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Check These Out: One Librarian's Catalog of the 200 Coolest, Best, and Most Important Books You'll Ever Read
Discover a librarian's secret stash of great reads!
There you are, in the library, head tilted sideways, doing your best to navigate a blur of spines and titles to find one worth reading. Luckily, the hunt is over. Librarian, author, and book devourer Gina Sheridan has sorted through the stacks to compile a list of read-worthy titles you may have skipped over in your search. Check These Out is her secret stash of books that have captivated her mind and soul throughout the years. Inside, she reveals a wide range of extraordinary yet uncommon stories that will completely change the way you view the world, from Michael Dorris's A Yellow Raft in Blue Water to Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade. After each suggestion, Sheridan offers an insightful summary as well as surprising details about the book or author that will make you laugh a little, cry a little, or think a little.
Complete with a checklist to keep track of the titles you've read, Check These Out will help you discover a whole new world of literature you won't believe you missed.
There you are, in the library, head tilted sideways, doing your best to navigate a blur of spines and titles to find one worth reading. Luckily, the hunt is over. Librarian, author, and book devourer Gina Sheridan has sorted through the stacks to compile a list of read-worthy titles you may have skipped over in your search. Check These Out is her secret stash of books that have captivated her mind and soul throughout the years. Inside, she reveals a wide range of extraordinary yet uncommon stories that will completely change the way you view the world, from Michael Dorris's A Yellow Raft in Blue Water to Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade. After each suggestion, Sheridan offers an insightful summary as well as surprising details about the book or author that will make you laugh a little, cry a little, or think a little.
Complete with a checklist to keep track of the titles you've read, Check These Out will help you discover a whole new world of literature you won't believe you missed.
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 3, 2015
59 people are currently reading
827 people want to read
About the author
Gina Sheridan
2 books168 followersGina Sheridan grew up in St. Louis, MO in a benevolently chaotic household full of siblings, animals, and books. She holds a B.A. in English Literature, Society, and Politics from Webster University and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama. She has worked as a public librarian in California and Missouri. Her interests include YA fiction, social media, cemeteries, entertaining, urban exploration, and book art. She lives in Old North St. Louis with her husband, Travis, and two cats, Buffalo Plush and Uncle Fez.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
August 16, 2015
Fellow Goodreads users, what are we doing giving away all of our profound, articulate, funny thoughts on books for free? Why don’t we all have book deals for readers’ advisory books like Check These Out? The entire time I was reading this uninspiring tome, I was thinking that I read better book writing nearly every day, on this very site. There must be some way we can cash in on this. Actually, you know what, forget I said anything. I will think of some lucrative way to pursue this and will let you all know how it goes.
Honestly, though, this book was so unspecial that I have to assume it was only published in fulfillment of the author’s two-book contract. The whole thing desperately needs a good copy edit. Some of the book descriptions are only a few lines long. The writing is bland and, in the vast majority of cases, doesn’t exactly inspire me to pick up the books she describes. For example, her paragraph on The Quiet American ends with the phrase “this book came up on my radar when I was studying the Vietnam War.” Those are her parting words about the book. With writing that captivating, I know you’ve all jumped up and raced to the library to immediately check out The Quiet American, but I’ll keep writing this review anyway for my own sake.
Check This Out also has a few bigger problems. In addition to its grammatical mistakes, sometimes the writing is just plain careless. Sheridan tells us, for instance, that a particular book is “told in alternating chapters.” Alternating how? I assume she means the chapters are told from the points of view of different characters, but there’s no indication of this in the text, and no mention of which characters are doing the telling. This is just sloppy and suggests no one really read this thing with a critical eye before putting it out.
I’m also not sure how trustworthy Gina Sheridan’s book opinions really are. When I found out her favorite YA character of all time is Stargirl, I began to have grave doubts about her taste. She also recommends one of those PostSecret books, but admits she read the whole thing standing up in the aisle of the bookstore. Seriously? You’re recommending it in a published readers’ advisory reference book, but you… read it standing up in the aisle of the bookstore? You’re a librarian—surely there are other books you could recommend that actually required sitting down for a few minutes?
I hope I’ve conveyed that this book is unremarkable and not worth buying. If you’re looking for a readers’ advisory for yourself or your book group, you’d be much better off with the hilarious, smart, well-written, criminally overlooked Read This Next, or any of Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust books. In fact, Nancy Pearl’s exhaustively compiled books put this one to so much shame that you have to wonder how it’s possible that Gina Sheridan (like Pearl, a librarian) thought her own book was even worth publishing in its current form.
