I tried. I tried to read this book at least 3 times. I give up. it's....fine. Instead of astrology for book lovers, it's more like book recommendations for astrology lovers. Or the astrology curious, perhaps, since the astrology mentioned in the book is pretty rudimentary. Basic pop astrology. None of what they said sounded different from other astrology primers I've read, and yet somehow the conclusions the book draws as to what kind of reader each sign would be, and what books we would enjoy seem almost entirely inaccurate. I read the sections for my sun, moon, AND rising signs, and none of them were right for me. I also read the sections for several of my friends' and family members' signs, and those seemed inaccurate as well.

Don't get me wrong. The book recommendations are wonderfully diverse and full of good titles. There was something for every sign that I did like. I appreciated the inclusion of nonfiction titles as well as fiction, although the nonfiction is heavy on self-help kinds of books...perhaps there are overlapping demographics here? I don't know. I did also appreciate how the authors pointed out that zodiac signs can be like personality types, D&D alignment, and online quizzes -- a fun shorthand for self-description.

Basically, what could have been fun takes itself too seriously, in a simplistic way, and ends up feeling strained, ineffective, and un-enjoyable. This was especially obvious in the awkward section defending the use of astrology and trying to convince skeptics they should use it because it's fun or something.

(Also, there is a glaring typo on page three, "previece" instead of "percieve", and while I try not to be so much of a grammar and spelling snob anymore, I would expect better from a major publisher.)

Super fun. Beautiful cover and inside. This was an interesting read. Loved it. I love that there is now an astrology book for bookworms.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harry N. Abrams Publishing for an eARC of Reading the Stars: Astrology for Book Lovers put together by Book Riot in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wondered how your sun sign, moon sign, and rising sign affect your reading preferences? Do you know who your bookish soul mate is? Have you ever wanted book recommendations tailored specifically to your zodiac sign? Look no further than Reading the Stars!

Like many, I am a sceptic when it comes to the Zodiac. I think it is a fun thing, but don't really see it as a serious framework for how to conduct my life. Nevertheless, this was a fun and quick read! I learned some new things about my own Big Three that gave me some questions and curiosity about some aspects of my personality that I'd never contemplated before, and I added numerous books to my TBR. I was able to skim through and get some good recommendations for myself and my husband. I love that I can use this as a gift guide for buying books for my family and friends, what a great idea! So fun, loved it.

I just love it when two subjects I enjoy get together. It's a great mash-up of everything you might need to know about astrology and what that means for you as a book lover.

Super fun astrology read for bookworms! The author gives the reader a quick lesson on astrology for those that don't know very much. This was super helpful for someone like myself that only knows my sun sign. They later dive into what each sign likes to read and suggestions for them. All the books suggested were great picks. This book is so cute for gift ideas and being given as a gift.

As a self proclaimed bookworm, i enjoyed this book. I found it fun. I definitely would gift them to some of my friends who also are into reading and astrology. I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All of these opinions are my own.

Helpful information

The author begins this book with a little background on the key concepts of astrology, what shapes the signs of the zodiac, and how the signs interact with each other. After that, each of the signs are discussed in more detail and how each sign is read is explored. The author aims to teach readers how to read their sign, what your rising sign is, and more.

The author states that the readers can get a pretty good idea of what makes someone tick with their sun sign, moon sign, and rising sign because all three of these are determined by the movement of the planets at the exact date, time, and location of your birth.

The author states that an aid to remembering the differences between the twelve different signs, understanding the different signs, and especially how they interact with each other, is to consider their elements. Each sign falls under one of four elements: fire, earth, air, and water, and the pattern of elements repeats through the signs in that order, starting with the fire sign Aries. Knowing someone’s element can give you a general idea of their priorities, values, and view of the world.

In addition to discussing the twelve zodiac signs, the author briefly discusses the qualities of the zodiac signs, which are:
1. Cardinal
2. Fixed
3. Mutable

The author provides information on reading each zodiac sign discussing each's element, quality, ruling planet, and symbol. Additional information is also provided concerning the basic qualities and traits.

