I’d Rather Be Reading, Guinevere de la Mare

By Printed Pages and Coffee on July 19, 2020 • ( 2 )

I’m going to be brutally honest.

I read this book because it was the smallest book I could see on my parents’ bookshelf yesterday afternoon and I needed to read something for today’s review. It is what it is. Also, because a title like I’d Rather Be Reading is a whole mood.

In saying that, however, this was an absolute treasure! There wasn’t a huge amount of reading involved, because there really are pages of bookish artwork (10/10 would hang on walls), but the short essays are absolute gems.

The introductory essay was a lovely exposition of a reader’s lifelong relationship with the written word, warmly discussed and honestly written. The second essay was extremely thought-provoking, considering as it did the “slow” movement in relation to entertainment and information intake. While I rail at the concept of the female ‘return to domesticity’ (Suzie Homemaker I assuredly am not), I do like the idea of returning to a slow, mindful enjoyment of entertainment and information, both of which can be provided by good reading material. Other essays focus on habit-building that allow more reading time, and the extraordinary freedom of DNF-ing books you aren’t particularly enjoying (admittedly, a habit I have yet to form).