In this delightful memoir, the book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air reflects on her life as a professional reader. Maureen Corrigan takes us from her unpretentious girlhood in working-class Queens, to her bemused years in an Ivy League Ph.D. program, from the whirl of falling in love and marrying (a fellow bookworm, of course), to the ordeal of adopting a baby overseas, always with a book at her side. Along the way, she reveals which books and authors have shaped her own life—from classic works of English literature to hard-boiled detective novels, and everything in between. And in her explorations of the heroes and heroines throughout literary history, Corrigan’s love for a good story shines. ( )

may stumble across this in Reading Notes (silver drawer) - not sure of year but there are about 50 post-its so I spent some time w it - currently being comforted by her explanation of why we choose certain reads at certain times p 44 - excellent reading list in back ( )

This is another book on books and/or reading that I do not like. Maybe I shouldn't try again. It's either not a good time for me & this particular book, or I dislike this kind of books.

I gave up on the book, so I won't rate it.

Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading – Maureen Corrigan
4 stars
I expect I’m the perfect audience for Maureen Corrigan’s memoir of herself as a reader. We are the same age. We are both veterans of the infertility wars and we read many of the same things as children. She grew up in New York City; I spent my first ten years on the east coast in the Tri-state area and I always loved to lose myself in a good book.
There is a definite tone of the college professor in her writing, but this did not put me off even though it is a bit beyond the range of the first grade teacher. I was very interested in her theme of “Women’s Extreme-Adventure Stories”. It gives me a new way of looking at some of my old favorites.
It was the title of this book that grabbed me. I’ve never listened to Maureen Corrigan’s book reviews on NPR. I think I’ll have to do that.
( )

NPR's Fresh Air book critic fails miserably at this autobiography/memoir. I couldn't get past page 50 .... and I had to force myself to get that far. I only tried because a friend whose opinion I value loaned me the book. Read too much like an academic treatise; I didn't get the passion for books that I was expecting. ( )