What's a Common Reader -- and what is Uncommon Reading?

Virginia Woolf defined a common reader as someone who is not a scholar; not a critic. A common reader "reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole." By that definition, I'm definitely a common reader -- reading an uncommonly large and diverse collection of books.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Just Added to My Shelves:


It's dangerous to let me loose in bookstores, or even in the vicinity of the Kindle books page on Amazon.com, it seems...

At any rate, here are some of the new additions to my shelves, some of which will be reviewed on this blog in the coming weeks & months!

  • When the World Spoke French by Marc Fumaroli (purchase)
  • Except When I Write: Reflections of a Recovering Critic by Arthur Krystal (purchase)
  • The Magician King by Lev Grossman (NetGalley)
  • The Prague Cemetary by Umberto Eco (NetGalley)
  • Sand Queen by Helen Benedict (NetGalley)
  • Heliopolis by James Scudamore (purchase)
  • Is Journalism Worth Dying For? by Anna Politkovskaya (NetGalley)
  • Nat Tate: American Artist by William Boyd (LibraryThing Early Reviewer)
  • Blue Monday by Nicci French (UK purchase)
  • The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg (UK purchase)
  • Before Versailles by Karleen Koen (Kindle purchase)
  • Bone China by Roma Tearne (Library)
  • Chalcot Crescent by Fay Weldom (Library)
  • Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli (LIbrary)
Stay tuned for feedback on these and other books! And a big welcome to all my new followers...

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