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megadallion's review against another edition
3.0
I was a little disappointed by this book. I didn't get nearly as many new books to read as I thought I'd get out of it. I had either already read them, they were already on my to-read list, or they just didn't sound like my cup of tea. I really liked the concept of this book though and I think it'd be a nice gift to add to a young-adult/teenage person's library. Ephron offers a nice mixture of fiction and non-fiction, well-known and unheard-of titles, and tries to limit one book per author. There are also some quizzes and trivia factoids in between chapters to keep things interesting. I really like how she has a little symbol guide for all the books:
* Literary Merit - She rates the books out of four stars. It's not clear how she grades this and comes up with her stars and I disagreed on a lot of her decisions. She gave some really awesome books, like [b:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide, #1)|Douglas Adams|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275622284s/11.jpg|3078186] two stars, while [b:The Time Traveler's Wife|14050|The Time Traveler's Wife|Audrey Niffenegger|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1274656075s/14050.jpg|2153746] got four stars. Wtf?
* Provocative
* Influential
* Inspirational
* Humorous
* Brainy
* Easy Reading
* Page Turner
* Challenging
* Bathroom Book
* Family Friendly
* Movie
So that plus the plot summary she gives for each book makes it really helpful for you to figure out whether or not you'd be interested in reading a particular book. And if you're looking for a specific book to find out what kind of mood it might put you in, there's a handy index in the back.
* Literary Merit - She rates the books out of four stars. It's not clear how she grades this and comes up with her stars and I disagreed on a lot of her decisions. She gave some really awesome books, like [b:Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide, #1)|Douglas Adams|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275622284s/11.jpg|3078186] two stars, while [b:The Time Traveler's Wife|14050|The Time Traveler's Wife|Audrey Niffenegger|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1274656075s/14050.jpg|2153746] got four stars. Wtf?
* Provocative
* Influential
* Inspirational
* Humorous
* Brainy
* Easy Reading
* Page Turner
* Challenging
* Bathroom Book
* Family Friendly
* Movie
So that plus the plot summary she gives for each book makes it really helpful for you to figure out whether or not you'd be interested in reading a particular book. And if you're looking for a specific book to find out what kind of mood it might put you in, there's a handy index in the back.
sorceress_j's review against another edition
4.0
It might seem weird of me to review what is essentially a reference book about books, but I had a good time looking through the summaries of many of the selections. Also helped me add considerably to my to-read list. While I appreciated that there were titles included that I otherwise might not have known about, I do wish there would have been a few more classics included. Of course, I know not everyone is into classics, but some lesser-known classics would have been more interesting choices than, say, Nicholas Sparks.
Either way, it's like this book read my mind. It was nice to have books compartmentalized according to mood, and I hope they update it every once in a while in subsequent editions. A must for every bookworm.
Either way, it's like this book read my mind. It was nice to have books compartmentalized according to mood, and I hope they update it every once in a while in subsequent editions. A must for every bookworm.
vanessakm's review against another edition
3.0
I have an abiding weakness for books like these, although my bulging TBR shelf certainly doesn’t need any assistance.
For the sake of full (and overly obvious) disclosure, I’ve thumbed through this a couple of times, but I haven’t read it cover to cover.
What I liked:
You’ll get plenty of bang for your buck. This book is 384 pages and a bit oversized. It’s broken down into a ridiculously specific number of moods: for adolescent angst, to save the world, to get wasted (or to get sober, if you prefer.)
Each heading has a list of around roughly 10-20 books, each with a short blurb, occasional excerpt, and a star rating system for literary merit (highly subjective, see below.) Additionally, there is a symbol legend to break the book down into further sub-categories: humorous, a page turner, challenging, and so on.
There is a fairly thorough index.
There is a good, sometimes cheeky mix of fiction and non-fiction.
Finally, it’s noted if the book has won any of a group of well-known awards (Booker, Hugo, Pulitzer, Newbury, etc.)
What was mildly problematic:
I don’t know this if this is a problem as much as it’s just the way opinions go, but some of the star ratings don’t make sense. Two out of four stars for All Quiet on the Western Front?? That’s the same, for the record, as what the author, Hallie Ephron, gave Jaws.
