Books on Books on Books

Do you love reading so much that you want to read books about reading books?

We recently discussed The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon on The Novel Tea Podcast, a book about a young man who is taken to a secret library called The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Here, he discovers and becomes very attached to a book called The Shadow of the Wind, and goes on an interesting journey of finding the truth of what happened to the author, Julian Carax.

One of the things we talked about was the concept of books about books — in this newsletter, I wanted to explore this theme further.

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Reading books about books as a bibliophile adds an extra layer of enjoyment to readers that in some ways breaks the fourth wall of the reading world. I’m not only talking about stories that include books that are portals to another dimension but also books set in publishing or about a writer or author. If these ideas interest you, I’ve gathered a short list of books under this theme I’ve read over the years that I think you would enjoy.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Meggie’s father, a bookbinder, has the power to create reality from stories by speaking the words on the pages out loud. One night, a villain from a book kidnaps her father, and Meggie must save him. How will these two book lovers find their way back to each other in this new fictional and unfamiliar world?

I am aware that this book came out over 20 years ago, but it was one of my first experiences of reading a book about a book! The concept of being able to make characters from a book come alive was something that I only dreamed about at a young age, so reading an entire series about it filled a playful and child-like hole in my heart that I lovingly look back on now.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

A.J. Fikry is not the most likable person in his small town of Alice Island, but can you blame him? His bookstore is slowly dying, his most prized possession, a rare copy of Poe poems, has been stolen, and his wife just recently passed away. His life takes a turn when an unexpected package is dropped off at his front doorstep.

We read to know we're not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone.

Reading a book about a book lover who is struggling to make ends meet automatically makes you want to root for him, but this book did so much more than that. It surprised me with its tenderness, plot twists, tragedy, and romance.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a regular student working hard at his University in Vermont when he discovers a book hidden in the stacks of his library. Upon reading it, he is surprised to see a story from his childhood in this book. This leads him to even stranger secret meetings, parties, and characters.

If you regularly listen to our podcast, The Novel Tea, you have probably heard me talking about this book in our Shelf Discovery segment several times. It’s one of my favorite stories along with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. If you love fantastical stories about portals, magic, mystery, and unexpected friendships, I would highly recommend this one.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Athena became an extremely successful author, while June, spiteful and jealous, struggled to come up with stories that kept people interested. One night, when the two of them get together to talk about their upcoming work, Athena has a freak accident and dies. June takes advantage of this situation and uses Athena’s drafts for her own upcoming novel as inspiration for her work.

This book is so unhinged. It takes you on a rollercoaster of thrill, hate, anger, sympathy, and sadness. The story itself goes deep into the publishing and marketing aspects of what it takes to release a book as a new author and sheds light on why some things work, and some things don’t.

My Death by Lisa Tuttle

The narrator is a writer whose husband just passed away. Her agent is pushing her to start working on her next book, and she is struggling to find the inspiration to write. She decides to write a biography about a novelist and artist who she has connected with in the past, and as she discovers more about this person, the information she receives is ominous and shocking.

I have not stopped thinking about this book since I read it. It is interesting to be in the eyes of an author and understand their thought process while writing, but this book is much more than that. The less I say, the more you’ll enjoy it.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What if I told you a library existed where every book was a different version of your own life story?

Shruti and I have had multiple discussions about this book on the podcast and our newsletter. You can listen to our episode on The Humans by Matt Haig here and read more about The Midnight Library below.

Literary Explorations of Mental Illness

For more, you can visit the sources below:

• Goodreads has a compiled list of books on books here.

• Literary Hub has a similar list here.

— Neha

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Up Next

Our next book will be Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel — a book spanning multiple periods of time, characters, and storylines. We dive into the differences between loneliness and solitude, past vs. present tense in fiction, time travel, the history of the simulation hypothesis, and much more! Tune in to the conversation to hear more about the book, its themes, and ideas on June 4th, 2024 on The Novel Tea Podcast.