Shelf Life: Writers on Books and Reading

by Alex Johnson (Editor)

Books: reading, collecting, and the physical housing of them has brought the book-lover joy and stress for centuries. Fascinated writers have tried to capture the particular relationships we form with our library, and the desperate troubles we will undergo to preserve it. With Alex Johnson as your guide, immerse yourself in this eclectic anthology and hear from an iconic Prime Minister musing over the best way to store your books and an illustrious US President explaining the best works to read outdoors. Enjoy serious speculations on the psychological implications of reading from a 19th century philosopher, and less serious ones concerning the predicament of dispensing with unwanted volumes or the danger of letting children (the enemies of books) near your collection. The many facets of book-mania are pondered and celebrated with both sincerity and irreverence in this lively selection of essays, poems, lectures, and commentaries ranging from the 16th to the 20th century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Essays, Literature, British Literature, 21st Century

128 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2019

About the author

Latest book: Shed Manual (Haynes, 2019)
Next book: Edward Lear & The Pussycat: Famous Writers and Their Pets (August, 2019)
Next book after that: Menus That Made History (Kyle/Octopus, September, 2019)

I am a professional blogger and journalist, part of The Independent newspaper's online team in the UK. I run Shedworking (www.shedworking.co.uk) which inspired the book 'Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution' published by Frances Lincoln, The Micro Life (www.themicrolife.co.uk), and curate Bookshelf (www.onthebookshelf.co.uk), which was published as a book in 2012 by Thames & Hudson as 'Bookshelf'.

'Improbable Libraries', a survey of the most unusual and intriguing libraries around the world, was published by Thames & Hudson in April 2015 and 'A Book of Book Lists' in October 2017 by The British Library. My book on book towns around the world, 'Book Towns', was published by Frances Lincoln in March 2018 and 'Shelf Life, a selection of essays about books and reading, in October 2018 by The British Library. The same month, I brought out a literary trumps card game called The Writers Game with Laurence King Publishing.

Reviews

[Tracy Shephard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really interested by this book, and my first thought and observation was that the author Alex Johnson has chosen just men for this anthology.

It is a fascinating insight on the thoughts and all things bookish of several writers and key figures. 

Book collections of the famous are always of interest, and Shelf Life is filled with the anecdotes and often humorous advice and ideas of people like Rudyard Kipling, W.E.Gladstone and others. 

My favourite piece was right at the end where J.C.Squire talks of 'Destroying Books'!!!! he points out that 'it is a public duty' but of course you will have to read for yourself what else he has to add.   I absolutely loved it.

Shelf Life is well written and brilliantly researched. I found myself googling other writers thoughts on the same subject and hopefully there will be a follow up to this edition. 

It is an easy read, and an enjoyable one. Book lovers will find it amusing and a little tongue in cheek, but there are some really good narratives, along with essays and poems that I found rather fabulous. 

5*/5 

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must say, it's a bit dry, considering the writers of the essays date anywhere from 400 to 100 years ago. But it was fascinating to read what they were thinking, and to find out that Teddy Roosevelt was a speed reader. And they ran the gamut from don't read too much, don't read bad writing to read constantly, read all the things. i was particularly amused by the writer who was calculating that the Earth would run out of room for all the books .... in the 18th century! Thank goodness THAT didn't happen!

[Owen Townend · Rating 3 out of 5]

This proved more of a choice read than I expected.

Alex Johnson has made a career of writing books about bibliophilia and Shelf Life is no different. However when compared to the excellent A Book of Book Lists, this collection isn't quite so quirky. Indeed Shelf Life is a compilation of unlikely though still fairly staid literary extracts from famous writers of Western history prior to WW2.

There are some gems in this collection but there are also some antiquated views of books that may have been popular and prevalent at the time of writing but are no longer. I'm afraid essays by the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Schopenhauer left me a little cold. It was lesser-known authors like Stephen Leacock and J. C. Squire that better held my interest, usually because of their tongue-in-cheek observations. Also it surprised me to find Theodore Roosevelt so worldly wise about fiction.

In short, anecdotes like children building forts out of antique volumes and a grown man drowning some unwanted poetry will stay with me a lot longer than didactic essays about shelving protocol and reading just the right amount of 'worthy' books. Nevertheless I'm glad to have the words of Francis Bacon and Schopenhauer in an accessible format.