While I’ve been in a few different book groups in my life, my main reasons for buying readers’ advisories like this one are (1) I like reading books about books, obviously, and (2) these books always contain an index of titles at the end, and I live for being able to go through them and check off the ones that I’ve read. This is a pleasure that can be repeated over the years as you read more and more of the recommended books. For long book lists, like those in Ellen Slezak’s The Book Group Book, you (by which I mean, I) can easily spend several hours in this happy, nerdy pursuit. Check These Out seems to recognize this, because instead of having a title index at the back, it has a full-on checklist of books with little boxes next to each title specifically for marking-off purposes. I’m not gonna lie, this checklist is the reason I bought the book, and I’m going to go avail myself of its pleasures right now. But if you don’t share my passion for book checklists, spare yourself the disappointment and don’t bother checking out Check These Out.
Honestly, though, this book was so unspecial that I have to assume it was only published in fulfillment of the author’s two-book contract. The whole thing desperately needs a good copy edit. Some of the book descriptions are only a few lines long. The writing is bland and, in the vast majority of cases, doesn’t exactly inspire me to pick up the books she describes. For example, her paragraph on The Quiet American ends with the phrase “this book came up on my radar when I was studying the Vietnam War.” Those are her parting words about the book. With writing that captivating, I know you’ve all jumped up and raced to the library to immediately check out The Quiet American, but I’ll keep writing this review anyway for my own sake.
Check This Out also has a few bigger problems. In addition to its grammatical mistakes, sometimes the writing is just plain careless. Sheridan tells us, for instance, that a particular book is “told in alternating chapters.” Alternating how? I assume she means the chapters are told from the points of view of different characters, but there’s no indication of this in the text, and no mention of which characters are doing the telling. This is just sloppy and suggests no one really read this thing with a critical eye before putting it out.
I’m also not sure how trustworthy Gina Sheridan’s book opinions really are. When I found out her favorite YA character of all time is Stargirl, I began to have grave doubts about her taste. She also recommends one of those PostSecret books, but admits she read the whole thing standing up in the aisle of the bookstore. Seriously? You’re recommending it in a published readers’ advisory reference book, but you… read it standing up in the aisle of the bookstore? You’re a librarian—surely there are other books you could recommend that actually required sitting down for a few minutes?
I hope I’ve conveyed that this book is unremarkable and not worth buying. If you’re looking for a readers’ advisory for yourself or your book group, you’d be much better off with the hilarious, smart, well-written, criminally overlooked Read This Next, or any of Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust books. In fact, Nancy Pearl’s exhaustively compiled books put this one to so much shame that you have to wonder how it’s possible that Gina Sheridan (like Pearl, a librarian) thought her own book was even worth publishing in its current form.
While I’ve been in a few different book groups in my life, my main reasons for buying readers’ advisories like this one are (1) I like reading books about books, obviously, and (2) these books always contain an index of titles at the end, and I live for being able to go through them and check off the ones that I’ve read. This is a pleasure that can be repeated over the years as you read more and more of the recommended books. For long book lists, like those in Ellen Slezak’s The Book Group Book, you (by which I mean, I) can easily spend several hours in this happy, nerdy pursuit. Check These Out seems to recognize this, because instead of having a title index at the back, it has a full-on checklist of books with little boxes next to each title specifically for marking-off purposes. I’m not gonna lie, this checklist is the reason I bought the book, and I’m going to go avail myself of its pleasures right now. But if you don’t share my passion for book checklists, spare yourself the disappointment and don’t bother checking out Check These Out.
January 14, 2017
Please go read Julie's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... She says exactly what I would, if I were so eloquent. And she offers titles of other RA books to compete with Sheridan's collection of ... of what? Well, of some specific 'Listopias' that might appeal to certain readers, like Southern Gothic, Dysfunctional Families, Stories about Con Artists, I suppose.
You really are much better off using friends' reviews and Listopia here on goodreads.
That said, I do have a few titles to investigate. But the thing is, by investigate, I mean, check out friends' and community reviews of first, and only then consider adding to my to-read shelves. So, um, yeah, in sum, I do regret the hour lost to this.
I repeat, go like Julie's review. Consider following her so you can read her other reviews. Skip this book.
You really are much better off using friends' reviews and Listopia here on goodreads.
That said, I do have a few titles to investigate. But the thing is, by investigate, I mean, check out friends' and community reviews of first, and only then consider adding to my to-read shelves. So, um, yeah, in sum, I do regret the hour lost to this.
