As the last book of the year for me, this read was a struggle. Rooted in the history of literature, Greek and Roman cultures, and religious stories, there was a great deal of this book that I found myself not able to understand in the moment. With that said, I worked my way through the entire book and by the time I was finished I was thankful I did. The why and how the written work has come to be printed on pages, to the reader as a distinct individual; I found myself picking up enough value from the parts of the book that I could understand to really enjoy it. The last chapter titled, “The Book Fool,” was of particular interest. Helping to distinguish between High Society and Popular Culture, this section was a great way to wrap up the read. If I have one criticism it would be this: A History of Reading was hardly a complete history. Most of the 20th century, aside from a couple of mentions of specific events, was excluded from consideration within this work. Perhaps the author could revisit his work and update it to take into account new, more modern elements of reading.