Synopsis:
A working father whose life no longer feels like his own discovers the transforming powers of great (and downright terrible) literature in this laugh-out-loud memoir.
Andy Miller had a job he quite liked, a family he loved, and no time at all for reading. Or so he kept telling himself. But, no matter how busy or tired he was, something kept niggling at him. Books. Books he'd always wanted to read. Books he'd said he'd read that he actually hadn't. Books that whispered the promise of escape from the daily grind. And so, with the turn of a page, Andy began a year of reading that was to transform his life completely.
This book is Andy's inspirational and very funny account of his expedition through literature: classic, cult, and everything in between. Beginning with a copy of Bulgakov's Master and Margarita that he happens to find one day in a bookstore, he embarks on a literary odyssey. From Middlemarch to Anna Karenina to A Confederacy of Dunces, this is a heartfelt, humorous, and honest examination of what it means to be a reader, and a witty and insightful journey of discovery and soul-searching that celebrates the abiding miracle of the book and the power of reading.
(Synopsis from Goodreads).
My Thoughts:
I love reading books about books. It's all I've been wanting to read lately. I had heard a lot of great things about The Year of Reading Dangerously, so I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, I didn't like it at all. After taking three days to get that far (which is almost unheard of for me), I ended up DNF'ing the book at seventeen percent.
The Year of Reading Dangerously was one of those books about books where the reader has to have read the same books that the author has read to understand what he is talking about. Unfortunately, I hadn't read any of them. Therefore, to me the book was extremely slow paced. I was so bored most of the time. Finally, after reading for three days and getting nowhere, I decided to give up. I wasn't getting anything out of the book, so I didn't see the point in finishing it.
I also didn't like the tone that the author used. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. He had an aggressive, rough tone that made me feel disconnected from what he was saying. It made it obvious that even though he was trying to be a bookworm, he was unlike me, which made him hard to identify with while I was reading.
Unfortunately, The Year of Reading Dangerously wasn't for me. I found myself bored, and put off by the tone that the author used to write the book. Based on my experience, I don't recommend this book to anyone, unless you've read all the same books that the author talks about.
I give The Year of Reading Dangerously: 1/5.
Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://mill-i-am.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/i_am_mill_i_am
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
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