An interesting history about books and publishing. Wasn't a light read but had lots of interesting details that I had never thought about before.

I was looking forward to reading this book, but was never pulled into it while reading. I found it to be somewhat disjointed and dwelling on some topics too long, others not long enough. I thank NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the advance read.

This book was filled with fascinating anecdotes and facts I never knew about books and the publishing industry. It had a ton of information without being dry.

Fascinating book about the history of books and publishing! This book genuinely kept my interest and moved along at a good pace. As a self-publishing author, I was delighted to learn that self-publishing is not new at all. In fact, the publishing business pretty much started as authors paid printers to publish their books. The author of this beautifully researched history book has provided a thoughtful, helpful resource for anyone who loves books and has an interest in the publishing world and how we got to now.

Highly recommended, would be great for book clubs.

The Untold Story of Books is pretty much exactly what it describes, with a big focus on the publishing industry and the different interactions with authors. It was pretty interesting, though I regret that it was so focussed on the US and did not provide more international insights. Here and there, the author mentioned how something is now regulated in different countries (for example royalties on borrowed books) but overall, it was quite a US-american point of view.

There were also too many details on specifics, for example in regards of piracy, who did whom wrong. So many names and specifics that will not stick to my memory and made the book a bit long.

Overall still an interesting read, thanks for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the book, it provided a great in depth look into the evolution of publishing. But it the first part dragged too much and the third part, while interesting, felt lacking; there could be many other topics to add: the emergence of book boxes turned publishers, the overconsumption of books: with books coming full circle from leather-bound expensive times to cheap mass market paperbacks back to the costly special editions, the cult status of some books that allows book boxes to raise their prices unchallenged and are the trendsetters and the herald of next bestsellers.
So while enjoyed the book, the edition of more current content would have made it infinitely more entertaining.

This is my favorite nonfiction book of the year! Maybe, the decade? If you like books--and I know you do, because you're reading a book review--you should nab this one. It talks all about the history of books, different publishers, what author like has looked like through time, and so much more. It's also one of those perfect books to gift someone who enjoys reading. It's infinitely interesting, and the author did a FABULOUS job putting it together in a narrative fashion!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating book. I learned a lot from reading it!

The Untold Story of Books is a fantastic casual nonfiction read for book aficionados and encompassing research reading on the history of book publishing. Castleman dives into the beginning of book publishing from a primarily American standpoint. The Guttenberg press and the scribes it put out of business were briefly touched upon, but the story really takes off in colonial America. From there, readers are taken on a journey of politics, piracy, and printing spanning centuries. The book is incredibly current in its information (BookTok and social media’s influence in the publishing world are heavily discussed). Castleman is very upfront about his own financial and professional journey as an author. This honesty establishes a genuine author-reader connection that makes this such a great nonfiction read. Additionally, the work is indexed by topic, making this a valuable resource for academic research on the book industry or those interested in snippets of the epic Castleman presents. Topics are presented logically in bite-sized portions that maintain reader attention without sacrificing detail.

The Untold Story of Books is an intriguing read for all book lovers that will not disappoint in its premise!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

If the subject of history of publishing appeals to you, you'll probably enjoy this book. It's funny how there are certain dynamics that keep cropping up, like disruptive technology (in paper, printing, or transportation or communication, like phonographs). Puts now in perspective. Also was amused that US and English publishers fought copyright in part because they were always pirating from one another.

I really enjoyed this book even more than I expected. I'm intrigued by humanity's desire to facilitate the production, consumption, and sometimes destruction of books. This book did an excellent job of exploring the history of publishing but also making it humorous, engaging, and still comprehensive.
The book focuses a great deal on American publishing and book culture, but even so, I found it engaging and worth reading for those interested in books on a conceptual level, like myself as a librarian, but I also think the common lay reader would find it equally as enthralling.

Thank you to the author, The Unnamed Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my review. 4/5 stars

As much as I adored this book, I find myself with little to say about it. It was an quick and easy read that was surprisingly humorous. I learned a lot, I have a new respect for humanity's dedication to thievery and an urge to spend more money on books.

I'm a relatively new reader, around the 10 year mark, so I don't know much about the history in the industry before then. I mean, everyone knows the vague generics right? But I loved how this book would bring out names, authors and work, and numbers how well they sold. I looked up multiple new names that used to be quite big names in the past and even considered giving it a spin.

My only real pet peeve with this book, (other than the actual file given to me by Netgalley being full of typesetting errors), was that it was an book extremely focused on publishing in America.

This makes some degree of sense, each region in the world could probably fill their own book dedicated to this subject. But the title doesn't reflect this. At the beginning of the book, there are several small tidbits about how the printing press got started and the impact of it in Europe, and England. But once it hit the US, other than minor mentions of English authors being upset at pirating, we got told very little about what happened in other places in the world.

I'm even further surprised at the fact that globalization and international trade wasn't mentioned at the end of the book. I mean, considering I'm writing this review from a rather small country in Europe and I'm sitting with an ARC copy from Netgalley, I'm pretty sure there is some impact on that on the book industry.

