I really enjoyed this. It's an incredible look into fandom and how society perceives it, and the women who participate. Highly rec'd.
Thank you very much to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was not what I had thought it was, but after i dove into the book, I found myself to be quite moved. I thought it was funny, relatable, and there were tons of time where I was screaming with rage at society!

I love a book that can simultaneously be a memoir, cultural critique, and feminist statement. As someone who's been part of many fandoms in my day, Carvan's writing really resonated with me, as did her belief that anyone (specifically women) should be allowed to love what they love.

Both fantastically hilarious and soul-searchingly deep. A lovely examination of what it means to become a mother, and an ode to finding oneself again. I read it in a single sitting, and have been wowwing people with BC facts - and reflecting on who I want to be as I learn how to become myself again.

A fun read with a glimpse into fandom, and an encouraging message to embrace what you love and be yourself.

“When it happens, pure leisure should feel like play, not work. You won’t be worrying about whether everyone else is having a good time; you won’t be lumped with the labor—physical, mental, or emotional—of planning, delegating, and cleaning up; you won’t be doing it out of obligation, because you know it’s good for you. Pure leisure requires a deliberate choice to carve out nonpurposive time just for yourself. For women, Schulte explains, that’s ‘nothing less than a courageous—subversive, almost—act of resistance.’ But shouldn’t that feel good?”

OK, I was going to DNF this around 25% because I was experiencing secondhand cringe on behalf of Benedict Cumberbatch. But the book DOES address what it would be like for a celebrity to be so adored and obsessed over by a bunch of strangers, and for the family's of the obsessed, and weighs the good alongside the bad. This book does what the subtitle suggests — it explores the beauty of really, truly loving something just for fun. For "pure leisure." Many of my favorite quotes in the book came from someone other than the author, but I felt she was a good and fair reporter, who well-curated the stories and thoughts of others. Overall a sweet, quick, refreshing read for folks who truly love something or one day hope to.

Honestly I don’t think this book was for me … took me a minute to grasp the concept the book was going for. I’m sure there are folks that would be really into this though and it’s still well written

I did not know what to expect. Was this going to be Fan Lit? Well, Wow. This work made me think and reflect and get angry about the standards that females are held to by society/culture while males get passes or are judged differently for doing the exact same things. I never really thought about some of the points the author brings up. I guess that makes this a successful book because it's giving me things to reflect upon, and I find myself remembering ideas from the book weeks later. Very interesting and I hope it's changing me for the better.

I was excited to read this book after reading a RAVE review on Bookstagram. It was a slow start for me - I think because I actually didn't care about the Benedict Cumberbatch of it all. But once the author really dove in to the psychology behind it, the "why" of the obsession/passion, I was all in. My favorite chapters (aka the ones I highlighted the most and will no doubt be telling people about for at least the next few weeks) were Chapter 5: This is a chapter about guilt and Chapter 11: This is a chapter about girl stories.

I would highly recommend this book to any woman who feels they have lost their identity in motherhood, but it's really a great read for *any* woman. Because as the author says, this is not a book about Benedict Cumberbatch; this is a book about joy.

Ok, this IS a book about Benedict Cumberbatch... and so much more! I enjoyed this in-depth look at what society generally refers to as "fangirling" and why it's cool for men to be a fan of something but it's considered obsessive when women are. Carvan doesn't really give a solution to this issue. She instead focuses on exploring the many instances of how it manifests itself and arguing that women should not feel shame about being a fangirl. Fangirling over Benedict Cumberbatch served as a vehicle for getting Carvan through a tough time in her life, and she encourages other women to normalize being a "fangirl."

I think being at least a little familiar with Benedict Cumberbatch will help the reader enjoy this book because there are A TON of references to his work (especially Sherlock). I personally enjoyed Sherlock so this was not a hindrance to my reading, but I think I would've been tired of all the Benedict Cumberbatch references if I was not also a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch.

This book was better than it had any right to be. I don't understand the fascination to Benedict Cumberbatch and yet, Tabitha Carvan had me relating to nearly every page of this book. I laughed out loud, I clutched my heart, I saw myself reflected in these pages. This book is excellent for anyone who has ever loved something so much it consumes them.

Podcast discussion will go live on August 4, 2022 at www.feministbookclub.com/category/shownotes and on all major podcast platforms

The author discusses the intersection between motherhood and Benedict cumberbatch entering her periphery. True to the title, this is not a book about Benedict cumberbatch (sadly), but the musings of a travel writing settling into a different passage of excitement in her life: toddlers.

I found this book to be adequate, but not to the liking that I initially felt when my interest was peeked by the cover and the description.

Book Review ❤️
Title: This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch
Author: Tabitha Carvan
Published: May 31, 2022
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

#qotd: what was your obsession as a teenager?
#aotd: mine was the Jonas Brothers. I had posters everywhere, a binder, a bracelet and a bunch of other stuff. I even counted down to the premiere of Camp Rock. 😂 Those were the days.

Thank you to Netgalley for granting this request in exchange for an honest review.

From Amazon: "In This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch, Carvan explores what happens to women's desires after we leave adolescence…and why the space in our lives for pure, unadulterated joy is squeezed ever smaller as we age. She shines a light onto the hidden corners of fandom, from the passion of the online communities to the profound real-world connections forged between Cumberbatch devotees. But more importantly, she asks: what happens if we simply decide to follow our interests like we used to—unabashedly, audaciously, shamelessly? After all, Carvan realizes, there’s true, untapped power in finding your “thing” (even if that thing happens to be a  British-born Marvel superhero) and loving it like your life depends on it."

