cozylittlebrownhouse's review against another edition
2.0
I was completely excited about this book because I love reading books about what other books people really love. (How is that for a lame intro to my review?) The fact that the book reveals authors' favorite reads only made it more enticing. However, as well-read as I am (or considered myself to be) I have not heard of many of the authors in this collection, nor have I heard of many of the books they selected. Not that I expected to read 71 essays about Salinger, Rand, or Lee, but still. I was kind of disappointed, and to be frank, even kind of bored.
bakudreamer's review against another edition
2.0
Harold Bloom says he's read ' Little , Big ' dozens of times.
msmandrake's review against another edition
3.0
Very short essays on books of personal importance to a variety of writers. Pleasant enough, but it didn't change my life.
rclairel's review
3.0
Two stars for a meh amount of enjoyment but a third for the books I added to my to-read list. I think I expected the short essays in this little paperback to be poignant and beautiful; they are written mostly by professional writers, after all. As it turns out, writers seem to have just as much trouble expressing how deeply a book as affected them as the rest of us mere readers do. There were a few reviews that made me smile - but that only occurred because they were about books that I love, too, and there's nothing so fun as hearing someone else gush about something you're obsessed with as well. One solitary line struck me with the poignancy I was expecting in every review; Anne Perry wrote of G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who was Thursday, "It makes me feel wonderfully unique, and at the same time part of all mankind." But despite all my griping about what this book was not, I did finish with at least a dozen dog-eared pages, where authors' less-than-dust-jacket-worthy descriptions were still enough to pique my interest in their favorite books. I guess if you're desperate for things to read, you could check this book out at the library (don't bother to buy it). But honestly, there's too many books and too little time already. Also, a question I wondered: how diverse was the group of authors interviewed for this book? Because after a while, I started to wonder if they were all or almost all white.
carka88's review
4.0
Reading this means my to-read list will grow even longer, but I was interested to read about the books that inspired writers.
alegriafury's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book; I picked it up to read the essays by the authors I know. They were cool. I got some good reading ideas from others.
jessieweaver's review
4.0
Now that I’ve read it, I’m sad I waited so long. As someone who loves chatting about books more than most things in life, reading this was like sitting down with a group of good friends and finding out their very favorite books of all time.
(Although I’m not sure I trust anyone whose life was changed by Catcher in the Rye. I just don’t get it, I guess.)
(Although I’m not sure I trust anyone whose life was changed by Catcher in the Rye. I just don’t get it, I guess.)
jsl's review
3.0
This was a quick, fun little book that added to my TBR pile considerably!
Many of the contributing authors and the books that changed their lives were new to me. I enjoyed hearing from the authors whose work I had read as well.
Many of the contributing authors and the books that changed their lives were new to me. I enjoyed hearing from the authors whose work I had read as well.