Learn to COOK - The Readers' Choice: 200 Book Club Favorites

Here are two hundred reader-tested answers to the question "What have you read that's good?"  The Readers' Choice is the first book to feature titles based on the recommendations of numerous book clubs.  Victoria McMains has collected two hundred favorites of more than seventy reading groups nationwide, ideal for book group members looking for a "good read," busy people seeking enjoyable books outside the bestseller lists, or anyone who wants to read more but isn't sure where to start.

Combining her skills as a book reveiwer and a veteran book group member, McMains provides brief, captivating profiles of a diverse mix of fiction and nonfiction.  There are love stories and war stories, fantasy and political intrigue, biography and nature-and much more.  Each profile highlights the unique traits of the book and ends with a few questions for group favorites as well as little-known gems that have been discovered and treasured.  Indexes organize the entries by title and subject matter, helping readers find books that appeal to their interest. For anyone wanting to learn the easy essentials of starting a book club, check out McMains's introduction.

Let The Readers Guide help you make the most of the precious time you spend reading?

The book is organized to provide around one page (often a little more) on each book. This information includes a brief summary of the book, its appeal, how it differs from the movie (if it is a novel), and the author's background. A section in italics at the end gives you questions to guide a book club discussion or to illuminate your own reading of the book.

In a separate section, Ms. McMains also describes how to start and run a book club, in case that appeals to you. As she points out, you like to visit your friends. A book club can give you more chances to do that, and something new to talk about.

The book has a helpful index so that you can locate books by subject, in order to more quickly locate titles that match your needs. About three-quarters of the books are novels.

Since I read a lot, I assumed that this book would not tell me much. Boy, was I wrong! Of the 200 titles, I had only read 7. I had only heard of another 4 more. So these are books I would never have considered.

As the author points out, these are well-written books that seldom reached a broad audience. They are for people who want high quality writing and thinking.

I checked out the 7 books that I have read, and found the material on them to be accurate and useful. So I have to assume that it is also for the other books on the list.

So I'm looking forward to reading many more outstanding books as a result of this valuable reource.

Since the book clubs who contributed these ideas are mostly in the western United States, you'll find many novels with western themes in them. If you are looking for that, you'll find the book all that much more helpful. If you are not, give one a try. You may find that you like western-oriented books.

If you are already so backlogged with reading that you won't get to another book for some time, obviously this resource won't do you much good.

Do realize that this book was published in mid 2000, and was based on reading that occurred before that. So the offerings will mostly be of books written in 1999 and earlier.

After you finish reading this book, I suggest that you think about why you read. Having understood that, are there other reasons to read? For example, can reading people who express themselves well make you a better communicator?