Rating: 
Summary: I was a bit dissappointed
Review: 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...
Rating: 
Summary: Great little guide
Review: I'm a reader who never runs out of things to read. But when I occasionally do run out of things to read, I simply turn to this delicious guide to books from a seasoned librarian and longtime reader.
The great thing about this book is you can reader it cover to cover, or simply to have on hand on your nightstand should you ever be in need something great to read. Nancy Pearl gives the reader many lists of genres to choose from: from Chick Lit to Russian Heavies, from Romances to Science fiction, plus some favorite authors you shouldn't miss out on (I was pleased to note that Eleanor Lipman made the list). Its all in there- Pearl's guide to everything worth reading. Of course, its not definitive, but this book is a great guide for seasoned readers and non-readers alike. Also recomended: How Reading Changed My Life, by Anna Quindlen, and So Many Books, So Little Time, by Sarah Nelson.
Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for something new to read
Review: If you love to read, then you'll love this gem of a book by Nancy Pearl. Pearl is the book-loving friend you wish you had. She'd be the one who reads the New York Times Book Review every Sunday and highlights the good finds for you. She's definitely given me some reading suggestions that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Her book is categorized in interesting chapters that seems to fit reading moods. Categories range from Ecofiction, Presidential Biographies, Civil War Fiction to Great Dogs in Fiction. She even has a section on Elvis. It's actually a fun way to look at books. In the section on Presidential Biographies, she references David McCollough. She mentions his best-selling books on Truman and John Adams, but what she actually recommends is his book about Teddy Roosevelt, Mornings on Horseback (which I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know existed). My only complaint (and it's a really small one) is she really doesn't go into great length or depth about most recommendations. One to three sentences and she's already moved on. Which is fine with me. I'm able to make note of what looks interesting and then go and do a little further research on my own to see if it really looks like a book worth my time and money. I'd like to thank Pearl for introducing me to the following books: Sahara: A Natural History
Andersonville
The Beak of the Finch
Zarafa
Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy And oh yeah - I'm currently reading Mornings on Horseback and love it.
Rating:
Summary: A Book Lover's Dream!
Review: Nancy Pearl is, quite simply, one of us. She loves books, the places they take you and the stories they tell. While Pearl is a librarian, her "book lust" comes from childhood and beyond. I can't imagine not liking this book, and that's something I rarely say because I'm well aware that my taste in reading often does not match what's out there (says the woman who really hated THE DA VINCI CODE). The omnivorous Pearl offers hundreds of fiction and nonfiction titles, enough to keep any reader busy for years: small chapters with titles like "This Will Mean Nothing to You" (books about the concept of zero and black holes) and "100 Good Reads, Decade by Decade" (comments on authors "too good to miss," like Mark Kurlansky and George MacDonald Fraser), books on 9/11, good trial novels, Japanese fiction, books about books, paleontology books, and a list of great first novels. I have found all sorts of new titles to read and enjoy since buying this book; it's worth having just to discover the wonderful ELLA MINNOW PEA, a book I had heard about but not read. All the chapters are fairly short, with anywhere from five to fifty titles listed, all written by a knowledgeable and accessible author who is a fan of reading. Pearl isn't an expert in all fields, obviously, and there are some "weak" categories, but she's available by email and anxious to hear about titles she might have overlooked. She misses some categories. In my own "special collections," I came up with "quilting" --- not how-to books but fascinating ones about unique quilts, like the AIDS quilt, quilts designed for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, quilts that figured in the Underground Railroad), 1960s history books about Vietnam and the peace movement, illustrated children's books (I collect books illustrated by Caldecott medallists Leo and Diane Dillon) and books about disability, like NO MORE STARES. However, it's amazing what is included; that Pearl has the time to read and work a full-time job is truly remarkable (she is the head of the Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library). I have heard her on the radio talking about books and she just seems to be everywhere. She has read books about subjects I never even thought about reading. I live in Seattle and I've known Nancy Pearl for years. She's my idea of the model librarian: enthusiastic and open-minded (although she does have one flaw --- she dislikes one of my favorite authors. And no, I won't tell who it is since I've found some of this author's later works to be