Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 123 pages
- Published by: Levenger Press May 2005
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1929154178
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1929154173
-
Book Dimensions:
8.1 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
- Weighs: 14.4 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Some people need self-help books on relationships, others need them for work. Leveen's self-help book is for the human being who requirements 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 terrible 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) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
"The likelihood of finding an author who can narrate is about the same as finding a dancer who can sing," writes Leveen and then reads his own book himself. Hmmm! Known for his exquisite taste in folios and fountain pens, the man behind the Levenger catalog can't read as skillfully as Grover Gardner, or write as skillfully as Ernest Hemingway. Leveen is a businessman in love with the business of learning. He has been savaged by critics for adoring audiobooks and admitting that he hasn't read all the classics. But then isn't an admission of ignorance the first and essential step to learning? This is a truly useful book, clearly and earnestly presented. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Reader Reviews
If you are a booklover or have a special booklover in your life, this is the book for you. It is a breezy and charming guide to making books a part of your life, and getting more out of the ones that you read. Included in the advice is how to create a "Book of Candidates" - a list of books you want to read and how to keep a Bookography - a list of books you have read which becomes a sort of diary of your reading life. Another suggestion is creating a shelf of books called "For When I Go There" - books about special places you want to visit, saved to be read when you are finally there. The atmosphere of reading a novel about Venice for example is greatly enhanced when reading it sipping a cappuccino at a cafe overlooking the Grand Canal. I know, I've done it, savoring both the book and the place. Leveen also tells us how to get more out of the books we do read. He promotes engaged active reading by feeling free to write our thoughts and comments in the margins of books (he calls this being a a Footprint Leaver vs. being a Preservationist, a person who believes in leaving a book in a pristine condition). He advises not rushing to put a completed book back on our shelves the minute we have finished reading it. Instead he tells us to review it a day, a week, a month after reading it in order to aid in the retention of the book's contents. There is also advice on audio books and joining bookclubs. In the end he quotes Anatole Broyard, "A good book is never exhausted, it goes on whispering to you from the wall". This would make a perfect gift for a booklover you know.
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