Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Literature by Zibby Owens

 

"The cracking open of a book's spine has always been an exercise in self-discovery, healing, and fortification. That subtle whoosh when words spill out makes me salivate. Then the feel of the coarse pages under my fingertips delights my consciousness, the sudden sprinkling of syllables, the black-and-white letters in various patterns, coalescing to find their way directly to my heart. It's magic."

                  -from the memoir

I will rate this memoir a 3. It was interesting but not particularly entertaining. I may have been comparing it to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, a fiction I read recently that seemed similar to a memoir. Of the three nouns in the subtitle, I enjoyed the literature aspect and, to a lesser degree, the love, but there was too much angst in the loss portions. I did sympathize with the author in her grief, however.

Zibby Owens suffered anxiety from her youth, was rather introverted and read prolifically. Her love of literature continues throughout her life, as she eventually survives multiple losses, finds her soulmate and experiences success as a writer.

The thing I loved about the book was the frequent mention of book titles Zibby read. Many I had read, and I was reminded how much I enjoyed them.