As a librarian, I was immediately drawn to this book and was so excited to receive a digital ARC! It did not disappoint. I found myself laughing, gasping, and shaking my head as I learned more about the world of books than I had even thought to ask about. My favorite part is that this book is structured in a way that allows for excerpts to be read without confusion -- I've recommended passages to my colleagues who teach literature courses, and at least one of them hopes to incorporate this text in some part into their future courses!

As a person who spends most of their time reading books and talking about books and thinking about books, the first mention of Graham Tarrant’s “For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters, and More” in my vicinity, initially left me more than a little eager to get my hands on it. But, unfortunately, to a consummate book-devotee there was not really anything new to be gained here; most of the information was general knowledge, its frequent lists banal and rather arbitrary and, towards the end, it started to feel more like a reference book than anything anyone would sit down and actually take the time to read recreationally. The book comes in at a cool $19.99 in the US (no idea how much it costs in the UK, or if it is actually published here) and, honestly, I would advise you to instead divert that money to an actual book as, for most people interested in literature of this nature, this one will not tell you anymore than a quick google search would unveil.

As a huge lover of books, I also love books about books. Out of the ones I've read, I would consider this one of the best.
It's not written in essay format, it's not a book if you want to really want to go in dept on a particular subject. This is a book about books and authors and everything in between! Everything is bite sized, interesting, and informative! There were some more common facts, and some much more obscure, so most people will find something they never knew before in between these pages.
A very fun book to have and flip through, and you never know what conversations will start with the information you find out.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free eCopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this would be a book that I read through quickly perusing some sections and taking more time with others. I found myself slowing down and reading every word, For The Love Of Books covers everything from the earliest history of books to the advent of digital print to writing habits to feuds with fellow authors to authors with experience in the spy world. It has a great balance of printing history and interesting stories to keep it from being either dry or a book of bibliophile trivia. I had no idea that George Washington was once a book salesman or that there are so many authors who worked as spies or informants in the World War.

There are also lists of the best books related to each subject or chapter. I plan on listing them all in my journal and choosing a couple from each list to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I found For the Love of Books such a fun experience. Graham Tarrant writes conversationally about some of the most interesting anecdotes, quotes, and observations regarding writers and books. I learned some new trivia, explored some genres I might not have been exposed to before, and added some things to my to be read list. I really appreciated how the book is laid out. There are no consequences for reading out of order, leaving us the opportunity to pick it up and put it down at will. I think For the Love of Books would make a perfect gift option, and would be happy to recommend it.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This is definitely a book for people who like useless trivia. My father would have loved this. He was the King of Trivia no one else knew. For us mere mortals, this has some sections that are interesting and fun to read through but as a whole it probably isn't the sort of book that is for everyone to sit and read from cover to cover.

#ForTheLoveOfBooks #NetGalley

I believe I stopped reading this around 85%, so, this is not a DNF.

At first, I was rather excited; however, as I progressed, the excitement diminished. Mainly at the point when I realised that many of these things which were featured in this book were in the literature textbook, we had in high-school. And other things I would note as "common knowledge"(not the right word... basically things most book worms know just by searching new books, reading and due to the existence of Wikipedia), very few things were surprising to me, and suddenly I had to push myself through this book.

I'm going to give this two stars if only for the excitement I had at the beginning. Unfortunately, for me, this book is pointless.

For me, this was just an okay book. It covered a lot of different topics, but it was a bit scatterbrained in the excecution and superficial. Also, some of the lists included weren't even remotely related to the topic of the chapter.

I am drawn to books about books, reading, writing, authors, libraries, and bookstores, so I was naturally intrigued to pick up Graham Tarrant’s, “For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters, and More.” This book keeps its promise. It has quirky, well-researched, and chock full of interesting factoids about all things book. It was entertaining and quick … not because it was a page-turner, but because it was easily skimmable.

I wasn’t interested in some chapters but found others highly entertaining. My favorite sections were on the famous feuds between authors, and the one on glittering prizes. Whether I was engaged in the subject matter or not, I did appreciate the clever writing. I also loved the “It’s a Fact” call-outs and lists at the end of each section. I added three books to my TBR folder on Goodreads from the Ten Impressive Debut Novels list, and four books from the Ten Good Reads about the Book Trade.

I would have preferred print over the e-version of this book. I would have liked it for my bookshelf to reference the lists and facts in the future because it’s unlikely I’ll bother to search my digital files.

For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters and More by Graham Tarrant covers a variety of nonfiction bookish topics. He starts the book with a brief history of printing, books, and libraries. He then progresses to historical notes on the novel. From there many topics are covered from book banning and writers' feuds to the history of crime fiction to writers who ran afoul of the law to lawsuits and authors. And so much more, roughly 22 bookish topics are covered.

I pretty much enjoyed most of the book. My favorite segments were those about spies, science fiction and fantasy, and children's books. While this is a very good book, it does have one drawback. It's pretty much centered on authors and books from the United Kingdom. While there are some other authors mentioned, I felt like there could have been a more balanced approach.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this well-researched book to people who enjoy reading about books and authors. Even though this book mainly has a UK focus, there is still a lot to enjoy for any book lover.

