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Bookworm
- A Memoir of Childhood Reading
- Narrated by: Lucy Mangan
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
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Bookworm
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Summary
When Lucy Mangan was little, stories were everything. They opened up new worlds and cast light on all the complexities she encountered in this one.
She was whisked away to Narnia and Kirrin Island and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. She wandered the countryside with Milly-Molly-Mandy and played by the tracks with the Railway Children. With Charlotte's Web she discovered death, and with Judy Blume it was boys. No wonder she left the house only for her weekly trip to the library or to spend her pocket money on amassing her own at home.
In Bookworm, Lucy revisits her childhood reading with wit, love and gratitude. She relives our best-beloved books and their extraordinary creators and looks at the thousand subtle ways they shape our lives. She also disinters a few forgotten treasures to inspire the next generation of bookworms and set them on their way.
Lucy brings the favourite characters of our collective childhoods back to life - prompting endless rereadings, rediscoveries, and, inevitably, fierce debate - and brilliantly uses them to tell her own story, that of a born and unrepentant bookworm.
Cover credit: Laura Barrett
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What listeners say about Bookworm
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 26-04-20
mixed feelings.
I struggled to complete the final 3 chapters, I found the earlier chapters more autobiographical
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- NotTreadingGrapes
- 06-04-19
This book is about me
Has sent me scuttling off to eBay to hunt out all the versions of the books I read as a child. Thank you Lucy Mangan.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-12-21
suitable for bookworms...nobody else
I loved this book and related to Lucy and her life times reading easily. But if you didn't get banned from exchanging library books every day in the summer holidays yoi might eonder what the fuss is about.
Lucy Mangan - how did you miss The Bobbsey Twins?!? tsk
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-11-18
Fellow Bookworms ahoy!
A hugely enjoyable memoir of Mangan's childhood reading. Nostalgic, warm and witty. I loved it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Young chicken
- 23-03-19
Joy and comfort
Familiar, moving and delivered with wry wit and humour. The audio book reading reminds me of the most endearing elements of listening to Jeanette Winterson novels.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Julia Churchley
- 05-09-22
A childhood lived in books
An absolute delight ! As each book title came up -Milly Molly Mandy! Stig of the Dump! The Family from one End Street ! I felt I was in the midst of a joyful conversation with a fellow BW. The intense childhood memories about visits to libraries - you can only share those joys with a fellow booklover, where reading is far more important than doing anything sporting, for example.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lubsy1
- 10-03-21
I am a Bookworm
I loved listening to this book on Audible. especially so since it was narrated by the Author herself. So I was hearing the words directly from her. She didn't read Fairy Tales folks!!! How is it possible to get through your childhood without reading a single Fairytale? I lived on Fairytales. I went through all the rainbow of colours of the Coloured Fairytales series. I devoured them over and over again. I got lost in the magical realms. I was scared by the evil characters, charmed by the fairies, bewitched by the magic and spellbound by the stories themselves. My nose was always in a book as a child. I felt so attuned to what Lucy Mangan was saying. Every time she mentioned a book we'd both read, a cheer would escape from my lips. There were books she'd read that I hadn't and equally there were books I'd read but she hadn't mentioned. But mostly we were well read in the same. If anyone has memories of the books they read as a child, didn't fully understand them at the time, but now with adult hindsight and appreciation for words have grasped their true meaning, then you are a True Bookworm my Friend!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Vivienne Darwent
- 18-05-19
This is me
I feel this is the story of me. Every book worn should read this and relive all those precious memories and books.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lsta
- 03-09-23
The book I wish I’d written
In fact, it feels like I could have. I was so moved by this book, it described my childhood. I laughed and almost cried at times. I am sure Lucy and I could have been friends as children - well sat in the same room with our noses in a book anyway!A joyous read from start to finish. Off to buy ten copies for fellow bookworm friends.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tab
- 09-06-23
Nostalgia
Dry, witty and a real trip down memory lane. Want to read them all again. Thank you.
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