These short essays were fun to zoom through. Even though Catherine Sheldrick Ross encourages readers to enjoy these essays in any order they choose, I read the book straight through. It started out a little slow, but my interest grew as I continued to read.

Ross draws on her professional, scholarly interest in the habits of avid readers and her hundreds of in-depth interviews with such readers. This rich source of information provides many insights into how readers select books, view different genres, and think of their own reading identities. I particularly enjoyed Ross’s profiles of different genres (e.g., Horror, Romance Fiction), and examinations of how readers use book jackets, titles, and more to choose their next books. Most importantly, the essays sparked my interest in many different topics. Now I have a list of related books and reading blogs to dive into.

Recommended for: book lovers and readers’ advisors looking for a quick, fun read. ( )

This book is clearly set up for a pleasure seeking reader. It allows for the reader to pick and choose something to be read with abandon. For instance, there are chapters on "bad reading" and on "unreadable books." Who wouldn't find these areas of interest to them in their reading quest for information? Research based information abounds in this tome, but above all it is a "fun" read itself. Genre literature is explored and considered with information on why certain "kinds" of books appeal and others don't. Excellent index and the table of contents is quite useful, backwards or forwards. Highly recommended.