Book Review: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die
By: James Mustich
Published By: Workman Publishing
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Page Count: 960
Page Count: 960
Source: ARC kindly provided by publisher
Nonfiction - Commentary
There are plenty of "what to read next" books and services available in the world. What makes 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die uniquely worthy of a place on your book shelf is not just the careful curation of the list by the author, a veteran bookseller, but the lovely entries he has written for each book. Radiating throughout each entry essay is the author's breadth of reading and his to-the-bone love of books. I am continually sucked back into the pages by the extraordinary magnetism of Mustich's writing.
Along with the beauty of the accompanying essays, each entry includes information on other books by that author, further reading about the subject or author, books to try if you enjoyed the subject of the entry, and other information about preferred editions and adaptations of the work. At the back of 1,000 Books to Read, there are several special lists of twelve books each: "Read in a Sitting," "12 Books to Read Before You're 12," "Listen Up! 12 Terrific Audiobooks," "Offbeat Escapes," and more. Naturally, there is also a checklist of all 1,000 books if you want to see how you measure up against Mustich's list. (I came in at 148 in case you're curious.)
I also adore that Mustich specifically says that you needn't have read these particular 1,000 books to be well-read or indeed that they cover everything that needs to be covered. Rather, his collection is balanced evenly between fiction and nonfiction, across history and human experience, and includes books for all ages. I love that he thinks differently than I do, because it means that I'm coming into contact with books I never might have considered reading otherwise. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much my TBR list has swelled as a consequence of reading this book. It is endlessly browse-able, and I seem to find new things each time I come back to it.
Initially, a book about a thousand other books may not sound like your next unputdownable read, but it has certainly turned out to be the case with me. 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is the ultimate book lover's book, and the perfect treat for yourself or gift for the bookworms in your life.
Summary:
Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that’s as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the 1,000-plus titles it recommends.
Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die ranges across cultures and through time to offer an eclectic collection of works that each deserve to come with the recommendation, You have to read this. But it’s not a proscriptive list of the “great works”—rather, it’s a celebration of the glorious mosaic that is our literary heritage.
Flip it open to any page and be transfixed by a fresh take on a very favorite book. Or come across a title you always meant to read and never got around to. Or, like browsing in the best kind of bookshop, stumble on a completely unknown author and work, and feel that tingle of discovery. There are classics, of course, and unexpected treasures, too. Lists to help pick and choose, like Offbeat Escapes, or A Long Climb, but What a View. And its alphabetical arrangement by author assures that surprises await on almost every turn of the page, with Cormac McCarthy and The Road next to Robert McCloskey and Make Way for Ducklings, Alice Walker next to Izaac Walton.
There are nuts and bolts, too—best editions to read, other books by the author, “if you like this, you’ll like that” recommendations , and an interesting endnote of adaptations where appropriate. Add it all up, and in fact there are more than six thousand titles by nearly four thousand authors mentioned—a life-changing list for a lifetime of reading.
Along with the beauty of the accompanying essays, each entry includes information on other books by that author, further reading about the subject or author, books to try if you enjoyed the subject of the entry, and other information about preferred editions and adaptations of the work. At the back of 1,000 Books to Read, there are several special lists of twelve books each: "Read in a Sitting," "12 Books to Read Before You're 12," "Listen Up! 12 Terrific Audiobooks," "Offbeat Escapes," and more. Naturally, there is also a checklist of all 1,000 books if you want to see how you measure up against Mustich's list. (I came in at 148 in case you're curious.)
I also adore that Mustich specifically says that you needn't have read these particular 1,000 books to be well-read or indeed that they cover everything that needs to be covered. Rather, his collection is balanced evenly between fiction and nonfiction, across history and human experience, and includes books for all ages. I love that he thinks differently than I do, because it means that I'm coming into contact with books I never might have considered reading otherwise. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much my TBR list has swelled as a consequence of reading this book. It is endlessly browse-able, and I seem to find new things each time I come back to it.
Initially, a book about a thousand other books may not sound like your next unputdownable read, but it has certainly turned out to be the case with me. 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is the ultimate book lover's book, and the perfect treat for yourself or gift for the bookworms in your life.
Summary:
Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that’s as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the 1,000-plus titles it recommends.
Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die ranges across cultures and through time to offer an eclectic collection of works that each deserve to come with the recommendation, You have to read this. But it’s not a proscriptive list of the “great works”—rather, it’s a celebration of the glorious mosaic that is our literary heritage.
Flip it open to any page and be transfixed by a fresh take on a very favorite book. Or come across a title you always meant to read and never got around to. Or, like browsing in the best kind of bookshop, stumble on a completely unknown author and work, and feel that tingle of discovery. There are classics, of course, and unexpected treasures, too. Lists to help pick and choose, like Offbeat Escapes, or A Long Climb, but What a View. And its alphabetical arrangement by author assures that surprises await on almost every turn of the page, with Cormac McCarthy and The Road next to Robert McCloskey and Make Way for Ducklings, Alice Walker next to Izaac Walton.
There are nuts and bolts, too—best editions to read, other books by the author, “if you like this, you’ll like that” recommendations , and an interesting endnote of adaptations where appropriate. Add it all up, and in fact there are more than six thousand titles by nearly four thousand authors mentioned—a life-changing list for a lifetime of reading.
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