Format: ebook
Published: March 13th, 2025
Age: Adult
Genre: Non-Fiction – Memoir
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Although there are some entertaining parts to Bookish, I found it overall more irritating than anything else. Where the author tries to come off as funny (I think), the humour often falls flat, feeling more judgemental or simply ignorant. This is a sequel to Bookworm, about the author’s childhood reading, so maybe I’m missing some of the context, but in Bookish, there’s the impression that Mangan’s life is books, books and nothing but books, and as someone who is constantly reading and adores books, I often felt like I wanted to tell her there is, in fact, more to life than books, which I think would make her recoil in horror.
Despite this, it is an entertaining read when it focused on, well, the books. However, Mangan often makes sweeping statements about bookworms/bookish folks and how if you are bookish you absolutely did this, or must do that, or various other statements that rubbed me up the wrong way. There’s also quite an element of smugness to her writing. I think there are a lot of folks who would enjoy this book much more than I did, and can look past these elements, but more often than not I found myself rolling my eyes at the statements Mangan makes.
What is entertaining is seeing someone else’s bookish journey, and seeing the kind of books that have guided Mangan through life, as well as the bookish connections between her and her husband. And in her choice of books, Mangan is, thankfully, not judgemental, and often shares her love for books that those of more literary persuasions often deride.
I did find it jarring when she talked about a certain author who put out a very popular wizard series. Mangan waxes lyrical about the author’s backstory, expressing admiration for a story that, quite frankly, in 2025, it’s easy to find out is, well…greatly exaggerated. There’s no mention of said author’s recent behaviour. I don’t, of course, know where Mangan sits on the whole thing, but I think if you’re putting something out this year and speak that way about said author, well, it’s very telling.
There’s also a smack of “not like other girls” to the whole thing. Overall, though I was looking forward to this, I struggled to get through it with the misplaced humour, smugness, and general tone of the whole thing. Before I read this, I half expected to want to read Bookworm after, but I think this is an author I’ll avoid from now on.
Reading Challenge
Be curious – Non-Fiction Challenge 2025
Prompt: About Books – And of course books. Everything about books. Words, Writers, Styles, Epoches, crafts, preservation, indulgence. Everything.
Progress: 11/12
Unwrapping Words 