I repeat, go like Julie's review. Consider following her so you can read her other reviews. Skip this book.
November 9, 2015
I am a sucker for book reviews and lists so this was much appreciated. I am always interested to hear anyone address what books they have liked. I thought this was especially helpful since the author listed 200 books and gave a very short synopsis. I do not like getting bogged down in a lot of detail in reviews. It's one of my pet peeves. Just give me a backbone of what it's about and a few sentences on why you liked or disliked it, preferably revealing something about oneself is the perfect review to me. I will read the book myself and get into the details if it sounds interesting. I added about 10 of her choices to my own TBR list, so I am glad I spotted this on the shelf at my library.
September 9, 2021
This is the 4th or 5th 'Book' book I've read this year. I can not get enough of these! I come away from each with a long list of TBRs.
This one, I think, tried to do too much with too little space. It's broken up into 15 chapters, and each chapter focuses on a different type of book: from books written in email or letter form, to YA books not just for YA's. Each chapter list between 12 and 15 books to 'check out'. That's a LOT of great books and less than 250 pages to cover them.
Other than that, I enjoyed this one a lot.
This one, I think, tried to do too much with too little space. It's broken up into 15 chapters, and each chapter focuses on a different type of book: from books written in email or letter form, to YA books not just for YA's. Each chapter list between 12 and 15 books to 'check out'. That's a LOT of great books and less than 250 pages to cover them.
Other than that, I enjoyed this one a lot.
May 17, 2021
Sigh... just what I needed, more books on my TBR mountain.
August 15, 2015
I of course did not let my fondness for the author sway my rating for this book (Hi Gina!), it's just simply that cute. And it was the perfect book at the perfect time for me, I just started back to work for the school year and one chapter a night of witty humor was all I could handle this past week. So now that I am caught up on sleep, I look forward to grabbing up all the books I've flagged to read for the future. Perfect for anyone who is at a loss for what to read next, needs a good recommendation, great book club ideas, or just wants a good book.
January 13, 2020
Tired of lists of books to read that sound like they were made by a group of old English teachers?
Want to find a list of books that are eclectic, contemporary, surprising?
This is the book for you.
Librarian Gina Sheridan creates lists of the best graphic novels, the best audiobooks, books about con artists (!), even best books-about-books (she calls these "meta textuals").
Want to find a list of books that are eclectic, contemporary, surprising?
This is the book for you.
Librarian Gina Sheridan creates lists of the best graphic novels, the best audiobooks, books about con artists (!), even best books-about-books (she calls these "meta textuals").
December 15, 2016
Just another "top books" list and I didn't necessarily agree with many of them.
January 4, 2025
Even though there were 200 titles, each with a blurb or little vignette, it was an easy read. Light and fun to blow through.
I discovered a handful I'd already read (An Age of License: A Travelogue, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life, Charlotte’s Web, Dracula, Flowers for Algernon, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life, Look Me in the Eye, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Outsiders, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, To Kill a Mockingbird, Water for Elephants); a handful of new ones to read; and then a whole lot of stinkbombs. I know because I read summaries of some of the ones she highly recommended (the ones that "devastated" her or gave her nightmares) and they sounded pretty lame. Yet another pretentious librarian (sigh). Folks, just read what you like: you don't have to prove anything to anyone.
I discovered a handful I'd already read (An Age of License: A Travelogue, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life, Charlotte’s Web, Dracula, Flowers for Algernon, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life, Look Me in the Eye, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Outsiders, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, To Kill a Mockingbird, Water for Elephants); a handful of new ones to read; and then a whole lot of stinkbombs. I know because I read summaries of some of the ones she highly recommended (the ones that "devastated" her or gave her nightmares) and they sounded pretty lame. Yet another pretentious librarian (sigh). Folks, just read what you like: you don't have to prove anything to anyone.
April 30, 2021
Update:
I think what really drives my enjoyment of book list books (and reviews, for that matter) is the sincere evangelism and personal flair of the author—the author wasn't strong on either of these points so that made the collection lackluster beyond the actual books included.
Original review:
On the one hand, this collection is very refreshing for being so surprising in its slightly wacky categories and unusual recommendations. On the other hand, the categories are generally rather trivial / frivolous sub-genres that I definitely dip into from time to time, but I'm not really interested in expanding my TBR in that direction. However, I did find a handful that I'll look into.