I recommend Shelf Life to bibliophiles interested in by-gone eras of book ownership.

Notable Essays

• The Enemies of Books by William Blades (1881) – the ending makes this essay chuckle-worthy: gentlemen being physically assaulted by Paradise Lost and Hamlet.

• A Lesson in Fiction by Stephen Leacock (1910) – a wonderfully facetious send-up of contemporary storytelling and narrative tricks to improve the hero’s journey.

• On Destroying Books by J. C. Squire (1919) – an amusing essay wherein the writer’s distaste for burning undesirable books leads him to a midnight trip to the Thames.

[yumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. It's mostly public domain essays (well done British Library on bottling tap water), some much more interesting than others, but something for every taste. A fun quick read for a bibliophile, although slightly tedious in parts due to its throwback nature.
My favorite was Teddy Roosevelt's essay on book recommendations and how hard they are, text here:
https://www.bartleby.com/57/9.html

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

One for bookaholics...

A collection of essays and thoughts on all things bookish from writers of the past, this is the kind of book that I always feel is perfect as that little extra Christmas gift for the bibliomaniac in your circle. It’s attractive and well-produced – one of those soft hardbacks, if you know what I mean – and the contents range from thoughtful to opinionated to fun. There are eleven entries in total. Obviously everyone will find different things to appeal to them, so here’s a little taste of some of them to give you a feeling for what’s in there.

It starts with a bit of fun as William Blades comments on the dangers pesky children present to the safety of books, in which he includes a story about some children taking their father’s precious volumes to build a fort and using valuable tomes to chuck at each other as they re-fought one of the battles of the Crimea. I kinda was on the kids’ side...

Stephen Leacock humorously advises on how to write a melodramatic novel, ensuring that the standard format is met in every respect, and shows that identikit fiction was around long before the woman in the red coat appeared on every second book jacket.

Theodore Roosevelt encourages a wide variety of reading for pleasure and gain, and talks of how books tend to lead one to another in a never-ending chain. Rudyard Kipling advises a class of schoolboys – those who were destined by birth to rule the empire - to use books to learn from history and other people’s experiences, as this will be a help to them when they find themselves having to make life and death decisions of their own. On the other hand Arthur Schopenhauer gets really quite grumpy about people reading, and writing, the vast output of “bad” books when they should be devoting their time to thinking for themselves. Frighteningly, he sometimes reminded me of me...

Hence the number, which no man can count, of bad books, those rank weeds of literature, which draw nourishment from the corn and choke it. . . Nine-tenths of the whole of our present literature has no other aim than to get a few shillings out of the pockets of the public; and to this end author, publisher and reviewer are in league.

Walter Benjamin talks of the joy of book-collecting, and William Gladstone gives practical advice on how to create a library to store your 20,000 volumes, including how to screw the shelves together. First you will require a room of “quite ordinary size”, some forty feet by twenty feet with four windows on either side. Charles Lamb, among other things, discusses the thorny question of which books one can read in public without embarrassment.

So lots of variety and amusement to be had, and also some more thought-provoking stuff along the way. I’ll give the last word to Francis Bacon...

Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, The British Library.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[Irni Farid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex Johnson compiled 11 articles written way back in 1601 to 1931 by Roosevelt, William Blades, Rudyard Kipling and others.

Topics include Should children be allowed near your shelves, The joya of book collecting and our relationship with books, A Lesson in Fiction, The decorum of reading, books' appearances, outdoor vs indoor reading, Why books are necessary for leading a good life, how and who not to read, Prime Ministerial advice on how to store library properly, The ways in which books maketh a man and An extreme way to downsize your Library.

The last article titled An extreme way to downsize your Library induced laughter as the writer narrated his adventures in getting rid of his books in Chelsea river.

My momento purchase from British Library shop last March. Beautiful cover of books on shelf.

[Kitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

nah. minu jaoks vist liiga highbrow, raamatutest räägivad siin põhiliselt 19. sajandi valged mehed ja mul tõesti ei ole väga vaja teada, mida oli Rudyard Kiplingil öelda briti erakoolipoistele impeeriumi asumaade valitsemise teemadel aastal 1912. Francis Baconist ei saanud ma sõnagi aru ja Schopenhaueriga ei olnud nõus.

aga William Gladstone'i arutlused ideaalse raamatukogu teemadel (ses mõttes, et kui suurte vahedega ja mispidi paigutatud peaks riiulid olema ja kuidas vältida liigset tolmupühkimisvajadust) tundusid päris praktilised; ja mulle meeldis viimane essee, JC Squire'i "On Destroying Books," mis kirjeldab väga tabavalt seda, KUI raske on lahti saada raamatutest, mis on nii halvad, et neid ei saa kellelegi teisele ära ka anda. ma tean, ma olen proovinud.

[Ellah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insight into different perspectives on books, reading and the art of book collecting. Not every essay is an easy read or captures your interest, but it's still worth the read as a whole.

[Christen · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC from Edelweiss and British Library Publishing for an honest review.

Meh.

All essays were by men. They were good, but it was heavy-handed in regards to males and their idea of intellect.

If one views it as history and sources of the male mind, it was readable.

It was unfortunate that the author couldn't find some Virginia Woolf or some other females with thoughts about books.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what it says it is - a collection of essays from various people containing their thoughts on books. Some (like the one from Roosevelt) are more engaging than others, but overall a nice book, easy to read in small bits (each chapter being standalone)

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very hard for me to resist a book about books. Especially a book by various writers on books and reading – this seems like a positive treat! While I didn’t know who would be in this volume, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Johnson has plumbed the depths of English literary history to uncover these writers (the most recent essay is from 1930).

For those interested in the essays, the authors and the tiles are:

William Blades: The Enemies of Books
Walter Benjamin: Unpacking My Library
Stephen Leacock: A Lesson in Fiction
Charles Lamb: Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading
Theodore Roosevelt: Books for Holidays in the Open
John Ferriar: Bibliomania
Rudyard Kipling: The Uses of Reading
Arthur Schopenhauer: On Books and Reading
W.E. Gladstone: On Books and Housing Them
Francis Bacon: Of Studies
J.C. Squire: On Destroying Books
As you can see, the topics here vary from collecting books, how to preserve books, the purposes of reading, and even musings on destroying books. While each essay focuses on a different topic, I did pick up two themes running through the book.

The first is that books are, as Lamb quotes from The Relapse, “the forced product of another man’s brain.” In other words, reading books means reading the thoughts of others, not thinking for yourself. Yet the writers here find value in reading, thought they treat this idea in different ways. Lamb, for example, admits that he loves to lose himself in other people’s minds. Schopenhauer, on the other hand, uses it as an example of why we cannot spend all our time reading, we have to pause to “set our own thoughts to work.” And yet another writer, Kipling, goes a step further and takes books not just as expressions of someone else’s mind, but also as a reference we can use. He talks about how modern we may find the thoughts in ancient works if only we understand them.

The other idea, which is a bit more subtle, is about the distinction between books. Roosevelt calls this “serious literature”, Kipling calls it “national literature drawn from all ages” (Kipling’s essay, I should add, has a very strong colonial attitude to it), and Schopenhauer calls it “good books”. The question that they never really answer is: what separates the wheat from the chaff? Roosevelt’s suggestion is the quality of timelessness while Schopenhauer tries to use the motivation for writing – was it written for money or not? But I’m not convinced these are very applicable; one would require us only to read backlist books (and with the advent of ebooks, we can’t use “in print” to determine if a book is timeless!) and the other requires us to discern the author’s intention, which is impossible. That said, I think is a question worth considering: do all books hold the same weight in terms of their effects on our mind and should we be cultivating a habit of being able to read “serious” books?

And this was not a theme, but I wanted to mention Roosevel’s way of charting a course of reading. He says that books often suggest other books to be read after, one example he gives is this: “Once I travelled steadily from Montaigne through Addison, Swift, Steele, Lamb, Irving, and Lowell to Crothers and Kenneth Grahame – and if it be objected that some of these could not have suggested the others I can only answer that they did suggest them.” As someone who reads from the TBR list, this is very interesting and something I’d like to try in the future.

As you can see, I enjoyed this short book of essays on books and reading. I appreciated that Johnson drew primarily on writers from the past since I would be unlikely to come across these essays without extensive reading. If you’re a fan of books about books, you should consider picking up this one!

