An Ode to Reading and its Constant Delights - Rated 
This is the loveliest little book I've read since I discovered Helene Hanff's "84 Charing Cross Road" a million years ago. Using the Queen as his catalyst, Alan Bennett gives us this love story between a new reader and the world that opens to her through the magic of books. He could be speaking of any bibliophile, but because it is Her Royal Highness, the opportunities for wit and plot twists in this slim volume are multiplied exponentially. There were several beautiful quotes which I will be adding to my favorites list, and I recognized myself on every page as a person who struggles to find time to read and resents having the obligations of everyday life intrude upon that time.
Time spent reading is never wasted; furthermore, time spent reading The Uncommon Reader will be looked back upon with great affection.
An enchanting story - Rated
This little novella is a real gem. It depicts the burgeoning interest in the Queen for reading novels when her corgis one day lead her unwittingly into the Westminster mobile library and the tender clutches of its librarian and a ginger haired palace servant with a taste for gay literature.
It is gentle, amusing and dryly witty. I loved it. On a drab, rainy Wednesday with three children to entertain I unashamedly stuck them in front of the television for an hour and escaped to a world where the Queen chats to the French Prime Minister about Genet and thinks of writing her memoirs a la Proust. Lovely
Is Bennett the Jane Austen of the 21st century? - Rated
From the pun in the title (all non-titled persons who marry into the Royal Family are always referred to as "commoners") to the Queen's cliff hanging closing sentence, this is a very amusing and great ride in precision writing where every word and nuance counts over its 120 pocket sized edition pages.
Bennett casts his nets (and barbs) against a story line of the Queen discovering the joys of reading at a late age and the reactions this creates amongst all those around her. These cover a wide panorama outside the Royal Family's imperiousness and the Queen's foibles (arrogance does not seem a fair judgement given her mother and upbringing) to the Queen's relationship with prime ministers, especially Blair and Alistair Campbell (the two most acidic of his observations); society's views of gays; and, the obstructive infrastructure surrounding the Queen of private secretaries, privy councils and equerries.
In its own concise way, yet further proof that Bennett across his most recent writings seems to have become the Jane Austen of the late 20th./early 21st century with his observations on the manners of certain social elites and groupings and their interactions.
Uncommon Pleasure - Rated
An excellent way to pass a day, reading this elegant piece of fiction. Alan Bennett seems to take great pleasure in this "what if" tale, and so does the reader.
Gorgeously clever, funny and delightful - Rated
The premise of this gorgeous novella is that the Queen, a woman previously devoid of hobbies, suddenly discovers the joy of reading. She starts seizing every opportunity to pick up a book - declaring a sick day or surreptitiously reading in the coach on the way to open Parliament. On walkabouts, instead of asking people whether they've come far, she asks them about what they're reading. This disconcerts and displeases almost everyone around her: her staff, her visitors, the Prime Minister, even her corgis (who get fewer walks).
"The Uncommon Reader" is a deliciously funny book. (I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of the Duke of Edinburgh.) The details are well researched and the premise somehow feels both totally believable and quite fantastic. It's a love letter to reading but also in a way a love letter to the Queen. Plus, the ending is perfect. It's a glorious book that only takes a couple of hours to read, but one of the best that I've read all year (along with "The Spare Room" by Helen Garner, which I also recommend).
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