The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life

"Perfect for all of us who can never get enough time with good books. It not only urges us to indulge deeply and often, it shows us how."-Myra Hart, professor, Harvard Business School

"Readers and want-to-be readers will be encouraged by the advice to read more, more widely and more systematically."-Michael Keller, university librarian, Stanford University

"An ideal gift for both sporadic and relentless readers."-James Mustich Jr., publisher of A Common Reader

"A worthy addition to even the most well-stocked personal library."-Ross King, author of Michelangelo & The Pope's Ceiling

Do not set out to live a well-read life but rather your well-read life. No one can be well-read using someone else's reading list. Unless a book is good for you, you won't connect with it and gain from it. Just as no one can tell you how to lead your life, no one can tell you what to read for your life.

How do readers find more time to read? In The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, Steve Leveen offers both inspiration and practical advice for bibliophiles on how to get more books in their life and more life from their books.

His recommendations are disarmingly refreshing, as when he advises when not to read a book and why not to feel guilty if you missed reading all those classics in school. He helps readers reorganize their bookshelves into a Library of Candidates that they actively build and a Living Library of books read with enthusiasm, and he emphasizes the value of creating a Bookography, or annotated list of your reading life. Separate chapters are devoted to the power of audio books and the merits of reading groups.

The author himself admits he came "late to the bookshelf," making this charming little guide all the more convincing.

Some people need self-help books on relationships, others need them for work. Leveen's self-help book is for the person who needs help in becoming a reader, whose spirit is willing but whose flesh is weak. In a gentle, coaxing style, Leveen offers standard self-help advice: he counsels moderation. You don't need to be a marathon reader to be well-read—no one can read everything; and you're okay—even if a so-called classic doesn't appeal to you. Call books beckoning to you "candidates for your attention," rather than the more obligatory-sounding "reading list." Leveen is against ad hoc reading decisions and in favor of lists—which will seem too bad to readers who know the joys of serendipity. He is an advocate of audiobooks, especially unabridged editions, and devotes an entire chapter to "Reading with Your Ears." In the end, there's probably nothing like reading a great book to make someone love reading—but perhaps Leveen's gentle encouragement can help. (May 2)
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