I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf

By Grant Snider

A look at the culture and fanaticism of book lovers, from the beloved New York Times illustrator and creator of Incidental Comics.

 

It’s no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf is the perfect gift for bookworms of all ages.

“This playful, self-aware collection of strips and gags on the joys and frustrations of reading and writing is equal parts lighthearted and sincere . . . The panels range from gently clever to surprisingly profound to laugh-out-loud.” —Publishers Weekly

“A prescient book for these times.” —Newsarama

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781683358602

Grant Snider

Grant Snider is an orthodontist by day and an author and artist of comics and picture books by night. He lives in Wichita, Kansas.

Book preview

Reviews for I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf

[verafran19 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is my new comfort place. I loved how it approached reading and writing, and everything that make us fall in love with words.

[nonodarkheart98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quit a funny comic. I found myself relating to a few pages.

[Sarah · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Super cute read! If you are a book lover, writer, or aspiring writer, I highly recommend it!

[Courtney Kouba · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cute, simple drawings perfectly supplement the writing which is both funny and relatable.

[Minggu tenang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Witty, funny, a perfect short read for readers and/or writers.

[LINDSAY MEDINA · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

THE BEST INSPIRATION ... look at the result for someone booklover, with all those beautiful and meaningful illustrations. thanks, Scribd for having this book on your platform. Incredible!

[Monica Cantile · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I didn't expect it to be a comic book but im glad that i saved it, comics for book lovers

[thewestwing-864351 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great coffee table book full of humorous comics all go do with reading and writing. I really enjoyed it.

[gingirl70 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was interesting, and although it wasn't terribly funny, I loved the illustrations. I'm sure I'll pick it up every now and again just to look at the pictures.

[lowelibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to be greatly illustrated although a lot of the writing comics did not relate to me and fell short. I thoroughly enjoyed the comics about books and reading.

[glennis.leblanc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This collection of cartoons works for both readers and writers. For me the reader jokes were great, but the writer jokes dragged a bit since I’m a reader and not a writer. A fun book for either to take the time to read.

[lizzysiddal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great fun!

[m.belljackson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

BOOKSHELF is a lot of fun, notably when the early focus is on Readers and Books.

Writers will welcome the change of pace.

Illustrations brilliant!

[carltonc_5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Humorous cartoons for bibliophiles, which while hit and miss like any humour, are very good when they work. What more need be said!

[bookwren · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun comics illustrate wise, thoughtful, humorous words about reading and writing.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This collection of comics on books, reading and writing is one that fans of Book Love by Debbie Tung may enjoy. Snider has a punny sense of humor, and I enjoyed his sense of playfulness he imbues the comic form with - sometimes making panels a little different than expected, or using punctuation as part of the visual story. Just an all around fun collection.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Assorted comics on the subject of books and book addiction. Some of them were mildly enjoyable, most of them seemed to be about a far more fraught and difficult (and judgemental) relationship with books than I've experienced. Fear of commitment to a book? Not so much - try it, maybe you'll like it. And so on. As usual, his art is well above stick figures and well below realistic; there are more "stories", sequences of events or thoughts, in this book than in The Shape of Ideas. Not sorry I read it, but I doubt I'll bother to reread. And like Shape, I read this as an ebook, and in some cases the text was too small or blurry to read.

[ericlee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Grant Snider loves books. He loves to read them, to write them, to collect them, even to smell them. This wonderful collection of 1 – 2 page cartoons covers every aspect of reading and writing. The next time someone tells you have too many books, or spend too much time reading, buy them a copy of this book.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A collection of cartoons and humorous little illustrated verses about books, reading, and writing, with a few nerdy jokes about language thrown in. Like many book people, I'm a sucker for this sort of thing, and this one did not disappoint. It's cute, fun, and sometimes very, very relatable. (Well, really, don't we all judge people by their bookshelves?)

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun collection of bookish and author comics, some single page and some multiple page, I felt quite seen by several of them and it really did appeal to me. Laughed out loud a few times and squirmed a bit by how close it came to my truths.
I have been known to find a book at parties and be found several hours later with it finished.

[streamsong_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Funny, original comics about readers, reading, writing and poetry.

This is the perfect escapist antidote to pandemic isolation and political chaos.

Many of the cartoons are available as posters on the author’s website.

[circlestonesbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“MY HOLIDAY WISH LIST – The book everyone is reading – the book no one is reading … A place for all my new books.” (Quotation page 36, in part)

Theme and content
A collection of literary comics by the well-known American cartoonist and writer Grant Snider, about booklovers, book hoarders, booksmell-addicted, but also about literature, writers and writing, including writer’s block.

Implementation
This beautifully crafted book contains 124 comics of one or two pages, grouped into fourteen chapters from “I’m in love with books” to “I write because I must”. There are stories about bookmarks, unpaid library fees, the smell of old books, about classics and about the daily dreams and problems of writers. Not only the cartoons are funny, but also the texts are witty, philosophical, poetical, giving words their true and real meaning, sometimes a different meaning, and always perfectly illustrated. This is a book to lose yourself time and time again, discovering new details, and just thinking: “so true, that’s me!”

Conclusion
A charming book, every bookworm will love from the first page.

[villemezbrown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I regret reading this collection of cartoons in two sessions as I probably would have enjoyed it more at, say, a page or two a day. As it stands, with cleverness tending to the lukewarm and humor heavily reliant on puns, I wearied of reading it by the end. But it is all about books, reading, and writing so we'll give it a mercy star.

For fans of Book Love and Reading Quirks: Weird Things that Bookish Nerds Do!