This was a very enjoyable book. Informative and interesting.
I requested it obviously for its title. I love books and i love stories about books, and this one combined both.
I had quite a good time reading stories about favorites books and authors, revisiting some forgotten information and getting to know about other authors, their books and stories.
I enjoyed a lot the chapter about the Feuds between authors, they are really a witty breed!
I have to go back to the book again and skim quickly through it to add all the books that caught my fancy while reading, i can see that this will make my list even more unmanageable but it is all "for the love of books".

For those of us with bookshelves that can no longer hold all our printed treasures, or those of us who get more use out a library card than a passport, the new book For the Love of Books by Graham Tarrant is a joy.  If you're looking to find facts about authors and the stories behind them, this is a handy little guide to keep with you. Filled with anecdotes, irreverent history and lists of book recommendations for days, For the Love of Books will answer questions for you like why certain books are banned in China, the weird ways authors have died, and weird superstitions authors kept to while writing that classic novel.

My particular favorite sections had to do with author feuds and how they went on to create better literature.

For the Love of Books is available June 18th from Skyhorse Publishing and is a wonderful gift for the reader in your life, even if that reader is you.

Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Being a book nerd, requesting this book was a no-brainer - and it did not disappoint. Great read, lots of fascinating tidbits of historical information on authors and books. I see that some reviewers felt the information wasn't deep enough, just scratching the surface in some cases. However, I beg to differ. My feeling is that one of the best thing a book can do is get you interested and curious to know more. And yes, I did plunge down various wormholes looking for more information on one topic or another!

Highly recommended for anyone who loves books.

A charming miscellany of information about books and authors. It's not a book to read cover to cover but something to keep nearby to dip into whenever you want to read for a bit.

It's packed with delightful anecdotes, lists of books and authors, and interesting facts.

The chapters group the information together loosely, covering such topics as the novel, writers related to each other, mysteries, and addiction.

A delightful book for any lover of reading.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect book for ANY book lover. It's a great addition to any bookcase. The tidbits of info are fantastic.

For The Love of Books is one of those reads that is entertaining from start to finish and speaks to the heart of any book lover. I loved all the little known tidbits and historical bits that I would have never known about famous books and authors. Definitely a quick and enjoyable read and I cannot wait to purchase this in hardcover for my bookshelf. I also think this would make a perfect holiday, birthday or “just because” book for all the readers in your life and I know it will be so widely appreciated!

For the Love of Books is a very entertaining read. The book is about, well, books! There's history about books, fun facts about books, and chapters about different types of books. I love books, so I truly enjoyed reading every page of this book. I will definitely be buying a hard copy when it is published. I am so glad that I requested it. I highly recommend this book for every book lover!

For many readers, a book about books is one of the most appealing types of books available. Whether it is a memoir of a reading life or reference material that helps open one’s mind to new authors or genres, a good book about books is always enjoyable. For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Authors Feuds, Extraordinary Characters, and More by British author Graham Tarrant falls firmly into the latter category. It provides a wealth of information about the history of books– particularly over the past two hundred years– and gives the reader brief glimpses into the lives of a variety of authors. Some of those glimpses are humorous, some contentious, and some show us the dark sides of the authors’ lives.

For the most part, these glimpses are entertaining, if brief. Few of the stories are more than a paragraph or two, though some as long as a couple of pages. Tarrant’s brevity provides enough information that they don’t feel completely lacking, but it does make the book feel like a mad dash through literary history. Factoids are fun and easy to take in, but they don’t satisfy the desire for a deeper story.

For the Love of Books is an entertaining book and handy as a reference guide, but its appeal is largely surface level. Readers searching for a more in-depth look into favorite authors or genres will hunger for more information, but those who are getting back into the habit of reading will likely find it to be fun and useful.

This is a fun little book for the avid reader in your life. Lots of interesting stories about writers: their lives, deaths, successes, failures and everything in between. Is is a great book for dipping in and out of. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for a review.

