How Reading Changed My Life

I love being on planes, love being in airports; sometimes I truly feel that I like journey more than the destination: it is a time out of time, a moment in life to fully relax and take all the responsibility off my shoulders, and, as Anna Quindlen helped me to fully realize, a time to read:"This is what I like about traveling: the time on airplanes spent reading, solitary, happy. It turns out that when my younger self thought of taking wing, she wanted only to let her spirit soar. Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home." (88%)Bookworms escaping the real life and hallucinating in the imaginary world: this is how many people perceive us, avid readers. How to explain to them that for us reading is the miracle of bringing other worlds to life with the power of this miraculous process of turning the little black ants of letters in flowing rivers of strong feelings that move the soul and make us laugh and cry and ultimately become better people? But why to even try to explain it? Because every reader wants to share the joy of reading like parents who leave books open on catchy pages; like librarians who take kids down into the basements filled with the marvels of Renaissance novels. God bless their hearts; if not for them, would there be such a page-turners army that stays strong and even growing despite the constant distraction of TV, social life and money-making pressure?This slim volume tells a story every reader and writer can relate to: reading changes our lives in ways we never fully realize; it makes us who we are; it trains the muscles of our soul and the joints of our brain. For Anna Quindlen, reading became re-reading, and ultimately, a glorious writing career. After reading the masterpieces of world's literature, she decided that "I know that I will never, ever write as well as this, but that if anything even dimply like this power, to enthrall, to move, to light in the darkness of daily life, lies hidden like a wartime cryptogram within the Royal manual typewriter on my dorm room desk, I must try to make a go of it." (73%) It is a joy for us that she gave it a try: check out the raving Amazon.com reviews on her books, both fiction and non-fiction.We, readers, are never alone: as long as we can read, we have a company of myriads of other people, the authors, the fictional characters and the other readers who have read same books as we. How Reading Changed My Life warmed my heart and reminded me of that. And several reading lists Mrs. Quindlen shares at the end of the book added a good 40+ jewels to explore to my TO READ SOON list.Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya

I first picked up this book twenty years ago in paperback. First read it through the prism of a lifelong fan of reading and then returned to it a few years later as a middle school librarian to read aloud parts to my students. Turning to it again 15 years later just because I want to remind myself which list Buddenbrooks was on (was it the "Books I'd love to find in a summer rental" or "Books that make me proud to be a writer"? or..." and before I leisurely return to fully enjoy Buddenbrooks, curiosity satisfied and mind primed for a great read, I take a quick look back at the "Books for girls who are full of beans" because I know several girls in my 8th grade girls book club who will appreciate these recommendations. This book has proven to be a treasure.

How Reading Changed My Life is my first exposure to Anna Quindlen, but will not be my last. In 84-pages she has expressed many of our feelings about reading eloquently.Reading is a necessity for some of us or at the least an addiction. It is good to know that we are not alone.Reading is not a punishment. The act of reading should not be viewed as a negative activity for lazy people. The author points out that reading gives you new friends that may exist solely between the pages of a book. It allows us to mentally travel through many worlds, visualizing places and people from all walks of life. Books expose us to thoughts and stories of people who are no longer physically alive, but live through the ages through the magic of reading.In addition to a great prologue and profound words from Anna Quindlen and other great thinkers, the author discusses many interesting books and authors and has provided 11 reading lists as recommendations for various groups of people.Ironically, I found this book on a recommended reading list by K. Corn, a fellow reviewer and cyber friend, on her amazon.com profile page. Thanks, K. You were spot on. This is a life changing book.While this book is written from a woman's perspective, I believe this "National Bestseller" is germane for all readers and would especially benefit readers as early as those in middle school.This is a book that I really enjoyed, plan to read many times and use as a resource. I believe others will find it enlightening too.Enjoy!

It's not possible to do justice to this remarkable book on reading. It's truly the best I've ever read. Anna Quindlen is that rare writer who is able to write both fiction and nonfiction, something that (to me) is an amazing feat. After finishing How Reading Changed my Life, I have a better understanding of how her tremendous gift was cultivated: voracious reading from the time she could recognize letters.I'm a reader, but I'm at the kindergarten stage compared to Quindlen. Even as a child outside playing with her friends, she knew, "The best part of me was always at home, within some book that had been laid flat on the table to mark my place, its imaginary people waiting for me to return and bring them to life."Quindlen says that writers of books do not truly die; their characters, even the ones who throw themselves in front of trains or are killed in battle, come to life over and over again.... Over and over again Heathcliff wanders the moor searching for his Cathy. Over and over again Ahab fights the whale." I read those lines and immediately thought of the characters I had met in books just this month, characters who will never die.The length, the writing itself, the number of "YES" moments produced in the reader, and the wealth of information all combine to make this the best book on reading that I've ever read. On just about every page (screen?), I learned something, felt something, and remembered something. So will you.

When I picked this book up, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Was it going to be a serious discourse on certain key books, like Francis Spufford's 'The Child that Books Built'? Perhaps a few bookish essays in the vein of Anne Fadiman's 'Ex Libris', or a sentimental autobiography about hardship and bookish redemption? Actually, it is none of those things.Instead, what Quindlen offers us is an extended essay on books and reading, split into sections and garnished with bookish quotes from the likes of Thoreau and Whitman. In delicious prose that exudes enthusiasm, Quindlen meanders skilfully across a range of topics including the feeling of a being a book-lover in the midst of others who just don't 'get it', book snobbishness, academic elitism, book clubs, libraries, how men and women read differently, banned books and coming-of-age reading. Perhaps the most telling part is that on the future of the book and the rise of modern technology. This book was published in 1998, and Quindlen seems to find the idea of e-readers and online reading a bit of a curiosity, comparing it to the old fantasy films in which we were all eating capsule meals by the year 2000. I guess it just goes to show how quickly technology is leaping forward these days!Though the final result bears little resemblance to what I'd expected from the rather self-centred title, this was even better than I'd hoped - a marvellous, well-reasoned look at the world of books, with enough of an 'every woman' feel to the anecdotes and examples to make it more inclusive and therefore more enjoyable to read. There is also a section at the back of the book with 'top ten' reading lists like '10 Books That Will Help a Teenager Feel More Human' and '10 Mystery Novels I'd Most Like to Find in a Summer Rental', which is a nice touch and added a few more titles to my wishlist... Highly recommended!

Anna Quindlen eloquently transports you to that magical place you remember visiting, both as a child and as a grown-up: reading because it mattered more than anything in the world right then to continue to be carried along in the current of words, until it was spent, and you reached the end, satiated, temporarily.

Excellent, prompt service. Book in good condition and exactly as stated. Would recommend.

Though the title of book promises or kind of pursue you to read this small quick read book, it doesn't really quenched my thirst.Book is more of a musing of author on how reading shaped her. A little pondering on technology n reading. How traditional hard copy book uss are better than ebooks.But i was longing for more. However, book does refer to large number of books and does give few booklists at the end. A something to start with

No doubt the book is good contentwise. But it is exuberantly priced considering the state of the book and the few pages that it has.