tedious). But finding someone who knows about your favorite book or genre, or who can speak smartly about something you really should read, is my ideal. Since September, I've read BOOK LUST three times, each time marking several pages with those handy little "book darts" that clip onto a page. Many of the books have been worth the time. Recently, I emailed Nancy to complain that her library (harumph) did not have a title she mentioned in the book. Didn't they realize they were obligated to have multiple copies? She told me that that title was out of print, so I'm thinking maybe there should be a "Nancy Pearl" imprint set up so that the books she talks about would be available again. I hope that I'll discover or rediscover more books the next ten times I read BOOK LUST. And maybe there will be a BOOK LUST II, which will contain categories Pearl might have missed the first time as well as new authors "too good to miss" (more women writers, please!) Oh yeah, and the author is the model for the "Librarian Action Figure" (as seen on CNN!) that came out just about the same time as the book did in late 2003. --- Reviewed by Andi Shechter
Rating:
Summary: Loved this book
Review: Sometimes when you are in a reading slump, this is a great
book to use as a reference guide to find something interesting
or recommended by the author to read. The author catagorizes books into many different catagories and then she recommends the books in those catagories. Some are very different and some are common. My "to be read book" just got alot bigger after reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: A must for true Bibliophiles
Review: The minute this book arrived in the mail, I knew it was going to be a winner. Nancy Pearl seems to have written this book after reading my mind and bookcase. While her views reflect my own to a T, I think that people with reading interests different from mine would also enjoy her book. I loved it so much I bought the calendar. For anyone who has ever wandered the aisles of a bookstore in bliss but with no clue as to which book would be good, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Best guide to 20th-century fiction for the general reader
Review: There are so many guides to movies and videos, and so few for novels. Nancy Pearl's is probably the very best: intriguingly arranged itself into unusual categories, it shows a comprehensive range of genres (the amount of books Pearl can discuss felicitously is truly staggering) and is lighthearted and fun without at all suffering from a terminal case of the cutesies (an inherent danger among such booklover's projects). I belong to a family of readers, and I am going to get this for many of my family members for gifts this year because it seems so truly useful and indispensable.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource For Book Lovers
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Reading as the new, cool extreme sport
Review: This is a dazzling accomplishment, based as it is on a simple idea that would suggest at best mid-list marketability and having become a big thing. (So is the author's other BIG idea, the "What If All of--insert name of city--Read The Same Book?" project.) The author's giddy passion for reading oozes from every page, which moves this from "Book List" to the appropriate title, "Book Lust." Hundreds of books parade by, grouped by genre or mood or topic or some other connective tissue. Sometimes, Pearl steps out and spotlights a favorite author, few of which are very widely known. She makes a reader feel popular, in with the in crowd of book lovers. She inspires a reader to write her, eager to share one's own recommendations. There is one criticism. Pearl really does not give a reader enough information to go on. She slings some unspecific superlatives ("Delicious!") on a title and then moves on. She knows she making suggestions for a diverse audience and is highly democratic: among the authors she spotlights is Lewis Nordan of whose praises I'll sing, too--he's a fine literary novelist out of the South. But Pearl also heaps equal praise on another writer who is strictly genre, clever but no literary giant. I kept a long list of titles that sounded interesting, then plowed through Amazon reader reviews to figure out if the books were worthwhile. I ended up downsizing the list considerably. There are many books that Pearl has left out and that is understandable: she had to stop somewhere. Chances are hundreds of readers are contacting her right now with notes on what she omitted, and there will be a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely marvelous - a TBR list from heaven!
Review: This is one of the best tools I have ever come across for the serious reader. Particularly for someone like me who is always on the search for new titles to read as if my TBR pile isn't already teetering on the brink of collapse. The most amazing thing about this book is how comprehensive a guide this is. I can't think of a category that Ms. Pearl missed and I enjoyed the "groups" that she put her titles in. I read it straight through and now intend to keep it close to dip into time and again. This is one of the best gifts you could give to the book lover who has "everything".
| 
