There’s nothing in the world quite like books. Recording stories has been a part of our history for as long as humans have had a form of language and communication; whether through cave art, cuneiform tablets, quill and ink or a computer keyboard. Through the ages, the written word has turned into poems, novels and recorded information, and books continue to enthrall and fascinate. Check out this list of books about books and celebrate the multifaceted experience of being a human surrounded by the written word.
Fiction
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson
Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron
Bibliolepsy by Gina Apostol
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
The Book Haters’ Book Club by Gretchen Anthony
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa
Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Hell of a book : or the altogether factual, Wholly Bona Fide story of a big dreams, hard luck, American-Made Mad Kid by Jason Mott
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
The Pages by Hamilton Hugo
The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
The Reading List by Sarah Nisha Adams
Trust by Hernán Díaz
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Nonfiction
Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount
Bibliophile: Diverse Spines by Jamise Harper and Jane Mount
The Book That Changed My Life: Interviews with National Book Award Winners and Finalists edited by Diana Osen
Books: A Living History by Martyn Lyons
Books : A Memoir by Larry McMurtry
Books for Living by Will Schwalbe
But have you read the book? : 52 literary gems that inspired our favorite films by Kristen Lopez
Great Short Books: A Year of Reading Briefly by Kenneth Davis
The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future by Robert Darnton
How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard
In Praise of Good Bookstores by Jeff Deutsch
The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade by Gary Goodman
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book by Wendy Welch
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett
My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop edited by Ronald Rice
Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell
Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef
What We Talk About When We Talk About Books : The History and Future of Reading by Leah Price
The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (And Two Not-so-great Ones) Saved My Life by Andy Miller by Shaun Bythell