This review was first posted at Eustea Reads

[Hasliza Rajab · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a gentle reminder of how special books and reading are to many of us. It also brings together thoughts and stories from writers around the world, all talking about how books have shaped their lives.

As I read, it felt like I was listening to quiet conversations between people who truly love books. Some writers shared funny memories, others spoke about how reading helped them through hard times. Each voice felt honest and personal.

"What I am really concerned with is giving you some insight into the relationship of a book collector to his possessions, into collecting rather than a collection". (Walter Benjamin)

"I love to lose myself in other men's mind. When I am not walking, I am reading, I cannot sit and think. Books think for me". (Charles Lamb)

"If a man or woman is fond of books, he or she will naturally seek the books that the mind and soul demand". (Theodore Roosevelt)

This book made me stop and think about my own reading journey—about the books that comforted me, changed me, and stayed with me. It reminded me that being a reader is not just about finishing books. It’s about how those books stay in our hearts. Don't you think the same?

And this book reminded me why I fell in love with books in the first place. It deepened my appreciation not just for stories, but for the writers behind them. It's the perfect book for anyone who sees reading not just as a hobby, but as a way of life.

[Sebastián Hernández · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es difícil hacer crítica sobre una compilación. Las obras seleccionadas pueden ser buenas o malas, parecidas o heterogéneas entre sí e incluso aburridas o entretenidas; sin embargo, hay ciertas responsabilidades que son únicamente del compilador. En primer lugar, debe entregar una introducción en condiciones. Que explique al lector la razón de la selección, del orden y de los temas en cuestión. Y, en segundo lugar, debe construir un hilo narrativo entre cada uno de los artículos que haga de los textos un libro y no sólo una reunión de escritos a la suerte de la olla. En ese sentido, Alex Johnson no cumple con nada de lo mencionado. Presenta una introducción que no es digna de tener ese título, perfiles parecidos a Wikipedia y una selección de artículos incomprensible.

Aún me pregunto cuál es el mérito de Johnson para estar a cargo de esta edición.

[Neida · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here are a few of my take-aways:

"Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider."

"The more you read, the fewer are thd traces left by what you have read: the mind becomes like a tablet crossed over and over with writing."

These are thoughts from some famous literary figures over the last 400 years.
I dont think i want to revisit this dull piece ever again.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of essays on books and the art of reading. Four stars as it includes Gladstone’s booklet “On Books and the Housing of Them”, where he considers that when the UK population reaches 70 million, we’d be pushed into the sea by the size of our libraries. I’m paraphrasing, but it was fun to read. There’s a library of over 150,000 books in his name in North Wales, now on my list to visit 🙂

[ManderleyLilacs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this one, a nice overview on how to break the subject of reader/book care over the last few hundred years. My favourite chapter was Theodore Roosevelt’s, but all of them are excellent. Aside from being aware going in that this book doesn’t reflect who was able to speak about these subjects during their respective eras/how we could apply that to representation today, that doesn’t impact the overall quality of the book which I’d definitely recommend!

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I fell asleep every time I picked this up. The essays in this collection were just so dated and unrelatable. Also, after buying it, I realized every single one of the essays was written by a white man. That just won't do.

[Bodil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of texts on books and reading, mainly from the times when both writers and readers were assumed to be male. Which irritated me a bit more than I had expected. Still I enjoyed most of the texts, and more than a few did give me something to think of!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old excerpts of writers writing about books and reading.

[Rozemarijn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always considered myself a bibliophile, but maybe this book is for the real, real bibliophiles? Some essays certainly stood out though, especially my main prez, Teddy.

[Helen Geng · Rating 2 out of 5]

An attractive-on-the-outside British Library production containing dusty fusty excerpts.
I was sorry I spent $7.50 on this.

Read March 2022

[✰matthew✰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

unfortunately the majority of this book went straight over my head and didn’t really interest or intrigue me.

[Marwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely DNF books but this one unfortunately wasn’t for me.

[Dora · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75/5

[Athila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually quite a fun read. It is really funny to read and relate to all-things that only bibliophiles can understand. Suffice to say that after reading this book, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels the way I do about books.

[Charlotte]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#