This is a great little book. I don't know who half the authors are, but it is still neat to see what's on their shelves. My favorite author interviews are by Junot Diaz, Philip Pullman, Lev Grossman and Sophie Gee, but all the interviews are interesting. Especially when they are compared to each other.

 

Each author contributed an interview, a top 10 list of books, and a few of their bookshelves to be photographed. Unpacking My Library is great when read straight through, but also begs to be flipped through at random.

This book is any bibliophiles dream. Writers sharing little peeks into their lives, the way only looking at one's bookshelf can. Must read.

This is an interesting little book. My only real issue is the writers they chose to interview. Other than Alison Bechdel, the others were mostly literary fiction or critics of the stuffy variety. As more of a genre reader as I am, I found it difficult to care for what they offered. Having said though, the book is an easy read. You get a look into the books, their shelves, and the ways these folks think about books, how they relate to books. That part I did find interesting. The photography is very good by the way, which is another reason I liked the book. If you like books about books and reading, this is a pretty good one to pick up. Now, if it had been me, these are people whose shelves I would love to see and who I would have loved to hear about their books and their reading: *Gabriel Garcia Marquez*Mario Vargas Llosa*Neil Gaiman*John Scalzi (I like his blog, so I imagine he would have good insights given some of the things he has said already).*Alan MooreI think this might make a good exercise. If you were to do a book like this one, which authors would you want to include. These are just five of my favorites, but there could be a few more I would not mind including. Anyhow, food for thought.