The Book of Speculation

The Book of Speculation
By Erika Swyler
2015
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-1-250-05480-7
Hardcover
(Not Sure where I bought it)
Plan to swap away/sell

So The Book of Speculation had some bookstore and book blog buzz when it came out, and it has a lovely cover design. (Upon reflection, I am sure that the cover was designed in part to attract exactly the sort of reader that I am, someone who loves a good book about old books.) I'm not sure when I picked it up, but it looked like something that I would find entertaining.

And I did find it entertaining, but in a way that was disappointing. I was expecting something magical and complex (Think: The Historian or The Shadow of the Wind) and instead found something predictable and merely diverting. It was a fun way to spend a couple weekend days, but I saw the end coming from a million miles away, which is not something you want in a book that's supposed to be something of a mystery. Overall, just OK. I might have enjoyed it more had I been expecting less. I think there's much better work out there in the same general class, and despite the lovely cover art, I'll be letting this one go.