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Summary and Reviews of What To Read by Mickey Pearlman

What To Read by Mickey Pearlman

What To Read

The Essential Guide for Reading Group Members and Other Book Lovers

by Mickey Pearlman
  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 1999, 351 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

In this revised edition of the classic guide for book clubs, Mickey Pearlman--editor, lecturer, and reading group expert--offers annotated, innovative book lists for every dedicated reader. Whether you've been in a reading group for years, are interested in forming or finding one, or you're a book lover looking for new ideas, What to Read is an indispensable resource, listing hundreds of contemporary and classic books organized by subject. By updating every list and adding many new ones, Pearlman now offers pages and pages of fresh ideas. Among the lists that have been revised are:

  • Stop Kidding Around (books for children and young adults)
  • On the Beach
  • Let's Talk About Me (memoirs by men and women)

New lists include:

  • What an Adventure!
  • Think About Health
  • Who's on First?
  • Keep it Short (short story collection)

What to Read also includes tips on creating and maintaining your own reading group, organizing an E-mail book club, or joining on on-line. See sections called "How to Read," "When to Read," and "Where to Read" for more help!

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
A Note to the Reader
Introduction
How to Organize
How to Read
When to Read
Where to Read

RECOMMENDED BOOK LISTS
My Family, Myself
Family Feuds
Life Is (Definitely Not) a Bowl of Cherries
Let's Talk About Me
Memoirs by Women
Memoirs by Men
The Writer's Life
Ain't Love Grand?; Pass the Aspirins
Watch Your Mouth!
Think About Health
The Impact of Illness
Fairy Tales for Grown-ups
More Fairy Tale Time
What an Adventure!
War Is Hell ... Continued
Evil Lurks
Keep It Short
Fathers, Sons, and Brothers
Mothers and Daughters
Questioning the Miraculous
Go West
New York Stories
Southern Comfort
My Kind of Place
Save the Planet
Native American Ideas
A Jewish View
Mi Vida Latina
African-American Images
An Asian Ethos
Gay Writes
Don't-Miss Nineteenth-Century Novels
Early Twentieth-Century Writing
Other Lands, Other Voices
It's a Mystery to Me
Mysteries by Women
Mysteries by Men
One to Beam Up, Mr. Scott
...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Library Journal
Pearlman, the director of a book club for several years, here suggests how to organize and run a reading group. She provides 33 briefly annotated lists of contemporary and classic titles arranged by subject, e.g., mysteries, science fiction, and sports. Each list contains a half-year or more of reading. This compilation is much shorter-about 1000 titles-than H.W. Wilson's Public Library Catalog (1989. 9th ed.), The Reader's Adviser (LJ 6/15/94), and The Reader's Catalog (LJ 4/15/89). Closest in size is The Reader's Companion (Hyperion, 1994), with unannotated lists compiled by experts.

Note from BookBrowse: Wilson's Public Library catalog is a 1,300 page tome used by libraries. As is The Reader's Adviser. You will probably find one or both in the reference section of your local library.

The Reader's Catalog by Geoffrey O'Brien is a more affordable book at around $35. It is an annotated list of about 40,000 titles in 300 categories (see separate info in this section of BookBrowse).


Reader Reviews

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  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
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  • and much more!
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Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked What To Read, try these:

  • The Book Group Book jacket

    The Book Group Book

    by Ellen Slezak

    Published 2000

    About this book

    Seventeen new essays and 37 new book lists have been added to this classic primer on book groups. Forty-six essays describe how individual groups are organized and portray their strengths, weaknesses, and unique characters.

  • The Readers' Choice jacket

    The Readers' Choice

    by Victoria Golden

    Published 2000

    About this book

    Here are two hundred reader-tested answers to the question "What have you read that's good?" The first book to feature titles based on the recommendations of numerous book clubs.


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  • Free books to read and review (US only)
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  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

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