Acknowledgements and a grateful thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group –Leaping Hare for the access to this e-ARC: 'Mindfulness in reading' by Ella Berthoud.

4 out of 5 stars rounded up from 3,5.

This was a good, informative read about mindfulness and reading, about reading with not only a critical mind, but an open and relaxed one, also. I found some of the font to be hard to read when either me or my eyes were tired so I did have to put it down and pickup something else with better contrast.

The author, Ella, creates a safe environment for learning and change. The book was created with humor and honesty.

I believe that to be a great reader, writer, and reviewer, you have to be mindful so that you can absorb what you are reading. Although there were some stuff I didn't agree with, for example, the comments and exercises about ruining books. It hurts my heart.

Thank you Quatro / Leaping Hare Press and NetGalley for this ARC in return of my honest review.

I love reading and I love mindfulness so I am the perfect audience for Ella Berthouds latest book, especially given I had enjoyed her previous book “Art of Mindful Reading” read a couple years earlier.

Mindfulness in Reading packs in a lot in a tiny book. There were parts that didn’t interest much as much as others but they were only brief sections and certainly were part of the overall mindfulness and reading experience so they were relevant to include.

The value this book gave me was to examine mindfulness in my reading at an even deeper level. Until now I had taken the wider lens approach, whereas Ella zooms right in to engage the reader on a word by word level. I appreciated the focus she gave on the choice of words used by an author and the effect this has on the readers experience, in contrast to other words, had they been chosen instead.

I loved the exercises provided and had fun writing my own six word memoir. I am also keen to explore Haiku and Poetry and practice exploring what I have learned in this book.

This is a book to buy, refer to often and enjoy having in your company. I highly recommend it.

A terrific new title in Leaping Hare's fabulous mindfulness series. I learned many strategies for make reading an even more meditative experience than before. Highly recommended for readers who want to become more aware than ever as they read!

This book sits really well within the 'romanticising your life' trend. It's quite a sweet book and as someone who loves reading it's good to be reminded to really enjoy and luxuriate in the actual act of reading. It contains some helpful suggestions and practices that would be really grounding and direct your intention when reading. There was nothing truly groundbreaking in the suggestions, but having said that, how often do we think about 'how' we actually read? I think with any of these types of books you won't resonate with everything, but you might take a few ideas away from you or come back to some later.

NetGalley review

This is more self awareness than mindfulness, as a mediation teacher, they are narrowing those concepts without saying it. Yet adding their own I wouldn’t call mindfulness but something entirely different.

This book would be great for younger people students etc who struggle to understand and comprehend what they read.

This title is part of a series on mindfulness. Previous titles have included Mindfulness in Gardening, Mindfulness in Knitting and, Mindfulness in Wild Swimming, among others. The wide range of subject matters shows that mindfulness can be approached/practiced in many ways.

The world feels so shaky at times that mindfulness may become more popular than ever. Those who already enjoy reading will, I think, find that if mindfulness is needed, here is one way to embrace it. This book has chapters on topics like losing yourself in a book, ways to read, reading like a child, sharing the joy of reading, finding one’s self in a book, and putting down books. There are also helpful resources at the end of the title.

Note that the reader’s guide through this book is a true bibliophile. I enjoyed what she had to say from the very beginning when she writes about how she taught herself to read at age five. She has not stopped since and is a bibliotherapist who takes her work seriously.

I liked that this book encouraged me to think about how I read. Mindfulness in the process will add to my approach and enjoyment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

I have read a lot of books about reading books but this was by far the nicest - and also had suggestions I had not yet considered. I now have a list of reading resolutions and a list of other books to read. For me this is the ideal outcome.

Reading has long been a meditative experience for me and when I saw this title, I knew I wanted to read it.

I really wanted to love this book but much of it didn’t work for me and I found this to very much be a ‘take what you like and leave the rest’ book.

I hope other readers enjoy this more.



Thank you to Leaping Hare Press and NetGalley for the temporary PDF

As an avid reader, and whose favourite meditative activity is reading, I was so hoping to love this book, but it was not for me.
I do not wish to go into any details, and I hope other readers will find value and enjoyment in this book,