Any literature lover will adore this book, which describes historical literary events and their impacts on today's readers. The writing style and tone are just right for it to feel accessible and fun, while still being informative. I learned a lot from the historical side of it and have added more than a few of the mentioned books to my TBR as I was reading. Would make an excellent coffee table or reference book, and a great gift for other readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Michael O'Mara Limited for the ARC.

This is a book every student of English Literature should have on their bookshelves. Best read as a physical book as this is a book that will spark a real conversation about literature between the book and its reader. Pages will be tabbed and marked up, which is no bad thing as it sends you down many rabbit holes as a reader. I've seen some reviewers criticise this book for its brevity in covering each of the topics it highlights, but for me, it just served to whet the appetite, which is why I suggest reading with a pen and sticky tabs in hand. You will want to do your own exploration as you build a reading list from the books he talks about. It will also give you new perspectives on books you've already read and perhaps inspire a reread with a fresh insight. This book is funny as well as being informative and what better guide for someone who may not consider themselves to be particularly bookish, to start their journey with an English Literature academic who has written both online (see his blog; Interesting Literature) and via his publisher works.

Full review to follow on by blog. Link to be added.

Really accessible writing. Can be read chronologically but also fun to flip through and read in bite size chunks.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The author’s funny and witty style really drew me in and made chapters/sections about which I had no previous knowledge, interesting and engaging. I have no doubt this title would appeal to anyone who calls themselves a bookworm and I could definitely see chapters of it being used in the classroom to link important texts and periods.

Lightness of Touch…
A delicious exploration through time and place of the more curious elements of literature and of the printed word. The author covers the quirky, the interesting, the historical and the downright odd with a lightness of touch and a generous dusting of humour. Well researched and a real breath of fresh air.

This is a well-written and interesting account regarding literary curiosities that shaped, in one way or another, the world of today's reading.Each chapter opens with a synopsis of the historical and literary events that defined each era, followed by a short description of the most well-known works, a few more obscure ones, and the impact they have on the contemporary readers. Its focus is, largely, the English speaking world, and contains only a few passages dedicated to the literary history of the rest of Europe. There are no references to the other continents.

Apart from this, there are two major omissions, in my opinion. During the Rennaisance era, one of the most influential texts was Niccolo Macchiavelli's Il Principe. There is no reference to it in Oliver Tearle's book. A second mistake has to do with the origin of the word panurgic. This word may have become popular through François Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel but it wasn't invented by him. How could it? This word derives from the Greek word πανούργος, panourgos, meaning someone who has the ability to know how to act swiftly and effectively in the face of adversity, someone who even knows how to set traps for others, a good politician in today's terms. These two problems were signs of problematic research on the author's part and they bothered me quite a bit.

Still, I loved the underlying humorous tone of the writing and of course, the reference to Blackadder's ''aardvark'' problem, when discussing Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. Who can forget that marvellous episode?

The Secret Library is a well-rounded, easy-to-read book for those who want to introduce themselves to the ''Books about Books'' genre. To those of us who have extensive experience with essays and numerous kinds of texts about this particular subject, it can become a bit boring at times, it doesn't offer anything new.

This is exactly the right book for me: a book about books and plenty of curiosities and trivia.
Well researched and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thanks to the publisher Michael O’Mara Books Limited and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is divided up into nine chapters - The Classical World; The Middle Ages; The Renaissance; The Age of Enlightenment; The Age of Romanticism; The Victorians; The Americans; On the Continent and The Modern World providing a quirky overview of the history of literature.
It delves into the stories of what are seen as the great works of literature as well as bringing into focus some neglected classics. It is very interesting book full of facts (my partner may have got annoyed with me reading these out!) The book is written in a chatty informative style with moments that are laugh out loud funny.

I would recommend this book to anyone with a love of literature and a love of books. “The Secret Library” has certainly added quite a few books to my ‘to be read’ list!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

This is a very interesting history of books, mostly lesser known today but often popular in their day and seminal in the development of the novel and of many common themes in literature.

It is written in a light and easy to read style so no worries about it being too wordy, technical or dull. It is of course mainly about books but there are historical and other interesting facts in there too. I learned a great deal, including the fact that there is no English equivalent for the German description of what Gregor metamorphosed into, so it was not necessarily a beetle. I have added a number of the books mentioned to my To Be Read pile.

I did read it straight through but you could just as easily dip in and out of it.

I love books about books and I love reading about 'niche' histories. This was a absolutely fascinating read and travel throughout the world of books!

This is a book lovers dream read! Oliver Tearle writes in such a way that the information is understood immediately, his prose is excellent as is the great deal of research he must have carried out. Meandering from the Ancient World to Modern Classics, we learn snippets and anecdotes about authors we know and those we don't. He doesn't delve too deeply into the novels but he provides enough to peak the curiosity. It is a book to dip into or read from front to back as I did, it doesn't matter how it is approached it is so enjoyable. My grateful thanks to the Author, Netgalley and the publishers for this excellent book.

A fabulous read focusing on the history of books and tales of those authors and stories we all know and love. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would highly recommend it.

Spanning hundreds of years of literary history, Oliver Tearle presents the lesser-known tidbits of writers and literary periods that specific authors/movements outshined. Well-researched and intriguing, The Secret Library had my attention from page one, exploring areas of literary history that I didn't even know about. The Secret Library is the perfect coffee-table book to read on a lazy day. I highly recommend Tearle's book if you love learning about literature or want to read about someone other than the authors with dozens of biographies about them.

Thank you, NetGalley and Michael O'Mara Limited for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fascinating read exploring the history of books and the stories behind some of the most influential books and some of the books we may not know about. If you love books and reading then this book is for you!

This was a good coffee table book and interesting topics about books of course, a great read for any Book lover.

If you like books (you are here, so you must probably do), if your are interested in their history of writing and development through the ages, but you wanted presented in a light, breezy and fun way, filled with curiosities and strange tales - this book is for you!

What a fun, and slightly different take, on the top books that should form the basis of a good library.
I loved the way that there were links from book to book and also back to tomes from longer ago.
Many of the books feature in similar volumes to this but the slightly irreverent approach made it feel fresh and something completely new to the genre

A book meant for book lovers!

The secret library explores hidden or unknown till recent years/unknown to most readers details about famous authors themselves regarding their personal life or suprising information about the books we've known and loved for so many years. It's an absolute little gem of a nonfiction read bound to get even the most hesitant fiction exclusive reader interested! Give a gift to yourselves and your libraries at home and get this!

"The Secret Library" gives an overview over some of the more and lesser known books of different time periods. My problem with this book was that there weren't enough details on any of the books to motivate me to read them.

The Secret Library by Oliver Tearle

3.5/5 stars!

I did not know what to expect with this book, I was drawn in by the cover and was excited to learn what this book was about. This was a really fun and interesting book to read, it is a really quick and easy read.
I would love to read something similar again and look forward to learning more!
Thank you to Oliver Tearle, the publisher and NetGalley for this arc.