Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason

I have gone through each list and found enough books that interest me to give me reading material for the next couple of years. I have purchased several.

Some of my favorites are:

Action Heroines-the usual VI Warshawski and Kinsey Milhorne but several new ones like Susan Van Meter and Paul Flint.

Adventure by the Book- Fiction and Non-fiction-Huckleberry Finn and National Geographic.

Hamilton Basso: Too Good To Miss-New Orleans Southern writer like "View From Pompeii's Head".

Bird Brains- books for and by birders

Fathers and Daughters and Fathers and Sons-Solomon's Daughter and Gambler's Rose

First Lines Too Remember-"First I had to get his body into the boat".

First Novels-Virgin Suicides, Stern Men, Biggest Elvis

The Islamic World-Islam: A Short History

The Moon's My Destination-Apollo- Epic Journey to the Moon

Shrinks and Shrinkees-I Never Promised You A Rose garden

Three Hanky Reads-A Lesson Before Dying

Texas, A Lone Star State of Mind-The Last Picture Show

Zero: This Will Mean Nothing To You-The Hole in the Universe

All together, 256 pages of books organized into themes that make sense. I really liked this book. I found it light reading, but full of great information.I will use this as a reference book for the times when I need a book of a particular theme, or a need for a book I can't quite put my finger on.

If you are just starting out on a reading life, this book is for you. Or, if you are looking for something to read, but don't know what will strike your fancy, this book is for you. A book for everyone, for any mood or for every mood. prisrob


Of all to choose from, how to pick a good book?   November 30, 2003
 57 out of 61 found this review helpful

Answer: Take the advice of Nancy Pearl, librarian, reviewer and reader par excellence. Paired with Sara Nelson's So Many Books, So Little Time, you're set up with super reading for the next few years, at a minimum. These two authors approach their craft differently, however: Nelson discusses how books affect her, while Pearl is more inclined to discuss choosing a book based on her already-present mood. Together, you're covered for every eventuality.
And here's permission from an expert to do what many of us cannot give ourselves permission to do: quit reading a book after 50 pages if we're not enjoying ourselves. As hard as that is to act upon ("but surely it'll get better in another few pages..."), think about how many more books you'd have time to read if you skip the last 250 pages of every book you're really not loving.
Perhaps Nancy Pearl's most innovative and imitated accomplishment was to suggest that all the readers within a certain group (hometown, college, newspaper subscribers, PTA, etc.) read the same book and join discussion groups about it. Making this task easier is Pearl's division of her books into about 200 categories, including some unusual groupings such as "Shrinks and Shrinkees." Also invaluable to booklovers are the several "Too Good to Miss" sections in which Pearl discusses particular writers, why they are unique, and what specific books of theirs she would recommend. In this section are authors such as Iris Murdoch as well as many whom Pearl considers inadequately appreciated.
Buy this book. And then begin looking forward to the sequel.


Great Resource For Book Lovers   August 30, 2003
 43 out of 50 found this review helpful

This book is the first of its kind: a nearly infinite resource for people who are always looking for something good to read. I will never again be at a loss for a good book. I highly recommend it as a purchase or gift for any avid reader.


not perfect, but definitely helpful   September 23, 2004
 25 out of 28 found this review helpful

When I pick up a book like this, I look for two kinds of lists: those in which I have an interest but no knowledge, and those that are my areas of knowledge. I use the latter to gauge my trust in the former, and I have to say I was mildly disappointed with the lists about which I am knowledgable, such as Academic Satires and Historical Fiction, which neglected to mention essential authors and books. That tells me that the other lists, those in which I have no first-hand knowledge, will probably get me started but will be neither authoritative nor complete.

Secondly, I was not enamored of the format, which devotes approximately one page to each topic and is set up as commentary with book titles in bold face type. There are a wide variety of topics, from Australian Fiction to Epistolary Novels and Pawns of History, however there is usually no information about the year of publication. The general commentary is interesting but inconsistent, while the sentence devoted to each recommended work is helpful and informative, as if a friend in a hurry was telling you about the item.

This is a fun book and it will get you started in areas of interest to you; however, for a more comprehensive and authoritative list there is The List of Books (sadly out-of-print and dated, but available used) by Frederic Raphael and Kenneth McLeish and, for a guide to specific authors, which are covered idiosyncratically here, you might try About the Author by Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner.

The book concludes with a good index that lists all of the books and authors mentioned.

This will not be your most valuable guide to other books, but it will be useful.


I was a bit dissappointed   May 16, 2004
 22 out of 45 found this review helpful

I was a bit dissappointed with this book. I read the great reviews that it but the book let me down.

I didn't enjoy the catergories that the book had. For example the book has a topic of Bomb Makers (makers of the atomic bomb) and lists 8 ( too many) books. She also has a Canadian Fiction section There is a Cat Crazy Section with over 10 books. I felt that her catagoies needed more help. I also didn't like the fact that there really were not any list. You just can't open the book to a page and look at a list of of 10=15 books. You have to read the paragraph. The books are underlined but the author's are not. I didn't like this format. I would of preferred that she write her comments on the Middle East, for example, and then list her 10-15 books. She has 5 sections of Africa in one section and a 6th somewhere else.
The topics are in alpahbetical order so you have Belgium, Montana, Africa in different sections. My own Private DUI is under MY. Passage to India is under P not I.

Anyway, this book wasn't my style. So I wouldn't recommend it to my friends...