But really, that's a minor complaint I'd easily remove if they'd just smuggle in an sentence in the blurb to give an hint that this book is about 90% America and nothing else. That's not really an reflection of how much I enjoyed this book.

It might even be the very first Netgalley read I get that I'll purchase an edition for myself once it hits the shelves.

If you are an author trying to navigate the byzantine world of publishing (particularly as a newbie) give this book a read. The author summarizes book production from scribes writing on parchment until the present day. It is comprehensive...there is a lot here I did not know. (Manuscript piracy, for example, has been a nightmare since day one.) He divides the business history into three stages, but if you have limited time, skip to the third (modern) stage.All kinds f new and intriguing channels for writers to consider. Highly recommended.

"The Untold Story of Books" is a witty and charming jewel of a book offering delightful insights and teasing out useful analogies as it approaches the evolution of the Printing industry from Gutenberg to Amazon. I'm working from an ARC provided by The Unnamed Press. If you think you know something about the book industry, its history and evolution, you really need to read this book. The author, Michael Castleman, an experienced and respected writer in his own right, has clearly spent time incorporating his own experiences with the industry into his developing understanding of what publishing and bookselling has become in the modern age and how it got here. It seems as though every page offers a new way of looking at things or enhancing my own understanding. I am an avid reader and have been since early childhood when books afforded me an escape from younger years marred by brushes with serious illness. Books were my window on the world and shaped me into who I am, but I never looked at the industry in a systematic fashion, and that is the real prize here. Take copyright law for instance. Many of us take it for granted and just accept it without examining the underlying power dynamic existing between writers, agents. publishers and printers and just how embedded a kind of piracy is in the system. Once you begin to grasp all of this, it brings a lot of the existing system into sharp focus with startling clarity. This book about books and bookselling has a place in every collection.

As someone who’s studied the history of books I found this to be a supremely interesting read that provided a lot of new info about publishing and its history. I really liked the different sections the book was divided into and found that that really helped to clearly and chronologically go through the history.

There were some interesting things in this book and I enjoyed learning some of the aspects of the publishing industry, however on the whole I struggled to get invested in this book and almost didn't finish it several times. I found that the narrative seemed to jump around a fair bit which was distracting, and think shorter chapters might have helped with this.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions are my own.

This was an interesting and informative jaunt through the world of books and publishing. I really enjoyed this book and definitely learned something, particularly about American publishing history. The author takes us on an entertaining journey through the three main eras of book publishing, throwing in a few anecdotes. I am taking off one star though because some info wasn’t researched properly (As a literary scholar with a focus on 18th century fiction I flinched at a few statements about that epoch).
All in all, however, a solid four star read.

As a part of the industry (the tiniest of cogs) and an analytical by nature person, I have, on my own, come to the disappointing realization that book business is mostly business. This book reaffirms that fact resoundingly, with historical background and numbers to back it up.
This is a terribly disheartening but an absolutely essential read for writers and an informative one for all book lovers out there.
I wasn't sure how much to expect from the book that featured quite possibly the largest amount of blurbs I've ever seen, a full 4% of the total page count. But it turned out to be an excellent read. Castleman pulls no punches as he pays out exactly what the industry was and is, using research, data, and frank shares of personal experiences. It's certainly eye-opening, though you may not like what you see. I'm not sure how I feel about his assessment of self-publishing, as in my experience its main contribution is flooding the market with crap, diluting the overall quality, and lowering readers' expectations. But all in all, there's plenty of food for thought in this (traditionally published) book.
Lamentably, the Netgalley ARC doesn't feature the photos, but the text alone is enough. Reader beware, you may never look at books the same way again.
With the mechanisms of the tricks revealed and the curtain pulled back, some of the magic inevitably dissipates. Still, it is an absolutely worthy read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

In The Untold Story of Books Michael Castleman explores the history of publishing and the book industry.

The author of this book loves books. On page 18, Castleman states that, "To me, books are the bricks that form the foundations of culture." Since you're reading this, you probably love books too, as I do. This story of books is a fascinating look at how books have been printed and distributed--it's a history of book publishing from Gutenberg' manual printing press, through the era of mechanized industrial printing, to the present digital age. The author tells us that the purpose of the book is "...to provide authors and book lovers with informed perspective on an industry often shrouded in mystery and mythology. This book is my attempt to lift the veil, to demonstrate how the book business actually developed and continues to evolve today." (p 19) He succeeds admirably at this task. I found the book to be very informative, highly entertaining, and highly readable. I learned a lot. I am not an author, but if I was I would have found the book very useful as well. I found the ways in which the book industry has changed over the centuries and how power shifted within it as these changes came about to be extremely interesting. Castleman includes examples from his own publication history to illustrate the realities of today's book business. If you're someone who is aiming to publish or to work in the industry in some other capacity, or if you just love books, I highly recommend this book.