Bibliophilia by N. John Hall (and Why I Won't Numerically Rate Books Anymore)

"So just be yourself. Your language is a part of you." -pg 17

I read this book a little while ago now but I still think about it. It's about an older man getting into the world of rare book collecting told through a series of emails. It's mostly not plot focused (until the latter half of the book--I enjoy books not focused on plot and more on characters. Literary fiction is such a powerful genre. Frankly, the part of the book that added a plot point made it less enjoyable!) and more about what rare book collecting is like and the characters trying to support the MC.

Reading through Goodreads (always a bad idea) it seems like some people didn't like how information heavy the book was on the rare book selling/collecting world, but I adored it. People with specialties are always great to listen to, and the framing of a new person entering the rare book world makes it so it's understandable to the audience. I've read other books where there's heavy amount of information (Like the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, very science and math heavy, which I did enjoy) and they don't make it understandable (funnily enough, understandable language is stressed by the main characters. But I think that's the fault of the author not being an expert in the field. He even clarifies that in the postscript. Different blog post. Anyhow). Hall not only has the knowledge, but a level of care for his subject that bleeds into the page. Here's an excerpt of what I wrote in my journal while less than halfway through the book:

"Reading Bibliophilia--you can tell it's written with a deep knowledge on book collecting. Reading knowledge in every line, observing someone's specialty--it feels like passion. Like love."

You can feel it immediately, and it stays the whole book.

The book is not an intense read, and it's pretty light despite the in depth descriptions of the subject matter. I'd recommend it. I won't be giving a rating, nor will I give out my Goodreads. I'm having the realization that quantifying my enjoyment of something in anything other than words is both inaccurate and disappointing. I hate loving a book and then giving, say, 3 of 5 stars because it doesn't meet the standards of other books I read. I think this is why I don't have a favorite book.