAN. She declares she could never date anyone who enjoyed those books!
Always favorites. All book lovers like to read what other book lovers have read.
Patti, Pamela Paul has some quirky picks in books at times. Especially if she’s breaking up with somebody.
Yeah, the Flashman thing turned me off too, Bill, but I guess she is entitled to her own taste…no matter how misguided it is.
Jeff, some people like Pamela Paul don’t get the humor behind FLASHMAN (or RUMPOLE). Their loss…
Interesting, but since it’s all I can do to try to keep up with my books to read for review, It’d need to be about mystery fiction for me to try it
the name space was blank for me, but after typing in m, the rest came up
Maggie, I have the same problem: too many books, too little time. I just finished a 517-page fantasy novel. Now I’m going to read something shorter!
I have a hunch I’d skim and skip in this one.
Rick, skimming and skipping are okay.