A nice little jaunt through the lives and experiences of writers and their works, covering relationships, failures, humorous encounters, feuds, and more. Some of the chapters are more engaging than others, but overall a fun look at the truth behind a lot of familiar fiction.

Heck yeah! :-)
Thank you for the opportunity to review "For the Love of Books" by Graham Tarrant. FtLoB is a pleasurable, light, interesting read that I whipped through in practically no time at all... and that's actually a good thing, as it means FtLoB kept my attention against all distractions! Lots of neat tidbits of information in this one, and I'll definitely recommend it to others.

This book is a must for any book lover. It is filled with fun facts and tons of history about books and authors and much more. I enjoyed this and think every book lover will too.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I love reading books like this, books that talk about books, authors and literature in general. This book is all these and even more and I really enjoyed it.
It covers a lot of topics regarding books, with many bookish facts. I learned many things that I didn't know and I also got some great book recommendations.

If you love books you need this books and you will love it.

A book for those who love books! This book has a lot of information about the history of books and authors. As someone who loves learning little known facts about a variety of topics, I was thrilled to read facts and history about authors and stories. I could see additional volumes being written to provide even more fun facts about other authors, genres, stories and the like. This will be on my gift list for many 'bookish' friends. It will definitely find its way to my coffee table as soon as it is released!
I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For people who not only enjoy reading, but enjoy understanding literature. I found this book fascinating. I love history and I love books, so combining the two I found this short read endearing for my bookish soul.

This book would make a great gift for any reader in your life. I enjoyed the facts and information, although I found the history to be pretty high level. I would love to see the layout of this on paper, and I almost feel disappointed that I read this on digital. It definitely isn't the ideal medium for this.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I found a hard time getting into this book. It's not laid out in the narrative form, but rather in segments of different factoids. Tarrant lists a ton of very interesting facts about authors that I had not been aware of prior. At times, I felt that the way the information was stated was confusing and redundant. A lot of statements like, "arguably the best novel of 'insert time period/country' of all time" or "well-known" which I feel are quite subjective statements. It was laid out like a textbook but I questioned the authoritativeness of the author. Not meant as an insult, this book would be a great "bathroom book". It can easily be picked up and put down whenever. I could see this book being a great gift for a literary lover who is super hard to buy for or a graduation gift for an English major.

This review is also posted on my Goodreads and personal blog.

<i>“Books are companions for life—and ideal companions at that.”</i>

From oral traditions to novels and from libraries to serials, For The Love of Books starts by weaving through the timeline of books, discussing historic moments, genres, notable releases and how things have changed over time. This section is inherently a joy to read, with fun facts and tidbits offered throughout, with excellent writing drawing a coherent but winding tale about how books reached where they are today. It subsequently moves into themed chapters with several-paragraphs-long tales about specific books, authors and eras. This part, while fun and enjoyable, is a little less readable and is probably more for the occasional casual read on a Sunday afternoon than a single-sitting digestion. Excellent book, worth a look.

Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing, Netgalley and Graham Tarrant for the chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting, fun and light-hearted book full of facts and trivia any bibliophile will enjoy.

I found the history of books particularly riveting and learned a lot reading this book. There are some great quotes from authors about books and writing in here too. Many of the facts about the authors were new to me and while some weren’t especially riveting, there were others that were witty or fascinating. I enjoyed learning more about authors I like and some that I’d never heard of or knew little about. For example: did you know that Margaret Atwood invented a remote-controlled pen so she can sign books for fans when unable to be there in person?

This was a quick read for me and I admit I did skim some parts that I found a little tedious. Overall this is a book I’d recommend if you fancy something different or if you want to learn more about books and literature.

I'm plodding through this book one entry at a time because it is one of those informative books that need not be read in one sitting but savored little by little. Informative, nevertheless.

PS: I wonder why this one was an uncorrected manuscript kindle version. May not provide a pleasurable reading experience when provided as a reviewer copy here.