I think the graphic novel section was probably the strongest and would be a good place to start for an adult who hasn't read much from this medium and wants to get started. Disclosure: memoir/biography is my preferred genre in the graphic novel format so obviously I'm biased.
Here are the categories, in case this looks up your alley. Kudos to the author for including a master list in an appendix.
American't Dream - Stories about trying and failing to get ahead in America.
The Audiophiles Audio File - Audiobooks to get you though any situation.
Daisy Dukes - Short story collections you will actually like.
The Graphic Self - Graphic memoirs and biographies that will leave their mark.
Meta Textuals - Books about books, libraries, bookshops, and book nerds.
My Family is Weirder than Yours - Fiction and non-fiction about totally dysfunctional families.
Peculiarly True - Crazy true stories you just can’t make up.
Reel Good Books - Books-into-movies that won’t make you gag.
Southern Discomfort - Spooky reads set in the American South.
Tales of Woe, Tales of Whoa - Tearjerkers that will make you snot all over the place.
Too Cool for School - Titles your high school English teacher should’ve assigned or maybe did, but you were skipping class that week.
Tricksters, Fakers, and Cheats, Oh My! - Books about con artists and the people they scam.
Very Truly Yours - Books written in the form of letters, e-mail, diary entries, and more.
What Not to Read While Drinking Milk - Humorous fiction, memoirs, and essays that will make milk squirt from your nose.
YA for the Not So YA - Young adult books that everyone will dig.
I think what really drives my enjoyment of book list books (and reviews, for that matter) is the sincere evangelism and personal flair of the author—the author wasn't strong on either of these points so that made the collection lackluster beyond the actual books included.
Original review:
On the one hand, this collection is very refreshing for being so surprising in its slightly wacky categories and unusual recommendations. On the other hand, the categories are generally rather trivial / frivolous sub-genres that I definitely dip into from time to time, but I'm not really interested in expanding my TBR in that direction. However, I did find a handful that I'll look into.
I think the graphic novel section was probably the strongest and would be a good place to start for an adult who hasn't read much from this medium and wants to get started. Disclosure: memoir/biography is my preferred genre in the graphic novel format so obviously I'm biased.
Here are the categories, in case this looks up your alley. Kudos to the author for including a master list in an appendix.
American't Dream - Stories about trying and failing to get ahead in America.
The Audiophiles Audio File - Audiobooks to get you though any situation.
Daisy Dukes - Short story collections you will actually like.
The Graphic Self - Graphic memoirs and biographies that will leave their mark.
Meta Textuals - Books about books, libraries, bookshops, and book nerds.
My Family is Weirder than Yours - Fiction and non-fiction about totally dysfunctional families.
Peculiarly True - Crazy true stories you just can’t make up.
Reel Good Books - Books-into-movies that won’t make you gag.
Southern Discomfort - Spooky reads set in the American South.
Tales of Woe, Tales of Whoa - Tearjerkers that will make you snot all over the place.
Too Cool for School - Titles your high school English teacher should’ve assigned or maybe did, but you were skipping class that week.
Tricksters, Fakers, and Cheats, Oh My! - Books about con artists and the people they scam.
Very Truly Yours - Books written in the form of letters, e-mail, diary entries, and more.
What Not to Read While Drinking Milk - Humorous fiction, memoirs, and essays that will make milk squirt from your nose.
YA for the Not So YA - Young adult books that everyone will dig.
February 3, 2017
How delightful is this! What a great range of commentary! So glad to see Frank Muller included as a reader in the audiobook section. I really think Anne Rice should have been included in the gothic South ;) Thanks for showing me the story behind so of the stories and piquing my interest in many I haven't read.
February 11, 2020
What a good reference! I have a lot of ideas for books to read now.
July 14, 2021
Full of spoilers while claiming not to spoil anything. Zero diversity.
June 22, 2020
Even though I didn't discover many books to add to my all ready too lengthy To-Read List, I always enjoy seeing what books others find interesting, or what others recommend. It's why I love the end-of-the-year Book Blogs, and Summer Reading Recommendation posts.
June 8, 2021
Good thumbnails of books that I've never heard of and why I should read them. Will need to come back to the is to reread at some point in time. I was surprised that most of the books listed have been written in the last 20 years.
December 20, 2019
A fun read, that gave me some new books to add to my TBR list.
December 24, 2022
I thought this had some good suggestions on what to read. It is a bit old at this point though.
