This short but absorbing essay written by the wonderful Virginia Woolf is a must for anyone who calls themselves a reader or who has ever picked up a book or made comment on one. Written originally to be given as a lecture at a girl's school in 1926 it is still powerful and relevant today. The writer does not give the reader advice but rather what she calls 'a few ideas and suggestions' which cause the reader to ask questions of themselves and how they read. The insightful introduction and afterword by Sheila Heti bring a different dimension to this book and I think it will prove itself to be a much sought after and debated book club book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this.

As always, Virginia Woolf's thoughts are as critically apt as the time where she wrote them (although in this case said them first). Incredibly thought provoking and critical on how we read books. It's made me think about a lot of my own habits. Sheila Heti's additional essays provide great commentary and support to Woolf's writing and as you can probably tell from my rambling I greatly, greatly enjoyed reading this.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review this copy :)

This morning I picked up Woolf's '𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅?' and as insightful as it is, it also gave me a new way to look at books, especially memoirs and biographies, books that tend to get boring, devoid of artistic writing and full of facts.

Woolf wants us to be a friend, but also a judge of sorts. Harshness should be paired with sensitive and emotional analysis of a book, a thing that the authors would appreciate. As a reader, we must 'try to become him' [the author], his 'fellow-worker and accomplice'. One must be prepared to revisit the past with verve. 'Rubbish-reading' can be fun if you look at it from the author's perspective.

"Facts are all they can offer us, and facts are a very inferior form of fiction."

When it comes to poetry, the poet 'is our contemporary'. We let the lines seep in and pull us into a whirlwind of emotions, the specific ones the poet is trying to recreate. But be it any form of literature, it's true nature and its impact can only be felt after the dust has settled and we have spent many a day thinking about that book.

Woolf rightly points out that as humans we make assumptions and pass judgments too early, but that is the nature of the people privileged enough to call themselves 'critics'. As readers, it is imperative to read 'for the love of reading' because 'The standards we raise and the judgments we pass steal into the air and become part of the atmosphere which writers breathe as they work'.

This essay by Virginia Woolf gives you a perspective. The goal is to do justice to what we read, to judge not too harshly but fairly, our idiosyncrasies kept aside as we read.

This was a very interesting, thoughtful, and quick read. Because it was so short, i dont think i took so much from it, other than the fact that each book is different and to become immersed in the book is to slowly and thoroughly become apart of it. I love Virginia Woolf and will always read anything she has to say!

A quick essay by Virginia Woolfe. This is her reflection on what it means to be a reader, a writer, and how to relate to a book. She shrugs off critics and makes many references to important literary characters and authors. It is fast paced and witty and you can tell she had a personal connection with her craft and doesn't appreciate people criticizing it. This can be most appreciated by writers and those that work in publishing that can really relate to the uphill battle of writing a book, personality and creativity in this realm.

*I received a free copy in exchange of my honest review.*

This essay is a speech Virginia Woolf once gave about reading. In this edition, it is prefaced by an introduction by Sheila Heti, who also wrote a short essay about the importance of having creative friends and the difference between friends criticizing your works and critiques.

Virginia Woolfs speech boils down to: Read more so you can understand more about what you're reading, and don't trust other people to think for you when you can easily do it yourself.
Apparently, it's also found in the Common Reader, which I haven't read yet, because you know it is - there are always so many books you'd like to read!

I liked all three parts. It was fun, it made me want to pick up the next book as soon as possible.
And I kept thinking about The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, both because of the name and also because it is about the love for literature, and sinking yourself into stories.

In the beginning of her speech, there are some parts that didn't age well, like the use of the generic masculine, but all in all, I was impressed by how relevant her words are still today.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

How Should One Read a Book? by Virginia Woolf is a powerful essay that Woolf delivered to a group of girls at a private school in 1926. This essay details the importance of being critical of writing and realizing that different people will get different messages from a book and how that is okay. This essay will make me more aware of how I analyze and digest books in the future through a more understanding eye. Prior to reading this essay, I had only read Mrs. Dalloway by Woolf. While I didn't enjoy Mrs. Dalloway when I first read it, this essay makes me want to try re-reading the book and try more works by Woolf in the future.

