Book Review: Morningstar

I stumbled on this book, Morningstar, as it stared out at me from the recent acquisition shelf. I must confess I've never heard of the author, but the sub-title jumped out: "Growing Up with Books." If you're a bibliophile like me, you cannot walk past such words. Besides, it was a slim volume and I knew my days were going to be chock full of writing for my November Nanowrimo challenge (yes, I'm still attempting that, even though I started out quite behind the word count goal on November 11th).

What an entertaining and delightful quick read! The book is divided into ten lessons: things like "How to Become a Writer," "How to Buy Books," and "How to Fall in Love With Language." Of course, I don't really require any assistance to do those things. They come quite naturally. Still, it was fun to read about Ann Hood's interactions with various books. Books made her aware of class differences, sex, politics, and war. While I wasn't wholly familiar with all the books mentioned (had never heard of the book, Marjorie Morningstar, that lends the title to this volume), I could entirely relate to her sentiments upon finding such books.

This was a love song to books and to reading. Just like the author, I have read books that caused me to stand up and say, "Really? Me, too!" I may not be able to express my passion with the eloquence Hood musters, but I share her sentiments through and through. If you love books, you'll love this one!