January 10, 2018
Pretty much a book about books; each book recommended had it's own page along with a description of the book and which patron to recommend the book to. I picked this up at the library because I decided that starting in 2018, I will be working on my masters degree in library and informational sciences (right now I am just deciding on where to apply and what requirements I need to meet). So I figured a book by a librarian who surveyed other librarians about what they recommend to their patrons can come in handy.
And yes, it is handy, but most of the books aren't to my taste. However, I have to give credit to the author for the balance in diversity in the books she chose to highlight in this book - whether from authors of color, to authors from the LGBT* community, books about mental illness, disability, social issues are all there alongside more well-known authors/books. The author also chose to devote a chapter to audiobooks and another to graphic novels, so she wasn't snobby about format. There is also a chapter on YA novels, with the caveat that these YA novels would be good fits for adult readers who enjoy YA, so she wasn't snobby about patrons' reading tastes either. The book did lean more to fiction than non-fiction, but some recent non-fiction reads were recommend for the writing styles were as engaging as some fiction reads.
And yes, it is handy, but most of the books aren't to my taste. However, I have to give credit to the author for the balance in diversity in the books she chose to highlight in this book - whether from authors of color, to authors from the LGBT* community, books about mental illness, disability, social issues are all there alongside more well-known authors/books. The author also chose to devote a chapter to audiobooks and another to graphic novels, so she wasn't snobby about format. There is also a chapter on YA novels, with the caveat that these YA novels would be good fits for adult readers who enjoy YA, so she wasn't snobby about patrons' reading tastes either. The book did lean more to fiction than non-fiction, but some recent non-fiction reads were recommend for the writing styles were as engaging as some fiction reads.
September 10, 2016
Let's just say that my to-read lists are already out of control, so this is the last book that I should've read. I'm a sucker for lists of books though and this follow-up to Sheridan's I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks caught my eye. While this isn't quite as hilarious as I Work at a Public Library, it's still dosed with humor. Sheridan's conversational tone (including her personal reasons for choosing or reactions to this or that book) makes you feel like you're getting recommendations from your well-read best friend. The book breaks the list into categories for every mood, including "What Not to Read While Drinking Milk" (super funny books) and "Southern Discomfort: Spooky reads set in the American South." Recommended for anyone who's looking for their next book to read or those who loved I Work at a Public Library.
January 15, 2017
There are quite a few titles published providing the the best books readers "need" to read.
Gina Sheridan offers a brief, one paragraph synopsis of the books she includes as the 200 coolest, best, and most important books to read.
I like the division of categories which offers a wide spectrum. i.e.
"Very Truly Yours" - books written in the form of letters, diaries, emails, etc
"What not to Read While Drinking Milk" = Humorous books
One in particular, "the audiophile's audio file" covering both the author and reader of audio books, Audio is my go to method for enjoying books. Although I discovered early my reading tastes differs from the author, I set a goal to select one title from each of the 15 chapters. Never thought I would have a graphic novel on my to read list.
A nice reference to help find a "next read."
Gina Sheridan offers a brief, one paragraph synopsis of the books she includes as the 200 coolest, best, and most important books to read.
I like the division of categories which offers a wide spectrum. i.e.
"Very Truly Yours" - books written in the form of letters, diaries, emails, etc
"What not to Read While Drinking Milk" = Humorous books
One in particular, "the audiophile's audio file" covering both the author and reader of audio books, Audio is my go to method for enjoying books. Although I discovered early my reading tastes differs from the author, I set a goal to select one title from each of the 15 chapters. Never thought I would have a graphic novel on my to read list.
A nice reference to help find a "next read."
March 26, 2016
Overall this book was underwhelming. One of the biggest issues is that the lists don't represent creative or provocative topics, in my opinion - humor, dysfunctional families, the american dream - I've seen numerous lists on these topics before, and Sheridan doesn't bring anything new to the table. There are better, more engaging RA resources you can access for free through library blogs, Book Riot, and Flashlight Worthy, just to name a few.
I'm giving this 2 stars because I did stumble upon about 10 books to track down and explore. However, my interest was piqued by the titles and subject matter of the books, rather than Sheridan's curation or commentary.
I'm giving this 2 stars because I did stumble upon about 10 books to track down and explore. However, my interest was piqued by the titles and subject matter of the books, rather than Sheridan's curation or commentary.
