My Life in Seventeen Books, Jon M. Sweeney
My Life in Seventeen Books, Jon M. Sweeney
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My Life in Seventeen Books
A Literary Memoir

Author: Jon M. Sweeney

Narrator: Daniel Thomas May

Unabridged: 4 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/17/2024


Synopsis

A memoir for the bookish-inclined, using personal stories to demonstrate how books have a magical way to move a person from one stage of life to the next.

"This is a small gem of a book, tender, humble, loving." —Mary Gordon

"Sweeney makes a charming companion, telling stories in joyful reflection." —Jeff Deutsch, author of In Praise of Good Bookstores

Former bookseller, longtime publisher, and author Jon M. Sweeney shows—with history and anecdotes centering around books such as Thoreau's Journal, Tagore's Gitanjali, Martin Buber's Hasidic Tales, and Tolstoy's Twenty-three Tales—what it means to be carried by a book. He explores the discovery that once accompanied finding books, and books finding us. He ponders the smell of an old volume, its heft, and why bibliophiles carry them around even without reading them. He demonstrates how and why there is magic and enchantment that takes place between people and books.

About Jon M. Sweeney

Jon M. Sweeney is an award-winning contemporary spiritual writer. The author of thirty books, including The Complete Francis of Assisi, he is considered the authoritative voice on the life and spirituality of Saint Francis. He speaks regularly at literary and spirituality conferences. A Catholic, he is married to a rabbi, and their interfaith marriage has been profiled in national media. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife and daughters.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Edward on May 27, 2025

I found this book to be particularly engaging. It’s not just about the seventeen books that influenced Sweeney but how he happened to discover them, what he was doing and thinking when he engaged with these books. They range from his interest in Hitler and history when he was a teenager to such writ......more

Goodreads review by Michael on May 11, 2024

This wonderful Autobiography was a great way to get to know an author whom I have studied and read before. Jon’s insights, honesty, and humble spirit shine through in this book. As I read, I began to wonder myself what books would help narrate chapters of my own life. This insightful quote from the......more

Goodreads review by William on September 30, 2024

I enjoy books with recommendations. People from different backgrounds can expand your horizons and allow you to enter an alternate mental state. Sometimes, you are in the right situation, and a book influences you in a certain way. Jon M. Sweeney wrote My Life In Seventeen Books, a memoir about his......more

Goodreads review by Kerry on August 27, 2024

When I come to the end of this life, I think certain books will be left as a barometer of who I was, but they will sit on shelves quietly, with a private understanding. Ultimately, they have been useful to me alone, and when I am alone. They will mean little to anyone else. Of no particular rarity o......more

Goodreads review by Donny on July 03, 2024

This made me reflect on what books I would select if I wrote a memoir.......more