Reader's Companion: A Book Lover's Guide to the Most Important Books in Every Field of Knowledge as Chosen by the Experts

by Fred Bratman, Scott Lewis

Politicians, historians, movie stars, religious figures, and authors offer suggestions for the finest books in a wide range of fields and reveal those titles that have most affected their lives, in an easy-to-use, entertaining reference. Reprint.

Genres: Reference

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jacob Ellis]

More-so a list of book recommendations than a book, it covers various topics ranging from very broad to very specific, & various writers from experts, to authors, to politicians, & more. The author will give a personalized, short review of his recommendations from time-to-time, though do not expect these reviews to be frequent. It gives some great suggestions, & I was surprised to only recognize a small few of them: there's some very lesser known recommendations in here. I've only as much as checked out these recommendations from a quick Google search, though I doubt any of these books wouldn't prove very resourceful to me or someone else.
In the end, this IS just a list of pointers for good, informative reads, & nothing else. If you are coming in with the idea that these books will be explained in detail or reviewed in depth, then you will be disappointed. As the title implies, this book was made for truly dedicated readers who are hungry for good book recommendations, & I think it satiates that hunger very well. I myself may not be a truly dedicated reader, but I know some friends who'd love to have a book like this.

[Brian]

Think of a broad topic: "American literature", "Islam", "drugs", "the environment", "labor", "Texas", "contemporary China", you name it. The editors of this book asked a few well-known experts in the field to give a very short list of the absolute best books available on their subject. To be honest, I'm not sure I've read any books based on these recommendations alone, but still, its an extremely handy resource to have around.

[Katie]

This book has an interesting take on the average book of *lists*. Experts in their fields, from authors to politicians, share the books they feel changed their lives as well as those they feel are a must read in a certain field.

What I found especially interesting is how many of those books were the same....our trusted classics. There are some interesting choices. I made a nice list from this list.:)

[Jamie]

This book gave me a few titles I must look out for but sadly this book fails to cover every subject.

[Renee]

I think this would have faired better with a more traditional design. I did find several books to add to my read list.