I hesitate to mention this, as it’s in no way the author’s fault, but this was published in 2008, so you’ll find the occasional outdated entry. I doubt anyone is reading Three Cups of Tea for inspiration these days.
Some of the choices are too obvious. While you’ll find some new to you reads here, other selections are no brainers:
—Want to be scared? Read The Exorcist. (I did appreciate how she also includes The Hot Zone, in case you really don’t want to sleep.)
—Want to have a good cry? Read Love Story.
(Please, that book is so maudlin. Oliver and Jenny meet at Ivy League schools, Oliver’s dad doesn’t approve, Jenny gets a terminal illness, Oliver’s dad shows up grief stricken at the hospital to apologize after she.....she....damnit, why are my eyes burning? WHO IS CHOPPING ONIONS?)
45 minutes later......
Bottom line: The younger of a reader you are, the more you’ll get out of this. If you’ve been reading for a while, you are going to be familiar (or overly familiar) with some of the selections, but you’ll still find new books, books you were only glancingly familiar with, and books you’ve forgotten. We all seek out specific types of reads sometimes.
For the sake of full (and overly obvious) disclosure, I’ve thumbed through this a couple of times, but I haven’t read it cover to cover.
What I liked:
You’ll get plenty of bang for your buck. This book is 384 pages and a bit oversized. It’s broken down into a ridiculously specific number of moods: for adolescent angst, to save the world, to get wasted (or to get sober, if you prefer.)
Each heading has a list of around roughly 10-20 books, each with a short blurb, occasional excerpt, and a star rating system for literary merit (highly subjective, see below.) Additionally, there is a symbol legend to break the book down into further sub-categories: humorous, a page turner, challenging, and so on.
There is a fairly thorough index.
There is a good, sometimes cheeky mix of fiction and non-fiction.
Finally, it’s noted if the book has won any of a group of well-known awards (Booker, Hugo, Pulitzer, Newbury, etc.)
What was mildly problematic:
I don’t know this if this is a problem as much as it’s just the way opinions go, but some of the star ratings don’t make sense. Two out of four stars for All Quiet on the Western Front?? That’s the same, for the record, as what the author, Hallie Ephron, gave Jaws.
I hesitate to mention this, as it’s in no way the author’s fault, but this was published in 2008, so you’ll find the occasional outdated entry. I doubt anyone is reading Three Cups of Tea for inspiration these days.
Some of the choices are too obvious. While you’ll find some new to you reads here, other selections are no brainers:
—Want to be scared? Read The Exorcist. (I did appreciate how she also includes The Hot Zone, in case you really don’t want to sleep.)
—Want to have a good cry? Read Love Story.
(Please, that book is so maudlin. Oliver and Jenny meet at Ivy League schools, Oliver’s dad doesn’t approve, Jenny gets a terminal illness, Oliver’s dad shows up grief stricken at the hospital to apologize after she.....she....damnit, why are my eyes burning? WHO IS CHOPPING ONIONS?)
45 minutes later......
Bottom line: The younger of a reader you are, the more you’ll get out of this. If you’ve been reading for a while, you are going to be familiar (or overly familiar) with some of the selections, but you’ll still find new books, books you were only glancingly familiar with, and books you’ve forgotten. We all seek out specific types of reads sometimes.
avoryfaucette's review against another edition
3.0
I thought the concept of this guide was fun, with its handy symbols to let you know whether the book is a superlong tear jerker or a light and funny read. I also like the little descriptions. However, the way the books are organized is quite random, and I don't always agree with the selections.
ravendellreads's review against another edition
3.0
A good mix of hi- and lo-brow literature. As an English major though, I would highly recommend Peter Boxall's [b:1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die|5322699|1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (1001)|Peter Boxall|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|814053]. It's a what's what of literature divided by century and showcased chronologically.
lizzicrystal's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed reading this and added a few books to my to-read list from her suggestions, although most sounded rather bleak and depressing, which I find alot of modern bestsellers to be...
curlybooks's review against another edition
3.0
This book is engaging and helpful in that it gave me about 24 new books to read!!! Of course they aren't "new" books but they are new to me. As an English grad and avid reader, sometimes I feel like it's hard to find books that I have never heard of and are worth reading and this book delivered.
