A history book…about libraries of the ancient world? This should’ve been an instant 5 star read for me, but I found it a bit plodding at times. There are great nuggets of information in here about book selling, how libraries were constructed, and about the transistion from rolls to codices in the ancient world but there wasn’t enough compelling information to keep it interesting the whole way through. There are also lots of question marks where historians don’t really know a lot about certain aspects of libraries though I can hardly fault the author for that though! Eventhough I seem to be lambasting this book as a dull read, I still found parts of it very interesting! I am a lover of all things book related, even large history tomes that others may find a bit dry. For those averse to lenghthy tomes, do not fear; this one comes in at a very brief 145 pages.

If you can find this book in the bargain bin, don’t miss it! I found it for only $145 TWD marked down from $453 TWD myself, so I got very lucky.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #15 in my 2022 Reading Challenge