Bedside Companion for Book Lovers: An Anthology of Literary Delights for Every Night of the Year

by Jane McMorland Hunter (Editor)

A glorious treasury of literary curiosities for every night of the year.

Bedside Companion for Book Lovers contains an eclectic mix of fact and fiction, letters, diaries, essays and dedications, all suffused with the joys of books and reading. The perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life, it contains snippets from some of the greatest writers and book collectors from throughout history, including:


Charles Dickens on the smell of books
Maya Angelou on the pleasures of reading aloud
Virginia Woolf on finding space for writing
Nick Hornby on reading for pure enjoyment
and much more. Along the way, you’ll find advice on how to look after your most precious volumes, what to do when books start taking over your home, and where to find the most atmospheric libraries and bookshops around the world. Keep this beautifully illustrated book by your bedside and wander into a magical world of books every night of the year.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction, Reference, Anthologies

448 pages, Hardcover

Published October 13, 2022

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for content, 2 for logistical problems.

Wonderful short pieces from antiquity to the present, about the joys of reading and books. However, one piece for each day of the year, printed on heavy stock, meant that the book was heavy and unwieldy. Not comfortable for reading in bed, but needing to be propped up by a pillow over the knees in a chair.

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh.

I love books.

I love books about books.

Usually.

Just not this time.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this every morning after putting on my face. Some of these quotations and excerpts were great, some were meh, and some were.... lacking. I was hoping there would be a good mix of modern and classic authors sampled, but alas it was about 80% from authors in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The book is heavy and bulky so this would be hard to read in bed. Again this was ok, but this isn't one I will re-read in the future.

[Zulekha Saqib · Rating 3 out of 5]

— starting my 2024 with this gorgeous book..

It is a treasure trove of literary delights for every day of the year. It contains snippets from some of the greatest writers and book collectors from throughout history. Along the way, you’ll find advice on how to look after your most precious volumes, what to do when books start taking over your home, and where to find the most atmospheric libraries and bookshops around the world! ✨📖 #BedsideCompanionForBookLovers

[Amelia Alam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a great sneak peak of literature and gives great excerpts! I loved that the author would give a snippet on a piece in an author and then the next day would be the author’s literature. I really loved that this book centered around books and literature and was really fascinating to see so many different viewpoints on books! However, I read this book as I would any and tried to get through multiple pages rather than one page per day. Due to that, there were times where I felt the pacing was slow or where I was wondering how many pages I had left. There were times I wanted to get through the book rather than be encapsulated by the book itself. Knew this book wasn’t for me but loved that I gave it a chance!

[Jenny Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used for my daily Wordle challenge! Interesting collection of quotes.

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t even make it through the first month. Read ahead to see if it got better…..it would appear not. It was a very random selection of readings that seemed to be put together with little thought about flow and no link whatsoever to the date (other books of this kind at least have tried to link to the date). Great idea, wonderfully poor execution. Can spend my year on this.

[Susan Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This almanac and anthology has quotes from famous writers and can be read over time throughout the year day by day. It's a nice hardback with and index and a section for each month- great gift for booklovers.

[Kelly Veatch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for book lovers!

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Malin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, this anthology was a disappointment. Some didn't make sense, some were bad and a few were good.
The rating is 1.6 stars.

[Richard Sisson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting idea, but disappointing. The selection of excerpts were very variable. It didn't start well, not at all engaging. It didn't get much better, so, we abandoned it.