Overall, the author states that this book is designed to help readers to better understand the planets, their impact on them, and how their zodiac sign shapes their reading life.

This is a very fascinating book and I found it very helpful as a beginner in learning astrology. I feel others can benefit from this book.

What a fun giftable book, perfect for the holiday season! This will certainly be a go-to gift for all the booklovers in my life. I appreciate how robust each description of each astrological sign is and how they might approach their reading life.

This book is truly great if you take it with a grain of salt. It is semi-accurate to it’s marketing although there wasn’t a character-to-sun-sign comparison like the description mentions, only authors. My main concern was that the signs were going to be described as caricatures of what they actually are, but I didn’t find this to be the case. Unfortunately there was some inaccurate information, but to anyone who only skims the surface of Astrology, this will only cause confusion if you were ever to try diving deeper into the topic, but for casual reading it could be much worse (ex. the book refers to a concept called “cuspers” which is mathematically impossible in Astrology)

The book itself reads like a giant blog post, which makes sense as it was written by a blogging company. The main meat of the book was its book recommendations which felt like it covered a wide variety of genres and was diverse enough in its author and character body, however it it important to mention this is coming from a white perspective on diversity.

It wasn’t a poor experience but I was glad when it was over, and it might make a great coffee table book for any witchy bibliophiles.

An interesting little book to flip through. This book will do well with people who have CoStar and enjoy a little bit of watered down astrology in addition to their pop culture.

This guide is just really fun to look at when trying to decide what is next on your TBR according to your astrological sign.

I was tickled by the suggestions and can't wait to pick up all the Capricorn books.

This book has some really great suggestions for reading under your sign. There is a lot of variety and it's perfect for a book club or reading discussion. They also have a really good index at the back of the book to quickly reference any sign recommendations.

A quick read of recommendations based on the current popularity of astrology.
The focus is on the Big 3 of astrology (sun, moon, and rising signs) and their reading style. Each of the chapters based on the zodiac are given a brief overview of the sign, their reading style, types of books they should read for growth, their "literary soulmate" among the other zodiac signs, famous authors who have that as their sun sign, recommendations and further reading.
The overview was basic but decent though with some reliance on stereotypes. The reading style I thought was pretty insightful and spot on.
I did check my Big 3 and didn't care for the recommended reading for any of them. I did like Pisces recs...but I'm not a Pisces (don't even have any planets in Pisces). I guess you could say it fits in that we have all the zodiac in us because of houses and angles and what not but...then that would mean that all the books are recommended to all people and that would just be...kind of silly.
Overall, it is a cute idea that probably would have been better as a series of blog posts rather than a book.

I have no dearth of reading options in my life as I read quite a few series and they keep me sated. However there are times when I wish I could find something new that will speak to me as well. This met the need and will help me find more books that will also fill that need.

A different approach to astrology that will help you understand the stars and how they relate to you…and how to find books that will pair up to your sign and sate your specific reading desires. I’m in!

Fresh perspective on the use of astrology. Like many others, I am not sure that I believe in it. Yet, it sure is fun to read your horoscope and sign characteristics. So as an avid book reader, maybe an addict as my husband says, this really appealed to me. First there is the general discussion on sign characteristics which is clearly written and that info is applied to types of books one likes to read. I found the description of my favorites types of books to be pretty on the mark Definitely could be used for buying gifts or assessing dynamics at your book club.

This book took a really unique approach to astrology by focusing on the topic specifically through the lens of literature and reading, which was a really refreshing, fun angle! It did feel like it fell back on surface level stereotypes of zodiac signs often and many of the book recommendations were by the same authors, limiting the potential for variety. But overall the setup and style of the book made it interesting, informative, and a quick read that readers can flip back to like a resource when they want. A fun read especially for those that are new to astrology and are looking for an entry point.

This was a really interesting look at astrology involved with reading.
I thought a lot of the descriptions were spot on. I think teens will like looking at this and this would be an interesting book to discuss in a book club and see how everyone compares to what their astrology says.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!