Comments on: ‘1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.’ Or Not.

By: draabe

draabe — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:07:55 +0000

You make an excellent point about 1001 Books. My lovely niece gave me this book as a gift a couple of years ago and I love reading through it, thinking about what to read and what to collect.

I will agree, though, that there were some authors who were “a bit overrepresented” in my (most extremely humble)opinion.

Having said that (and having recently crossed swords over the value of a book vs. the value of its first 50 pages), we have to remember that “One man’s fruit; another man’s candy” applies to literature, too.

I love your post – especially the part about the “alarming… title…”!

By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom

1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:28:46 +0000

“Nickled and Dimed” was an inspired choice, wasn’t it? It’s such a good book … and one that will be in libraries forever, I hope. I haven’t read “The Poisonwood Bible” but have heard quite a few people say the same thing you did.

I may not have time to comment on specific titles on the EW list this week, but I’m about to post a list of some noteworthy books that didn’t make the cut (but would have made mine). Thanks for your encouragement.

By: sarahsk

sarahsk — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:46:24 +0000

Ooh, let’s see. I loved the first part of Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Poisonwood Bible” (#35) but felt increasingly disappointed as I read, so for me, that book wasn’t necessarily worthy of being included. I’m glad “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich is on there (#60) and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Donna Tartt’s “Secret History” (#69) so that was a treat to see! I was also happy to see Stephen King’s “On Writing,” which I think works very well as both a memoir and a writing class, though I may not have put it up quite so high (he’s a columnist for the mag, though, so I can’t really blame them…) A favorite of mine that wasn’t included is Carrie Fisher’s “Postcards From the Edge.” I’ve probably read it 5 times; I love the wordplay she uses in it.

I think they did a good job of appealing to a wide variety of tastes and readers (the list includes Maus and the 5th Harry Potter, which I think is pretty cool), so as a whole, I think it’s a manageable and diverse enough list that I can see myself turning to it when I’m looking for a good recommendation (assuming my stack of holds at the library ever goes down, ha ha).

How about you?

By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom

1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:10:45 +0000

Thanks so much for reminding me of the EW list. I did see it and wanted to comment on it, but it got away from me. I’ll try to weigh in before it goes off the stands.

One of my first reactions to the list was that I’ve always thought Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” was a better book than “Beloved,” which is on the EW list (though “S of S” probably came out closer to 30 years ago than 25 and may not have been eligible). The critics I know seem pretty equally divided on that one …

Were there any books that you thought shouldn’t or shouldn’t be on the list?

By: sarahsk

sarahsk — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:14:42 +0000

Ten by one author does seem bizarre!

Have you seen Entertainment Weekly‘s list, new this week? It’s called “The 100 Best Books of the Last 25 Years” and lists “The Road” as #1. I thought it was a pretty good mixture of titles and authors overall (although I’m not a huge fan of the some of the books listed). If you have a chance to check it out, I’d love to hear what you think.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:24:40 +0000

The Gaia Atlas of Planet Management by Norman Myers et al. An incredible book that sums up everything wrong with the planet and gives what little solutions science and politics has come up with. A must read.