River of Books
Ode Books is thrilled to announce the forthcoming publication River of Books: A Life in Reading by Donna Seaman, a memoir of reading and working with books by the renowned Booklist editor.
With the infectious curiosity of an inveterate bibliophile and the prose of a fine stylist, Donna Seaman charts the course of her early reading years in a book-by-book chronicle of the significance books have held in her life. River of Books recounts Seaman’s journey in becoming an editor for Booklist, a reviewer, an author, and a literary citizen, and lays bare how she nourished both body and soul in working with books. Seaman makes palpable the power and self-recognition that she discovered in a life dedicated to reading.
River of Books: A Life in Reading will be released on November 5, 2024. Pre-order your copy today!
“A ‘constant reader’ who generously advocates for a wide diet of literature, from novels to poetry to narrative nonfiction to essays and all that lie between, Seaman counsels that “the more varied our reading, the more detailed, intricate, and vital our perceptions become.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Donna Seaman reads with her whole body, and RIVER OF BOOKS is a hymn to her vocation, a testament to her immersions, the story of her transports. The surface is calm, but the water runs deep in this memoir of intense responses, of enchantments and ecstasies."
—EDWARD HIRSCH, author, Stranger by Night, editor for 100 Poems to Break Your Heart
"River of Books is a beautiful memoir. Deeply personal, it is moving, dazzling, and spiced with touches of Seaman's slantwise sense of humor."
—SARA PARETSKY, author, Pay Dirt and other V. I. Warshawski novels and the memoir, Writing in an Age of Silence
"River of Books is as exhilarating as a first date, and it delivers: The memoir of a lifelong book lover who brings us her keen, engaging perspective on her own reading and the larger world of books, it will warm you and delight you and make you realize how fabulous reading can be."
—SUSAN ORLEAN, author, On Animals and The Library Book