My Quick Thoughts: So I have been meaning to read (putting off?) Virginia Woolf for a looong time now. And what better way to get started with reading her that with this essay titled How Should One Read a Book?!

Granted, this is just one essay, but it is a brilliant one at that! While some of it reflected a snobbish attitude, I loved Woolf’s essay for what it did tell readers about the hows, whys, and whats of reading. In fact, some of the reviews today are based on my memories and ‘shadow shapes’ of the books I read a while ago; and I found myself connecting to that in this book. Avid readers will find many quotes that they will agree with as well as those they might not. Sheila Heti’s introduction and afterword offer additional insights and perspectives to the reader.

Definitely a great mini-book and a cool gift for book lovers as well as those who enjoy reading Woolf. This is sure to have readers wanting to read more by her.

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-rc of this book. These are my honest opinions of the book

Unfortunately , this essay was mostly a forward and an afterword written by people other than Virginia Woolf. While Virginia Woolf’s part seemed aimed at readers, the afterword seemed aimed at writers…and pretentious writers at that…so, maybe if you are a writer, you might enjoy this more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this essay on exchange for an honest review.

I think I may just not be a particular fan of Virginia Woolf, however blasphemous that may be! I didn’t get much out of this besides the general impression that Virginia may have been overly picky when it came to books.

'How Should One Read A Book' by Virginia Woolf with an introduction by Sheila Heti is the first standalone publication of this essay.

The joys of reading are many and accessible. Reading the thoughts of a famous author on the topic is a treat.
This is a short essay from an even shorter lecture that was given in the 1920s. The prose feels very much like the Virginia Woolf I've only ever read in fiction, and as an avid bibliophile, I really enjoyed this.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Laurence King Publishing Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and although not my normal genre it was an enjoyable read. I would recommend to all book lovers.

This book is a classic. Enough said. Well, writren. Well, argued. But that's what you expect from Virginia Woolf. I love this book.

A great lecture-turned-essay by Virginia Woolf that welcomes the reader to love reading for the sake of reading, and to find one's own way how to read a book. Sheila Heti contribues an introduction and afterword to bookend the Woolf essay. A fast, enjoyable read that could be assigned as a class reading.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The essay discussed the process of being a reader and critic. She believed that everyone could be a critic of literature but we mustn’t lose our love of reading in the process.

This had some interesting ideas and was thought provoking in terms of making me confront whether reviewing books has lessened my love of reading.

I really enjoyed both the forward and afterward by Sheila Heti too.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a short essay by Virginia Woolf based on a speech she gave at the Hayes Court Common school in Kent in 1926. It was then published in The Yale Review later that year. It is prefaced and followed by Sheila Heti's own take on books, writing and reading.

Perhaps this was a rushed reading and I should give it a second chance, but I did not engage with it. Most of it did not resonate with me and, frankly, went over my head. It has been a while since I've read Woolf so I am not sure whether the issue is just that she is not my type of writer. There are numerous positive reviews though, so I suspect perhaps it is a matter of me not picking the right time to read this.

The Sheila Heti's preface and afterword instead I enjoyed, perhaps because Sheila Heti instead is an author I read and appreciate very much. The style was more direct, less convoluted and I related to it much more. In particular in the preface she is riffing off of Woolf's idea of the shape a book leaves behind once we have finished reading it.
In the afterword she discusses the relationship a writer has with its first readers in draft form. Beautifully put.

"Art is made in the space between the artist and their early, chosen readers, a space that is filled with love, and with the pleasure of mutually solving a puzzle with care, and the understanding that while one person helps the other one now, the other will be helped out one day. This is an economy where no money flows, just the collective concern of people who care about a shared craft. These are the readers the world never talks about, but who are, to me, the most important ones. I never feel more valuable as a reader than when I am reading a friend's draft. And it's a special pleasure to know that my reading can change a book, not only that a book can change me."

Many thanks to Laurence King Publishing Ltd and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a love letter to readers. I am greatly enjoying this by an author that is to be cherish.

It is certainly unsurprising to find that Virginia Woolf's writing in How Should One Read a Book is both brilliantly thought our and brilliantly constructed. As the title states, the book explores the subject of how readers can connect deeply with the books and authors they read. Sadly, the book is just a short essay. The afterword by Sheila Heti is an excellent addition--but as soon as you are through with this short read, you will find yourself picking more of Woolf's nonfiction off your shelves to satisfy your need for more of Woolf's voice. An excellent volume.