My thoughts: I picked up this book on a whim because I absolutely loved the title and couldn't resist. This book was cute and quirky, thought provoking, and sometimes super funny. It helps if you know some about Benedict Cumberbatch before going into it (which I knew very little) but I still enjoyed it and learned some things along the way. There were even times I would stop to read my co-worker lines because they were too good to pass up.
I think my favorite thing about this book was the attention to and encouragement to follow your interests with utter abandon, like we did when we were kids and teenagers. Some part of us or society says we have to give that up when we become adults, but it just isn't true! It's possible we would all enjoy our lives more if we lived more with the mindset of kids, not caring what anyone else thinks and just living our lives.

So, my thoughts on this are kinda weird. Motherhood has been a hard road for me. I'm about a third way through the book. I'm going to stop reading it because it's stressing me out. I think it's been really good, but I'm just not able to handle it right now even though it's funny. I would still purchase it for my library.

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard reading a book! And I'm not the biggest memoir fan either, but I am a Benedict Cumberbatch fan. The book was really thought provoking and was so genuine and wholesome.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was such an unexpected and entertaining memoir. Who could resist this book after the title?! That alone had my intrigue. I loved that Tabitha’s story encourages readers to enjoy their interests and fixations no matter what they are, as long as they bring joy. I loved that she dove into gender differences on what’s acceptable for men and acceptable for women. Would love to read another book from her!

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book!

Diving into Carvan's personal feelings and experience falling in love with Benedict Cumberbatch this is a fascinating read. Caravan breaks down each chapter to talk about her feelings, meeting others with similar experiences, the life changes that came with her so-called obsession, and the history of women's hobbies and self. Touching on motherhood and how things that women love have traditionally been discredited book this book has so much honesty and depth.

It's a very refreshing read!

This really isn't a book about Benedict Cumberbatch. It's a book about loving what you love, embracing what makes you weird, and remembering *you* when life tries to beat it out of you. This is a book that empowers people, especially women and gender queer people, to know that whatever it is that you love, that lights you up, is no more or less important than what does the same for another person.

This book brought me back to the time when I was young and a die-hard fan of Duran Duran (I know, dating myself horribly lol) It was fun and funny and is more than a book about fandom, it's about being passionate and living that passion fully.

4.5 stars

First and foremost, I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been obsessed with a television show, movie, or celebrity.

I only like Benedict Cumberbatch as much as the next girl, but that’s okay, because this is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch. There are a lot of universal messages in this book that honestly make me feel pretty proud to be a part of the fandoms that I am a part of (mainly Supernatural).

I loved the author’s use of humor throughout the book and found that it made the book a really fun experience.

The use of real-world stories as well as academic research was woven perfectly into the narrative so that it felt cohesive and continuously entertaining and intriguing.

To see why I have docked 0.5 stars, see where I write [MY PROBLEM WITH THIS BOOK] in my notes below

Things I noted while reading:

“I even filled out a questionnaire for you, something called the ‘Celebrity Attitude Scale’ from a psychology journal. It determines the extent of ‘celebrity worship syndrome’ based on twenty-three.”
- Oh Hell, now I have to go take the Celebrity Attitude Scale test about Misha Collins…

“Lea lives in Ohio—just like Kyndall, from earlier. They don’t know each other, though. Why would they? They just both live in Ohio. And yet I have no explanation for why I, here in Canberra, am making these random connections with total strangers on the internet and they all end up being from Ohio, a place I’ve never been. But so far I really like everyone who lives there.”
- This is the kind of humor I am talking about. It feels like this book is a really well researched conversation with the author, and I love that.

“To say they seemed one-dimensional is a generous number of dimensions.”
- I will be using this in every day conversation now, even if it is at the absolute maximum of the bitchiness scale

“It is, quite simply, a sixty-minute dance session set to an eclectic soundtrack, held in church or community halls, and open to everyone for a small fee. What’s notable about it is it happens in complete darkness. There are no lights and there is no dress code (the “Lycra” in the name refers to the leotards and dance wear required at formal dance classes). There’s also no drinking, no chatting, and no hanging around without participating. Everyone is spaced out so there’s no risk of bumping into anyone. You have no choice but to dance like nobody’s watching.”
- Goddamn, I want to go to this.

[MY PROBLEM WITH THIS BOOK]

“The act of looking isn’t a bad thing, and there can be pleasure in being looked at too, but you’re not doing it in a vacuum. It exists in a sociocultural, historical context. If Nathan, a heterosexual cisgender man, had a thing for Scarlett Johansson, it would refer, at least on first impression, to the context of sexist objectification of women by men, and the long tradition of a woman’s worth being subsumed by, and limited to, that objectification. So no, I wouldn’t be into it. If he had a thing for Aidan Turner, though, I’d be all for it.”
- This is my only problem with this book. I feel like any objectification of a real-world human being is just wrong. I believe that you can love a celebrity, but I do not believe that the sexual objectification of said celebrity is systematically wrong.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this book was a fun read and really highlighted the sexism behind the idea that women are “crazy” if they are “obsessed” with a celebrity. Also, I am going to leave you with my biggest takeaway from this book: how to reveal your love for a celebrity to the world.

Here we go: “Since the inside of me is almost entirely Benedict Cumberbatch, it’s simply a matter of drip-feeding it to the outside. I start by casually dropping Benedict Cumberbatch into conversation, at a rate of one mention per every five hundred times I think of him. Then I reply to people’s text messages with Benedict Cumberbatch GIFs, deploying a mere fraction of the images of him I have saved on my phone. I stick up more photos of him in the spare room—then answer the questions from our guests about the man whose many faces have been staring at them all night. Nathan does a lot of the legwork for me. He buys me wearable Benedict Cumberbatches, so now everyone can see my insides on my outside. It starts with a wooden brooch, laser-cut into the shape of Benedict Cumberbatch’s silhouette, which I pin on my coat. The Cumberbitch is now available.”