Anyone who loves lists, books about books, essays about books - ANYTHING about books will not want to miss 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die. Excellent for your nightstand, and for your family and friends' birthday gift.

Do you ever struggle to find the perfect book to read? Overwhelmed with all the wonderful reads out there? If so, this is the book for you.

Arranged in an easy to access format, with a short entry introducing each suggested title, this book is the ultimate guide for bibliophiles. Also makes a great gift!!

Even-Handed and Nicely Annotated

If you're a sucker for lists, and especially book lists, this strikes me as a very nice choice. It passed my first two tests - the foreword wasn't a Little Jack Horner what-a-good-boy-am-I celebration by the author of his admirable bookishness. It was modest, informative, and rather amiable. So already I was willing to trust this curator, (who wrote the "A Common Reader" mail-order book catalogue for decades, so was already sort of pre-approved).

The next test was to read one of his descriptive essays. (Each listed book comes with a brief essay and a load of background information about the book, including date of publication, other books by the author, similar books, and so on.) The first book on the list is Abbey's "Desert Solitaire". (The list is alphabetical by author.) I think Abbey is a great nature writer, but also a condescending sourpuss with a NIMBY problem and dismissiveness of anyone who doesn't fit his idea of an eco-warrior. Most reviews of "Desert Solitaire" rhapsodize about Arches National Park and overlook Abbey's kvetching. Mustich's essay, though, notes Abbey's "crankiness... and mordant quirky vehemence", while still giving him full marks as a nature writer and observer. O.K., I thought, Mustich isn't just a sugar coated sycophant, and appears to be trustworthy.

The next books on the list are Abbott's "Flatland", Achebe's "Things Fall Apart", Ackerley's "My Dog Tulip", Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and Henry Adams' "Education of Henry Adams". This tells you that the net here has been spread wide indeed, and it practically invites readers to argue about how this particular thousand was chosen. Since that's all part of the fun of books like this, that's all fine with me. (For what it's worth, I think these life list things should be organized on an ages of man theme, listing books in the order in which they should be read as the reader ages. A book that's just right for a teen might not tickle the fancy of an octogenarian, and I amused myself by trying to plot the books here into where and when I should have read them, if ever.)

The selection is about evenly split between fiction and nonfiction, which is a bit unusual, but welcome. And there are certainly some unexpected choices. I would challenge any reader to skim through this book and not find at least a few enticing and previously unknown volumes. (Reginald Arkell's "Old Herbaceous" anyone?) As you might expect, the Western canon is heavily represented, but Mustich makes a credible attempt to cover what is available in translation.

Anyway, this is a game and fair effort; the author is above board regarding his methods and his predilections, and the essays are enough to give the reader at least a brief taste of those books with which he is not familiar. Mustich is witty in an unforced way and enthusiastic, and as surveys and lists go, this one struck me as fun and engaging.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I really enjoyed this book. I had read many of the books mentioned but found many more to add to my list to get.

A must have for bibilophiles everywhere, this listing of books with brief descriptions of plot and author appealed to me more than other books of the same type because books are grouped alphabetically by author instead of chronologically by copyright. A handy and fascinating reference tool

I was unable to download this book, which was disappointing. I was really looking forward to reading it, But the Adobe doesn't work for me.

I loved that this book had in-depth descriptions of the books listed. I was surprised at the number of books I'd not heard of, but added many more of those to my "to be read" list. I'd love a copy of this book, and to give it as a gift with a few personal additions for my friends.