The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere

October 8, 2012

Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere by Lauren Leto
Published by Harper Perennial
Publication date: October 2nd 2012
four-stars

Judging a Book by Its Lover is a sharp, funny look at the world of books and reading by one of its biggest fans, Lauren Leto. A law school dropout who gained fame through her website, Texts From Last Night, Leto is also a voracious and thoughtful reader. Old-school jargon would call her a bookworm but that’s a term she’s working to discard:

In this era of social media and rebranding, surely the same creative geniuses who made Pabst Blue Ribbon go from a cheap untouchable mix of water and grain to the favorite of millions of hipsters can do something about the term that holds readers back most.  

Instead, Judging a Book by Its Lover is Leto’s look into the mind of readers for everyone who is not. Better yet, she’s sharing secrets with all non-reading cretins, giving them useful information such as: Strategies to Avoid Discussing the Major Plot Points of Any Novel, Stereotyping People by Favorite Author, and my personal favorite, What Your Child will Grow Up to Be if You Read Them…In addition, she has tips for Bookstore Hookups for single readers and a helpful chapter on gift-giving which includes this bon mot for buying a book for a spouse: “I don’t know—you married them. Do you have to get them presents anymore?”

There is a lot of humor in this book, making it wonderfully readable, but don’t get lulled into a false sense of superiority about Leto’s analytical and interpretative skills. As a book lover myself, I would be hesitant to get into an in-depth conversation with her about a particular book as I’m not sure I could measure up to her literary acumen. This, despite the fact that she freely admits being addicted to Janet Evanovich books when she flies.

Judging a Book by Its Lover is a an eye-opening adventure into the world of books for those that have never read one and a treasure trove of authors/books that might have been missed by those who love them. It’s a creative and educational win-win for everyone.

If you’re interested in Lauren and her journey as a tech entrepreneur and author you can read (and watch) more at TechCrunch:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/27/founder-stories-leto-bnter-texts-from-last-nigh/

four-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 4 Star Books
punchable
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
Sunday Sentence: The Perfume Collector
Dewey’s Readathon Recap
BEA 2013
BookExpo America (BEA 2013)
farewell dorothy parker
Farewell, Dorothy Parker
want not
Want Not
bad
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture
I Can Barely Take Care of Myself
I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales from a Happy Life Without Kids
restaurateur
The Art of the Restaurateur
surprise
Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella
chanel
Mademoiselle Chanel: A Novel
gone
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
before my eyes
Before My Eyes
enemies
The Enemies of Versailles
fever
American Fever: A Novel

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction, Reading Tagged: books, Harper, humor

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Indiebound and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in