The afterword by Sheila Heti add a nice analysis on the publishing process in our current society and the vital role that the writer's community shares in the finished product.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic read! I love Virginia Woolf so was delighted to get my hands on this. Loved the essay. And the afterword was also a great accompaniment. A definite read for readers!

Virginia Woolf is brilliant, as the essay "How Should One Read a Book?" demonstrates unequivocally. What more could we ask for when it is written unabashedly for all the voracious readers? Every word is both poetry and prose, sharp and weighty with meaning. If I were to highlight lines, near every sentence deserves attention.

Woolf calls for us to be both sympathetic and severe readers, a class removed from the literary critics that treat one book after another as a succession of animals in a shooting gallery. She carries us on a voyage between great literary writers before her time, speaks of the fascinating window into human lives in biographies, and burrows into the striking clarity of poetry. In the multitudinous chaos of so many books, Woolf anchors our ability to make sense of our reading experience and appreciate its art form.

With a lovely introduction and afterword by Sheila Heti, "How Should One Read a Book?" is emphemeral but so memorable, a rare and direct conversational line from famed writer to you—the hungry, passionate reader.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Laurence King Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading about Virginia Woolf’s thoughts on the way we analyze and critique books, but I personally got a lot more out of the introduction and afterward in this edition by Sheila Heti. The way she talks about books changing through time in our memories and the shadow-shapes they make (since we each conjure a different image in our imaginations), the way that pieces of books and the time in which we read them can stick in our minds even when the characters or specific plot points don’t, and how writers edit their books through the influence of those who care about them (both with their feedback and anticipating their feedback).

Reading, as an active engagement with a text, and with the characters, pictures, events, emotions and moods it evokes is, for Virginia Woolf, a life-transforming art; it has affinities with the art of friendship and supports an empathetic involvement with a writer.
In crisp, pointed examples drawn from several centuries and a variety of genres, she makes the case that the ideal reader brings “imagination, insight and judgment” to the act of reading.
The rewards of reading include a route to “light up the many windows of the past” and a way “to refresh and exercise our own creative powers”; the poet has the ability “to make us at once actors and spectators”. These rewards are completed by the reader's development of an ability to make informed and sensitive judgments, to contribute to “the atmosphere which writers breathe”.
Sheila Heti's introduction steps carefully between “readers” and “critics” (one irony is that we are all critics in this forum). She develops this point in the afterword stressing the artist's need for a sympathetic audience for work in progress. This theme is related back to this 1926 lecture by Virginia Woolf though the link is not an obvious one.
The imaginative energy that Virginia Woolf pours into her novels and essays is also on display here. Her wit, poetry and sheer enthusiasm for the cause are good reason for this timely reprint.

Reading this book was very insightful. As someone who reviews books, this book was a very interesting one.
However, I couldn’t keep my full attention on the book while reading it. Once I got into the book, the book was a 100% read.

Virginia Woolf will always be one of the greatest writers to have ever lived and written, and this extended essay by her on the importance of literature and the feeling that literature provides is no different. I've always preferred her non-fiction writing to her fiction and I can see why in this short piece. She doesn't aim to be earth-shattering with her non-fiction, merely to provoke an inner stream of consciousness that you will struggle to find the ends of and could spend hours pondering over. I say that in a complimentary way, with endless possibilities.

I did a lot of highlighting quotes on my kindle while reading this, although I note now that a lot the highlighting actually came from the introduction and afterword by Sheila Heti. I found her short chapters really interesting, particularly what she calls a 'shadow shape' that a book leaves behind in your mind (intro) as well as the importance of reading and sharing drafts with others (afterword). I really liked the section where she discusses how you pay a different kind of attention to the drafts of other people's writing than you do to finished books you buy in a book shop, knowing the difference that you can make in that drafting stage. Even just the idea of sending a draft to someone makes you realise where it is wrong, where it needs more work and where you are proud of it, without them even reading it and telling you so. That really resonated with me. If anything, this short book that I read for Virginia Woolf has actually made me want to dive into Sheila Heti's other work.

The first thing I liked about this book was the title of the book. Being a reader from the from the deepest core of my heart, how could I ignore this book. Especially when it is Virginia Woolf who wrote this book.
How should One Read a Book is an essay in which Woolf talked about the correct way of reading a book, how could one reader connect to the writer just by reading the book. She explores the lives the of different author of Victorian London and reaches to the reader like no one esle did.
I really liked the book. It is a short read but a pretty amazing as well. Totally loved it.

