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Books about books/libraries/stories/etc.?


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I must admit the Luckdragon was the only character I truly fell in love both movie and book but I just can't read a book for ONE character only! So, I stopped. I prefered a story called Dream Merchant by Isobel Hoving. My Never Ending Story lover sister did not like that one! I couldn't put Dream Merchant down and read it in almost two sittings.

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Bookjumper, you may enjoy The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte:

 

Synopsis

 

In the world of rare books everything has its price. But when the book is a satanic tract, the currency is not money but life. A well-know bibliophile is found hanged days after selling a rare manuscript of Alexander Dumas's classic, The Three Musketeers. Across Madrid, Spain's wealthiest book dealer has finally laid his hands on a 17th-century manual for summoning the devil. Lucas Corso, solitary and obsessive, is the detective hired to authenticate both texts. But the further he follows the trail of devil worship, the more it leads him back to Dumas. He's the unwitting protagonist in someone's evil plot, but is he sleuth or hero, Sherlock Holmes or d'Artagnan?

 

 

It's one of my favourite books.

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  • 1 month later...
http://www.librarything.com/tag/books+about+books

 

I'm always looking for "books about books" and I think this is a good way to find them.

Oooh shiny :)!

 

At a quick, 2am glance I seem to have quite a few of those on my wishlist already but I'm sure there's bound to be a couple I have missed so THANK YOU :)!

 

Oh and you may befriend me on LibraryThing if you so desire (I'm BookJumper there as well), it sounds like we might get along :)!

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This one is on my TBR pile and I will soon get to it as it sounds terrific: Firmin by Sam Savage

 

 

 

From the jacket:

 

In the basement of a Boston bookstore, Firmin is born in a shredded copy Finnegans Wake, nurtured on a diet of Zane Grey, Lady Chatterley

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Thank you Frankie, those should keep me occupied for quite some time :D! I discovered that I'd already wishlisted many of the items on the LibraryThing list of my own accord, however I did find a handful of random new titles so hopefully the GR listage will prove just as constructive.

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I too loved the book The Neverending Story, and as a result hated the film! Totally agree they shredded it.

If you liked that you might like The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly - I've raved about it on a few posts! A young boy finds himself in a world where fairy tales are real, though rather darker than the tales we grew up with.....

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I recently read The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard and would recommend it :lol:

 

From Amazon:

The Library of Shadows

 

Imagine that some people have the power to affect your thoughts and feelings through books. They can seduce you with amazing stories, conjure up vividly imagined worlds, but also manipulate you into thinking exactly what they want you to.

 

When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon has not seen his father for twenty years since the mysterious death of his mother. When Luca

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If that's Library of Shadows you are referring to June, I've got this on my TBR list too. I believe they are making it into a film.

 

I love books about books - I can settle down to this type of plotline very quickly.

 

As I mentioned earlier and not sure if Bookjumper picked it up, The Dumas Club ticks all the boxes for me. That was the book that the Ninth Gate (with Johnny Depp) was based on, only the film hardly touched on the complete story.

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If that's Library of Shadows you are referring to June, I've got this on my TBR list too
me also :lol:.

 

As I mentioned earlier and not sure if Bookjumper picked it up, The Dumas Club ticks all the boxes for me. That was the book that the Ninth Gate (with Johnny Depp) was based on, only the film hardly touched on the complete story.
I did pick up on it but I'm usually a bit wary of literary crime novels; however I absolutely loved The Ninth Gate and if the book's got even more in it how can I refuse?

 

(I do wish they'd film books with the book title, it would make cross-referencing across the mediums so much easier...!)

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(I do wish they'd film books with the book title, it would make cross-referencing across the mediums so much easier...!)

 

I agree. However with the film of the Ninth Gate, as the Dumas part of the plot was more or less obliterated, they stuck with the story of the Satanic tract instead as it would probably pull more customers in.:lol:

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Ooh, there's also a book published in 1919 called The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley. It's supposed to be really good.

 

Here's a description from Wikipedia:

 

The Haunted Bookshop is not a novel of the supernatural. Rather, the name refers to the ghosts of the past that haunt all libraries and bookstores: "the ghosts of all great literature." Throughout the novel Morley, through the character of Roger Mifflin, makes reference to the knowledge and wisdom that one can gain from literature.

Just read this - it is good :) a blend of mystry/literature/homespun phiosophy.

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Sixpence House by Paul Collins
Oh my gawd - that's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, thank you :)!

 

ETA: The same author also wrote a book appealingly titled, "The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World" - DO WANT!!

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I too loved the book The Neverending Story, and as a result hated the film! Totally agree they shredded it.

If you liked that you might like The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly - I've raved about it on a few posts! A young boy finds himself in a world where fairy tales are real, though rather darker than the tales we grew up with.....

 

I would second 'The Book of Lost Things' as it's a simply brilliant quest novel with tinges of Monty Python. Unsettling, clever and darkly funny...

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

As a collector of 'Books ABOUT Books' myself, I have to say my favorites (non-fiction) are:

 

"A Gentle Madness" & "Patience and Fortitude" ~both by Nicholas A. Basbanes.

 

(The former is subtitled 'Bibliophiles, Bibliomaniacs and the Eternal Passion for Books') so I knew instantly I'd enjoy it!

 

also: "Casanova Was a Book Lover"~ by John Maxwell Hamilton

(subtitle) ...And Other Naked Truths and Provocative Curiosities about the Writing, Selling and Reading of Books.

 

For fiction, one that I just finished recently is:

 

"The Meaning of Night" by Michael Cox.

 

Very engrossing and hard to put down!!

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I searched through this thread, and didn't see this one mentioned, so forgive me if it already has.

 

If you like fantasy, fairy tales, and also a book within a book, you should love Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip. The main character works within the royal library, translating ancient tomes until something odd happens...:D

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If you like fantasy, fairy tales, and also a book within a book

Yes, yes and yes - definitely checking this out :)!

 

Anika - Mr. Basbanes's collected works are already on my wishlist :irked: I'll have a look at the rest, thanks for pointing me in their direction.

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I don't know if it's any good, I haven't actually read it but it's on my list...

 

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is described as a gothic literary thriller. Synopsis courtesy of Waterstones because I cannot find one on Amazon:

 

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man - David Martin - makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books, and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Then David receives the offer of a lifetime: he is to write a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realises that there is a connection between this haunting book and the shadows that surround his home...

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Yes, yes and yes - definitely checking this out :)!

I truly hope you enjoy this one. I adore Patricia McKillip's writing style. It's dreamy and poetic. I wish I knew better words to describe it, but the best I can think of to say is that I get lost in her worlds, and always feel a profound sadness when I have to come back to the real one. :irked:

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