For the Love of Books by Graham Tarrant was published June 4th, 2019 by Skyhorse.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. all opinions herein are my own and freely given.

This was a very entertaining collection of essays about writers and their books. The opening bits were more of a history lesson - and I almost stopped reading because it was all information I already knew and wasn't anything like the hidden backstory stuff promised in the blurb. Don't be turned off by that - skim (or skip) those bits if you already know them, but keep reading because the good stuff is just around the corner... There were delightful tidbits of trivia, gossip, and "did you know" here, paired with a nice history of books/authors/reading/writing and some great lists of books to look for (if you haven't read them already). It was quite a run read and a great choice for any bibliophile!

I was a bit disappointed about the lack of American authors and books in this collection but there are some interesting facts within this book. Nothing earthshaking, just some little tidbits of trivia that make for a somewhat entertaining bit of reading.

This is not a long book but packed with information told in thematic chapters. Although it is British-centric, I found that I recognized many of the authors mentioned (though not the literary festivals). The "Its a Fact" pieces were my favorites, as were the lists. I bookmarked a number of pages to refer back to later. There are a number of things that were subjective that the author states as if it were a fact. I am not sure that I would recommend this book, though an English major might enjoy parts of it. Some of the book is written at such a basic level, while other parts are more high level, which makes it hard to find the right audience for the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of For the Love of Books.

This was a quick, amusing read about the lives of some of the most celebrated authors in the world.

To be honest, if you love books (like me), some of these anecdotes are not new but some were, such as I didn't know Truman Capote was so superstitious.

I enjoyed the fun facts section and sidebars where readers are given a brief overview of some of the authors' lives, offering brief insight into their childhoods, adulthood and what shaped their path toward becoming a literary star.

My first caveat is that I would have enjoyed more exposition on some of the authors, nearly all are too brief and only a few paragraphs long.

Second, this book is very UK-centric, focusing mostly on authors in the UK, so I'm going to make an educated guess and say the author of this compilation is based in the UK or, a local, at least.

This may put off some American readers (like moi), looking for juicy and/or fascinating tidbits on our favorite American authors. There definitely wasn't enough of that here.

The part about book festivals was interesting but they are all in the UK! Come on!

This was a fast read with some funny and amusing facts but it could have been so much better!

This book has some little nuggets perfect for citing at nerd-parties or if you want to impress your book-loving friends. However it felt a little dry, more like wikipedia than book chapters. Still, book lovers will forgive this.

I have recently started gathering this fascinating sub-genre of books: books about books. Some are more subject-specific, but this one falls into this category in a more general fashion. There are snippets offered here across many genres and feels made to pick up and read a bit at a glance, and really in any order, rather than read from cover-to-cover in one sitting. I would imagine that this would make a great gift for any booklover, and would be easy to see on a coffee table.

And while its intended audience is surely booklovers - as the title alone suggests - the age range of that audience is perhaps a bit less clear...The information is presented in a very simple fashion, with explanations that I doubt most true booklovers would actually require. Maybe younger readers - or those who have more recently discovered their love of reading - will find this to be a good resource. But the book also feels very dated - its focus is primarily on non-contemporary authors. And the lists provided to inspire reading rarely show a publication more recent than the early 2000s. The book is also very British, so maybe the intended audience is more for younger UK booklovers...

All in all, I did finish reading this, but though I had felt so excited that I was the book's intended audience, by the end it just wasn't what I had been hoping for. There are a few fun anecdotes that were new to me, but on the whole, I didn't learn much here. And for a TBR that is always growing, I didn't add a single title to it based on the information offered here. And the last chapter does mention 2017 (prior to that the most recent publication date of a title was 2011), but I think that this book needs a bit more focus in identifying its intended audience, because the current scope of its contents was not what I had been hoping for.

This is a great peek behind the scenes of books and what they mean to the writers who create them. Great book!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I adore this book, For the Love of Books by Graham Tarrent, it contains a wealth of information, backgrounds, secrets and tales of authors! I am a huge reader and was thrilled at the lists of books along with brief stories of authors and who they mix with and how books were accomplished. I now have additional knowledge about banned books, the process (or not) about writing and so much interesting background I hadn't considered before. This is a wonderfully fun book about books. It was pure joy for me and would be for book lovers and those who love books! My list of "to be read" is substantially longer!

Very informative book about books. Starting with history related to the beginning of writing in a form that has become what it is today, this book is a joy for those who enjoy history and learning.

As a librarian and book junkie, I loved this book! It's not necessarily something my patrons would enjoy, but I'll be buying copies not only for myself, but for my librarian friends. It's this kind of trivia that makes our hearts go pitter-patter. I'd love to see some of the trivia snippets put into memes for use on library web pages. It's the little facts and trivia behind the stories that make things so interesting.