This was a wonderful read! This speech/work is still as impactful today as it was 1926. The afterword is also beautifully written - a must for anyone who love reading and has spent time considering the impact of books, as well as why and how we choose we read.

"The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions."
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I woke at 6am this morning and not wanting to wake my husband, rather than continuing with my current read and switching the light on, I thought I'd read a couple of short stories on my Kindle. The first was this essay from the legend and Queen, Virginia Woolf.
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How should one read a book? Is a short essay that was initially written as a lecture in 1926. It was book ended by a forward and afterward by Sheila Heti who set the tone and concluded perfectly.
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This essay is so relevant today, especially in a world of bookstagram where we all fancy ourselves as reviewers and critics. This poignant, quick read, talks about how we could absorb a book. It talks about how we could approach books with a more open-minded. And for the first time ever, it made me want to use the highlight function on my Kindle!
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I've included one important quote from the first paragraph above, but here are a couple more favourites:
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"In a way, a book that has been published is already dead. It doesn’t matter to the book whether I like it or not; that doesn’t change it. It has achieved its final form. I don’t have a responsibility to a writer I don’t know."
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"If behind the erratic gunfire of the press the author felt that there was another kind of criticism, the opinion of people reading for the love of reading, slowly and unprofessionally, and judging with great sympathy and yet with great severity, might this not improve the quality of his work? And if by our means books were to become stronger, richer, and more varied, that would be an end worth reaching."
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I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who reads and then reviews books in a public space. Whether that is on a blog, Instagram or more formal platform.

No, no, no. I have no idea why I even requested this or even if I did? NetGalley seems to have had a major glitch for me and I was sent loads of books, but turned down mostly. I can’t give a review because I didn’t and don’t want to read this, sorry.

Review forthcoming through Shelf Awareness. Please see their newsletter for more information and feedback.

"How Should One Read a Book?" by Virginia Woolf is a short essay that describes the way one must approach the book as a reader. It lists the differences between a professional critic and someone who reads and reviews for pleasure. It also stresses on the importance of all kinds of readers, and makes one think in terms of what a writer expects when they offer their work to be read and judged

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: Recommended.

What have my reviews come to? I'm writing a review about how to read a book! In seriousness though, we take reading for granted. This book provides insight into reading habits from some of the most respected voices. Reading is so much more than words on a page. It's an entry point to a whole new world.

I'm not always one for classics and can find the writing quite clunky so it took me a while to get into this essay. That being said, as an avid reader it was really interesting to take a step back and consider how I 'should' be reading. I loved what she had to say about the importance of reading for pleasure and the immeasurable power that books have on us, and I think I was more appreciative of the books I read after this.

I can't say it was a hugely enjoyable essay to read, but I'm glad to have to have read it.

As if we don't enjoy reading enough, Virginia Woolf expands how the experience can be more fulfilling and enjoyable. She encourages us to fully immerse ourselves into great literature by using our own time and environment to make it personal, to obscure outside influences and prejudice to make the reading experience truly the reader's own.

The introduction and afterword is written by Sheila Heti. The afterword is explaining her (Heti) use of friends as beta readers during the writing process and adds very little to Woolf's essay. The foreword, however, is a vivid expression of Woolf's view of the book as a 'shadow shape' as the story is read, dependent on the time and place where it is read. We will all know what this means when we recall favourite books and how we feel about them, often not remembering every detail or even the main plot, but how we feel about it. There is, Heti says, according to Woolf, 'some alchemy between the shape the writer created and the shape of our life as we read it.'

Originally published by Hogarth press in 1935 and part of an anthology, this is a great little book for discerning readers and would make a great gift. A joy to read in its own right.

This is a short book containing an essay by Virginia Woolf with an useful and enlightening introduction by Sheila Heti. The essay has appeared elsewhere but this is a standalone and gives the thought of Woolf a substance. Woolf sees reading as very important and requires that we concentrate rather than read with a “blurred mind”. She is quite snobbish about what we should read but given the time it was written that is to be expected. Nowadays we are still snobbish but slightly more relaxed about what constitutes “literature”. I enjoyed reading it and it made me contemplate my own habits. Do I consider what the author was trying to say or do I just bring my own expectations to the book?

If you love reading this is a great addition to your library. If you know a reader, this would be an excellent Christmas gift. I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.