The Prentice Hall Good Reading Guide

Bloomsbury Good Reading Guides

by Kenneth McLeish

Provides information about more than 300 authors and 3,000 novels and short stories, cross-referenced to lead readers from one work to other similar ones

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Books About Books, Literature

310 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1988

About the author

John Kenneth Tyrrell McLeish, known as Kenneth McLeish was a British writer, playwright and translator. McLeish, "the most widely respected and prolific translator of drama in Britain", translated all the surviving classical Greek plays, most plays by Henrik Ibsen and Georges Feydeau, and individual plays by Plautus, Molière, Alfred Jarry, August Strindberg, Ödön von Horváth and Eugène Labiche.

Reviews

[Jessica Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to read books about books.

[James Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love books about books and I have a small collection of them. This book is one of my favorites because of its' structure. It is organized by author and tries to answer the questions: "Where shall I start?" and "Where shall I go next?" With each article describing the author's style, listing some books with which to start, and suggesting which authors are similar in style or genre. There are also menus of books by topic scattered throughout the text that provide suggestions for reading. I believe this is one of the most useful reading references for both inexperienced and experienced readers. The author. Kenneth McLeish has not only authored this delightful book, but he is also the co-author (with Frederic Raphael) of The List of Books -- another favorite and a book I would encourage you to seek out.

[Richard Kunzmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever eyed the classics, modern classics and bestseller shelves at your local bookshop with a feeling of dread and foreboding? Have you ever wanted to experiment with a new author, a fresh genre, but the task of digging out something new seemed just too great? Well, fear no more!

With this comprehensive guide by Bloomsbury you can browse in the comfort of your armchair, read about authors, their major works, as well as diverse popular themes, for example; Dark Old Houses, Money, Spies and Double Agents, and Unlooked-for Friendship. The book focuses on fiction as well as biographies and memoirs. At the end of each reference is a handy cross-reference to other authors or related themes one might enjoy. The reviews are both incisive and intriguing, and the guide is frequently updated with new editions.

I can guarantee that, before long, you’ll be flicking through the book, hunting down authors, book titles, and themes like an expert bookseller, jotting down notes for your next shopping expedition.

[Kristi Siegel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the book guide I was trying to recall. I'm not sure why the cover design is not available, because it's an excellent book on books, and, for a book published in 1989, it looks ahead to the kind of organization you see on the Internet. Text-wise it's hyperlinked, as any book you like, will be augmented with charts of books that you also might like depending on what aspect of the book pleased you.

I loved trolling through this book, and Kenneth McLeish's mini-commentaries are enticing without providing too much information.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you follow that truly great read? The Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide is an excellent resource on what book to read and what book to read next. Rennison has organized the guide according to start points, pathways and books on a theme. A variety of genre's are represented from biographies, memoirs, crime, historical novels, thrillers, sci-fi, travel, 'literary fiction', and poetry. One could not ask for a more comprehensive resource.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c2009: Nice broad sweeps across genre and age. Has given me some good ideas for the TBR list and reminded me of some books that I had read a while ago. Recommended for book junkies.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something strange about getting book recommendations from a book. In some ways, it is like a friend or maybe browsing in a library.

It makes is so much easier than going into a section in a bookstore and being ghettoized and having a hard time finding an interesting book to read that is more sideways than another thriller. Sure, the curated tables or the amazon recommendations do provide some sort of pathway but they tend to be the road more traveled and worn. What if you want to find another book that has Wittgenstein as either a character or talking about his philosophy? Or maybe the same city that shows up in a crime novel, a romance and historical fiction?

This kind of flipping through is way easier to make serendipitous connections. I miss going to the university library and looking on the new to this library shelf. It was a mix of old and new stretching across multiple disciplines. That doesn't happen any more.

Makes me wonder if when this isolation lifts whether I should get a card to the University of Toronto Library...

[Chris Waterford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had been sitting on my shelf for years, taking up space, so I finally decided to dust it off (2001 version) and read it. Even though it was quite dated, I enjoyed reading about authors that were familiar and authors unknown and was delighted to discover, in the book descriptions, both new authors and old books that I will search for in the secondhand and op shops that I frequent.

[Jurek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide to English fiction. Could have more about non-white authors.

[Karendale2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a book you read in the traditional sense. It is a good reference with a decidedly different editorial content than the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It is an A to Z reference by author punctuated by sections of Read On a Theme. It is a Bloomsbury book so it probably has an English (the King's) viewpoint. Pull quote on cover says "The 'Michelin guide' to the uncharted work of contemporary and 20th century writing."

[Eric Hines · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good place to get leads on other books to read. The choices are sometimes pretty personal, so I wish there were more material here to let me get to know the recommender, but I've had some success following his leads. Not as much of a pleasure to read as, say, Dirda's Readings or Book Lust, but pretty good. Fiction only.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was what I used to find books before I discovered "Goodreads". Really excellent reference book. I recommend it to anyone searching for books.

[Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saya ingin membaca semua buku yang disebutkan di buku ini T__T

lebih dari 350 pengarang beserta 3500 karyanya -_-

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good reference for what to read next, or who writes like... I keep going back to it when my reading list is getting short.

[Frances Greenhow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book introduced me to other different Genres and authors. Can't get enough of books about books.

[Judith Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love going back through this now and again - always gives me new ideas to read!