<i> "The only advice … that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions... After all, what laws can be laid down about books?" </i>

Virginia Woolf's "How Should One Read a Book?' was first given as a lecture to Hayes Court Common school girls in January 1926. This edition includes an introduction and afterword by Sheila Heti.

I find it to be as relevant now as it was the day it was given. Despite being an extremely quick read, I found the essay so illuminating. Woolf's advice manages to sound gentle but persuasive at the same time, urging the reader to be both sympathetic and open to a wide range of emotion, whilst still acting as a fair judge. Normally, I find it difficult to read essays, but Woolf's prose sounded so poetic and lyrical that I forgot I was reading non-fiction.

One idea in particular stood out to me- Woolf's idea of a 'shadow-shape'. That after reading a novel, the reader will resume life, but ultimately return to the memory of the book. And in this reminiscence lies not just the narrative, or its characters but pieces of the reader's life interspersed in the recollection of this 'shadow-shape'. As Woolf writes, 'A book is a watery sculpture that lives in the mind once the reading is done'.

Sheila Heti's introduction was particularly captivating, and a wonderful way to ease into the essay. This quote in particular made me smile, as it encapsulates everything I love about reading:

<i> "Virginia Woolf compares the pleasures of reading to the pleasure of being in heaven. In fact, God, who is stuck in his heaven, envies human readers- for while his heaven is one place, books offer multiple places. The reader doesn’t grow bored like God does." </i>

📖“ A book is a watery sculpture that lives in the mind once the reading is done “📖

The book is basically an essay written by Virginia Woolf in 1926, along with an addition of introduction and afterward by Sheila Heti.

Unlike what the title suggests , the author urges the readers not to take any advice on reading and follow their own instincts , to use their own reasons and to come to their own conclusions about a book or their reading process. A lot of emphasis is given to the importance of readers and their opinions of the books , the readers who read for their pleasure or the friends who do innumerable reads for the authors . These reviews , as the author suggests, are much more empathetic and thoughtful than the reviews of critiques and have a major part to play in any authors life.
I absolutely enjoyed this beautifully written essay. It does have a lot of references to classics and their characters, many of them where unknown to me. I felt the ending to be a bit abrupt as well. Nevertheless , it was a great experience reading this short piece, only 20 pages long , written a 100 years ago but still very relevant.

The snippet below just commemorates the love of reading for us :
”Virginia Woolf compares the pleasures of reading to the pleasure of being in heaven . In fact, god , who is stuck in his heaven , envies human readers- for while his heaven is one place , books offer multiple places. The reader doesn’t grow bored like God does”

Thanks for providing me the copy. Review is also posted on goodreads and also on my Instagram page.

I really liked this essay. It is the transcription of a conference Virginia Woolf gave out herself. It is so well-written that it almost becomes poetic prose. Woolf defends the need of having an intelligent and critical reader who will create their own reminiscencees of the book and the times around when it was being read.

There is an introduction and an epilogue written by two other writers giving their opinions of how readers should behave. Readers are compared to professional critics, and critics lose the battle.

I like the honesty of authors who self-doubt themselves every step of the way. I also liked the concept of the "shape". I have to say that many times the only thing I remember about a book is whether I have liked it or not. I have had conversations with friends after I have recommended a book to them: Who's the author? Can't remember. What's it about? No idea. Is it difficult to understand? No clue. So why are you recommending it? Because I know that when I read it I loved it. That's it.

It is a quick read. All in all it took me a commuting trip, about an hour, to finish it. I had to read the more famous essay A Room of One's Own at university and I didn't like it at all. It took forever to get to the point, and apparently he got lost in the listing out of books at the university library. How Should One Read a Book? goes straight to the point, and even if a reader disagrees with Woolf's main points, it is a good material to start a discussion, maybe for a book club.

Absolutely loved reading this gem of a an essay by Woolf, published with a very interesting and engaging Introduction as well as an Afterword. Right from the opening of the essay to its closing lines, i was completely immersed. A must read for all readers. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the ARC.

Virginia Woolf was one of the most incredibly writers of her time. I couldn't be more blessed to be given the chance to read this book and the afterword by Sheila Heti was lovely.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.