With a stack of short selections in the house, I busted through The Uncommon Reader in a matter of a few hours in the early part of the Read-a-Thon.
If you're not familiar (and you probably are!), Bennett's novella is about what might happen if the Queen of England became obsessed with reading. She unknowingly stumbles upon a BookMobile near the palace one day and wanders in to check things out (har!). She ends up with a book, which leads to another book, which leads to another book. And you know how this goes. You're a reader, too. Down the rabbit hole!
As the Queen reads a variety of genres and authors, she learns a great deal about herself. Her priorities begin to shift. She becomes bored with the drudgery of everyday life and the imposed formality of her duties, the repetitiveness of her conversations and appearances.
As one might imagine, her closest advisers are a little bit unseated. They begin to meddle and insert themselves in her reading routine. They reroute her books. They foil her reading plans. It is through reading that the Queen comes to a higher understanding of her purpose, though I won't tell you what that is.
The Uncommon Reader is a fun book. A cute book. A book that most readers will identify with and enjoy, for it reflects our sometimes-compulsive tendencies and the lessons we learn about life and ourselves. Not to mention our voracious appetites for books! While it was a quick read and exactly what I needed to get my bookish heart kick-started, it was just ok. Nice enough. Fun enough. Quick enough. Though, it did not blow my skirt up the way those 4 and 5-star books do.
Nevertheless, it's worth a read! Don't get me wrong on that.
Rating:
Snuggle (a hug for your grandmother) -- Skewer
Pub. Date: September 2007
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and GirouxFormat: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780312427641
Source: Library
I thought this book was a lot of fun too.
ReplyDeleteIt as cute! Definitely looking forward to trying more of Bennett's stuff. Smut is on my wishlist.
DeleteThis absolutely does sound like a good book to bust up a reading slump! I wasn't familiar with the premise at all, so I'm glad you posted this. Looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteNatalie, definitely a good slump buster. Pick it up if you need something quick!
DeleteMy skirt didn't blow at all...in fact, it didn't even flutter. I felt like such a loser for not liking it when, I swear, every other blogger in the universe was raving over it. I just thought the premise was too cute.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Jill. I can see how this one would not ruffle your skirt. I don't think it's rave-worthy, but it's a good slump buster and a quick read. At least if you didn't like it, you didn't waste more than an hour or so reading it! :D
DeleteI do want to read this one at some point, because frankly, I love to read about new readers becoming voracious readers, especially when they are important people. I am going to have to get this one when I can. It sounds like brain candy for an afternoon.
ReplyDeleteZibilee, it's definitely worth a read. Fun, relaxing, and quick. I'm also a big fan of reading about people who "convert" to a reading lifestyle. :)
DeleteI've heard good things about this one and made a mental note to pick it up in the past, though have yet to make good on that! I'll be sure to grab it sometime when my bookish brain needs a jump-start, too.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Meg! If you're in the mood for a quick, light read, this is the one!
DeleteHa, I love your rating system. Sometimes it's ok to read a book that just meets your expectations. I think I will still pick this one up sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteLOL, thanks Lindsey. Anything more elaborate was too much for me. :D
DeleteAnd yes, I agree. Sometimes it's ok just for expectations to be met. It's better than falling short!
I agree with you. It wasn't great, but it was good fun. Kind of a guilty pleasure to for and anti-royalist like me. :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL, CB, I can imagine. Fun stuff.
DeleteI really enjoyed this one - I think I actually did rate this one 4 stars because it was so utterly unexpected and anything that makes me laugh out loud gets extra credit.
ReplyDeleteLisa, if I hadn't known so much about it or encountered so much hype, I might've liked it even more. There wasn't much unexpected for me.
DeleteThis sounds very cute and worth reading!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Tasha!
DeleteI just grabbed this from the library the other day. It's next on my list :)I'm looking forward to it. Short and sweet
ReplyDeleteI listened to this one on audio, if I remember correctly it's read by the author, and it was amazing. So much atmosphere and of course the book love was very cool too.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for such a short book to really make its way into your heart, I think, as there's not much time for it to do so. But it's fun and quirky and an interesting look at what it must be like to be a public figure. I remember I was very struck by the fact that the Queen wasn't really allowed to have hobbies as that implies she favors one thing over another.
ReplyDeleteGlad you really enjoyed it. I thought it was hilarious and a great way to spend a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteThis has been sitting on my TBR for a while. I need to just add it to the stack of books by my bed so it's there when I need something fun!
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