Kind of like Goodreads in print form, this books is perfect for those moments when your standing in front of your book shelves and you swear that there is just nothing that you want to read! The nerdy version of not having anything to wear! :)
The only thing I wish that the author had done was add a little bit more of her own commentary and/or maybe some humor...we can find synopses of books anywhere, what I would have really liked was a little bit more review and a little less summarizing.
Also, I thought that the "Literary Merit" star rating system in the book was a little arbitrary, "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair received 2 stars, "Flowers for Algernon" got 2 stars as well, and "Pride and Prejudice" only 3 stars (WHAT??), while some novels that I had never heard of got 4 stars...like I said, arbitrary!
Kind of like Goodreads in print form, this books is perfect for those moments when your standing in front of your book shelves and you swear that there is just nothing that you want to read! The nerdy version of not having anything to wear! :)
The only thing I wish that the author had done was add a little bit more of her own commentary and/or maybe some humor...we can find synopses of books anywhere, what I would have really liked was a little bit more review and a little less summarizing.
Also, I thought that the "Literary Merit" star rating system in the book was a little arbitrary, "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair received 2 stars, "Flowers for Algernon" got 2 stars as well, and "Pride and Prejudice" only 3 stars (WHAT??), while some novels that I had never heard of got 4 stars...like I said, arbitrary!
jeanetterenee's review against another edition
3.0
November 7, 2010
I started looking through the book again to see if I could get a rough count of how many of these books I'd read. In the process, I ran across a lot of titles I'd dismissed too hastily on my first trip through. So I made a full second pass through the book and found a lot more books I'd like to try. I think I can bump my rating up to 3 1/2 stars. I suggest you completely ignore the author's four-star rating system. On my second time through, I found that I had been influenced by those one and two star ratings more than I thought I had. Subliminally, apparently, because I had skipped over many of them without realizing I was doing it.
Below is my review written after my first time through the book.
___________________________________________________________________
November 4, 2010
Ho hum. Not much new here. Out of 1001 books, I found less than 70 I was interested in seeking out. When I get a book like this, I'm hoping for book titles I wouldn't normally find on my own. These are all mostly mainstream. I've either read them, tried to read them, or heard enough about them that I've dismissed them already. This is a two-star book, but I'm adding an extra star for one reason only: for each book there is a small paragraph giving the basic story. Nice to have, so you can know right away if the plot interests you enough to do further research on the book. Saved me a lot of work.
There's one thing in this book that seriously bugged me. She has a four-star rating system for what she calls "literary merit." She gives no indication of how she decided this for each book. There are some crappy books to which she has assigned four stars, and some great books to which she has assigned one or two stars. What are her criteria?
I started looking through the book again to see if I could get a rough count of how many of these books I'd read. In the process, I ran across a lot of titles I'd dismissed too hastily on my first trip through. So I made a full second pass through the book and found a lot more books I'd like to try. I think I can bump my rating up to 3 1/2 stars. I suggest you completely ignore the author's four-star rating system. On my second time through, I found that I had been influenced by those one and two star ratings more than I thought I had. Subliminally, apparently, because I had skipped over many of them without realizing I was doing it.
Below is my review written after my first time through the book.
___________________________________________________________________
November 4, 2010
Ho hum. Not much new here. Out of 1001 books, I found less than 70 I was interested in seeking out. When I get a book like this, I'm hoping for book titles I wouldn't normally find on my own. These are all mostly mainstream. I've either read them, tried to read them, or heard enough about them that I've dismissed them already. This is a two-star book, but I'm adding an extra star for one reason only: for each book there is a small paragraph giving the basic story. Nice to have, so you can know right away if the plot interests you enough to do further research on the book. Saved me a lot of work.
There's one thing in this book that seriously bugged me. She has a four-star rating system for what she calls "literary merit." She gives no indication of how she decided this for each book. There are some crappy books to which she has assigned four stars, and some great books to which she has assigned one or two stars. What are her criteria?
emtobiasz's review
2.0
Another book of book suggestions divided by categories or moods, complete with synopses for each book. This one has small icons with each title to tell you whether it is an easy or hard read, whether you'll laugh or cry, and stars assigned according to the author's arbitrary "literary merit" meter. Most of those icons were helpful, the stars just random. This didn't really add anything new to my to-read list, but did reinforce some books' place on that list.