SOURCE: A blogoversary win courtesy of JB at BROOK COTTAGE BOOKS.
With The Book Lovers' Companion deciding what to read will never be a dilemma again. Containing over 100 titles, from classics to bestsellers, as well as little-known gems, this handy guide features in-depth analysis of truly rewarding reads. Each book report provides a non-spoiler synopsis, background information, starting points for discussion and suggested companion volumes. For bibliophiles everywhere, this is an indispensable handbook.
...... Outer back cover.
FIRST SENTENCE (Foreward): I own a threadbare T-shirt that says, 'Life's too short to drink bad wine'.
MEMORABLE MOMENT: Identifying which of the books I had read and making a list of those to be added to my wish list.
MY THOUGHTS: Frustrated/Annoyed by books that have previously been published under a different title? Beware that this is a reprint of the 2007 'The Book Club Bible'.
A great companion guide that proved much more interesting than I had anticipated. As well as 100 or so books that are discussed in a certain amount of depth there are also several sections listing the 'top 10' reads in categories such as 'British/American Classics', 'World Classics', 'Men's Books' and 'Sci-Fi Books'.
With each featured book (many of which are excellent choices for reading groups) allocated two pages the information given includes a publication date, number of pages (though it is pointed out in the notes that this can vary depending on the edition read), a spoiler free synopsis, either a 'What the critics said' or 'Readers Opinion', 'Discussion Points', 'Background Information' and what I occasionally felt were some fairly obscure 'Suggested Companion Reads'.
Great to pick out the books you have read and ideal if you want to add to your reading list. My only criticisms being that there was no note on just how the books had been chosen/who they had been chosen by and that there were few of the featured books published before the 1990's.
11 comments:
I so love books like this. Of course the dilemma is weather spend time read though great commentary at the expense of reading the works themselves.
I live a thousand years I will never get through my list of books that I want to read so the list and advice as to what to read can only make my problems worse :)
sounds like a fun guide to find different books to read!
Hiya Tracy , just catching up on the blogging world , bridlington was fine , we did well weather wise , back home now , thanks for leaving a comment on my blog , you know how much we appreciate comments
All the best to you and Neal for 2014
This would be a fun book to thumb through, but I agree with Brian above....I already have far too many to get through without adding more! (which I still manage to do anyway)
Hi Tracy, I'm going to take a look at this next time I'm in a bookshop. It sounds interesting but would I have time to read it - not sure.
Happy New Year, Barbara.
Tracy, this does sound like a helpful book. Will it be the book I read next? :)
Wishing you and your readers all the best in 2014!
I've bought books like this before, but the author's tastes and mine never seem to mesh. I would like to know how they pick the books though, as no one ever seems to explain the reasoning behind their selections.
Hope it proves itself useful to you Tracy!
happy new year Tracy
I have just been looking at this very book earlier today in The Works bookshop! I nearly bought it as it was reduced to only £1.49 but I resisted! Although I enjoyed browsing through it, I don't need any help adding to my book pile!!
This does sound like a good readers companion, although it would just add to my wishlist then give me anxiety about all the books I want to read.
Hi Tracy,
Well! that's the sound of your TBR pile just groaning a little more under the weight of all those new titles!
Congratulations on your win, even though it is something of a poisoned chalice!
I also hate it when books are reprinted with different covers and, even worse, with new titles. There are one or two authors whose names keep popping up when this is mentioned.
I can't see the point of giving the same book alternative titles in different countries, especially when it only really affects the English speaking communities.
Have fun trying to acquire all your new 'wanted books'
Yvonne.
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