November 19, 2015
Books like this are a given for me-- an entire book that gives me 200 more books I might want to read (or about 155 of them, since I've already read a few). The coolest feature about this one is the way the author grouped the recommendations. Categories like "Southern Discomfort: Spooky Reads Set in the American South", "My Family Is Weirder Than Yours: Fiction and nonfiction about totally dysfunctional families", "Meta Textuals: Books about books, libraries, bookshops, and book nerds" and "Daisy Dukes: short story collections that will actually make you like short stories". Something here for everyone -- my TBR list grew a LOT with this book.
November 6, 2015
There were some good suggestions in here that I have already added to my "to-read" list.
December 31, 2016
As if I needed more books to put on my list.....lol. There were some very good ideas in this book, so now I have about 30 or so more to add:)
May 31, 2019
I was very excited when I picked up this book. I really enjoy books about books and am always on the lookout for new books to read. I really enjoyed Gina's first book about the funny stories that she see's and hears in libraries so I thought that this would be as enjoyable as that one was. I was wrong. My biggest struggle with this book was the descriptions of each book. At times Gina was being vague to try and not spoil the plot of the book but in doing so barely revealed anything about the book besides the title. I am for not revealing the ending of a book before reading it but it would be helpful to learn a little bit more about the plot.
My second struggle with the book that I should have realized as soon as I picked it up was that it is all subjectively one person's opinion on this very limited selection of books. It could easily have been her Goodreads "Read" list that she pulled and then wrote a blurb about each book. I think that is awesome that these books inspired her and affected her in the way that they did but that probably won't happen for everyone who reads them.
All this being said I was able to add about three books to my reading list and I hope that those of you that do find more books to read because of this book that they are as inspiring as they were to the author.
My second struggle with the book that I should have realized as soon as I picked it up was that it is all subjectively one person's opinion on this very limited selection of books. It could easily have been her Goodreads "Read" list that she pulled and then wrote a blurb about each book. I think that is awesome that these books inspired her and affected her in the way that they did but that probably won't happen for everyone who reads them.
All this being said I was able to add about three books to my reading list and I hope that those of you that do find more books to read because of this book that they are as inspiring as they were to the author.
June 14, 2018
Interesting collection of books organized into several categories, chosen by a librarian from St. Louis. Categories include young adult, graphic memoir, tearjerkers, and laugh-out-loud humor (and more). Many of these selections are books I probably wouldn't ordinarily pick up, but I ended up finding quite a few I thought I'd enjoy. I have also read a few on the list, so it's always interesting to see when others have similar reading interests. The author's choices do tend to weigh heavily on themes of social justice/racial equality/feminism, and I think this sort of illustrates her tastes a bit more than it might offer diverse selections for people with varying interests. By the same token, her picks are interesting, and I enjoyed how she separated the list into easily digestible categories, which made for easy reading. Again, I found many books I might not have otherwise known about, and I am interested in broadening my own horizons by trying some of them out.
November 25, 2018
We all know that there are too many books and too little time. How would anyone know where to start? Well, Gina Sheridan has come to the rescue. In “Check These Out,” Sheridan has sifted through her card catalog to recommend her favorites by genre. Each book is offered up with title and author, publication date, a quote and a brief description. The description is where the real recommendation lies. Sheridan not only tells you what the book is about (in a couple sentences) but also why she recommends it. She does a great job of setting the reader’s expectations for each book she recommends.
You’ll know at the outset whether to expect nightmares or a sob fest requiring tissues handy.
I’ve collected a lengthy “to read” list but now I can do some refining with the additional information provided by “Check These Out.”
You’ll know at the outset whether to expect nightmares or a sob fest requiring tissues handy.
I’ve collected a lengthy “to read” list but now I can do some refining with the additional information provided by “Check These Out.”
April 3, 2019
My TBR list just doubled thanks to this book. Gina Sheridan is a librarian in MO and this is a carefully curated list of books in a book that she recommends people read. Divided into clever chapters (American't Dream, for example) she groups books with similar themes or genres or other like qualities - all audio, all with equally good movies, etc.) Then each book is extolled and briefly summarized, like only a librarian can do, hitting the high points, but giving nothing away. Best feature is the check list in the back so you can keep track of what you want to go back to. It was edifying to have read a number of her recs, but better still to have a new titles to seek out.
January 4, 2023
I enjoy reading lists of books, regardless of whether the books are from my favorite genres. I liked the format of the book: the chapter divisions and the brief summaries. Sheridan seemed to lean into mysteries, dysfunction, thrillers, and the darker side of humanity, so I doubt that we would be in a book club together. Nevertheless, I liked that she included older books that readers might have missed, as well as a books which became films, a chapter on young adult reads, and suggestions for books that are wonderful as audio.
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