Read This Next: 500 of the Best Books You'll Ever Read

by Howard Mittelmark, Sandra Newman

Overview

Are you tired of bland, overly earnest reading guides that discuss the same old books? Read This Next by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittlemark is the answer. A smart, irreverent, honest, and truly hilarious guide to your 500 new favorite books, Read This Next is aimed at those readers and book groups that are looking for great reading suggestions with more variety and spice than the usual book club picks—while offering food for thought and laughter in equal measure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062020222
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/02/2010
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	670 KB

About the Author

Writer and editor Howard Mittelmark's book reviews and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Hollywood Reporter, Writer's Digest, and other publications. He is the author of the novel Age of Consent.

Sandra Newman is the author of the novels The Men, The Heavens (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), and The Country of Ice Cream Star, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and NPR, as well as several other works of fiction and nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s and Granta, among other publications. She lives in New York City.

What People are Saying About This

Bob Etier

“Sometimes the biggest problem a book discussion group faces is finding a book that everyone wants to read. Here’s the solution: get a copy of Read this Next...open it to a page at random, and read whatever book is discussed on that page.”

Editorial Reviews

The first thing to know about this book is that its core emphasis is on captivating reading, not just the giant pillars of world literature. Howard Mittelman and Sandra Newman have searched hard to identify compelling fictional works, from time-tested classics to eerie science fiction thrillers to arresting whodunits to historical novels and amusing bathroom reading fluff. A nice gift for recent graduates and older people who want to get back in the game.

Smart and bracingly funny, novelists Mittelmark (Age of Consent) and Newman (The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Every Done) collaborate a second time on a rollicking addition to the reading group guide genre. Using the same tongue-in-cheek approach as they did in How Not to Write a Novel, the authors pepper their book descriptions with intriguing morsels of literary gossip, like V.S. Naipaul's adultery, and historical trivia regarding eunuchs. Their picks are unexpected and diverse, spanning a multitude of genres, from literary fiction and non-fiction to romance, mystery, and sci-fi. The 500-book list is organized by theme (love, politics, and humor to name a few), making this an easy one to dip into. Yet readers may find themselves enjoying this book cover to cover, carried along by a lively and nimble voice and a treasure trove of once-famous, now-forgotten titles. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Smart and bracingly funny … a rollicking addition to the reading group guide genre...carried along by a lively and nimble voice and a treasure trove of once-famous, now-forgotten titles.” — Publishers Weekly

“[Book groups] would be well advised to bypass the best-sellers in front of bookstores and libraries and pick up this clever (and useful) reading guide. This book’s authors have an eye for offbeat and unappreciated classics […and] taste that spans the highbrow-lowbrow cultural divide.” — Chicago Tribune Books

“Sometimes the biggest problem a book discussion group faces is finding a book that everyone wants to read. Here’s the solution: get a copy of Read this Next...open it to a page at random, and read whatever book is discussed on that page.” — Bob Etier, Technorati.com

“[A] brisk and often funny guide, bristling with snap judgments, the snappier the better.” — Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

[A] brisk and often funny guide, bristling with snap judgments, the snappier the better.

Wall Street Journal

Sometimes the biggest problem a book discussion group faces is finding a book that everyone wants to read. Here’s the solution: get a copy of Read this Next...open it to a page at random, and read whatever book is discussed on that page.

Bob Etier

[Book groups] would be well advised to bypass the best-sellers in front of bookstores and libraries and pick up this clever (and useful) reading guide. This book’s authors have an eye for offbeat and unappreciated classics […and] taste that spans the highbrow-lowbrow cultural divide.

Chicago Tribune Books

[A] brisk and often funny guide, bristling with snap judgments, the snappier the better.

Wall Street Journal