Fifty Thought-Provoking Books with Micro-Reviews and Ratings

In August 2009, Associated Content Contributor extraordinaire Christine Zibas published Fifty Favorite Books and Their Six-Word Reviews. This clever article provided titles, authors, and micro-reviews for fifty books recommended by Ms. Zibas. Frankly, it was as much fun reading her teensy reviews for books I was familiar with as it was learning about unfamiliar books. Based on the comments, others felt the same. Her most clever micro-review may have been the one for Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: "All men should be Mr. Darcy." Here, here!

Ms. Zibas issued a challenge in her second sentence: "I hope a lot more readers will do this." I don't know if "a lot more" readers responded to the call, but below is my response. In fact, I am exceeding her challenge by providing not only micro-reviews of fifty books, but also ratings. These are not my favorite fifty books; in fact I did not like some of these books. My list includes fifty books appropriate for a general readership that I have read and remember. My list includes many of my favorites, but also some clunkers I will warn you about.

Each book is rated on a four-star scale as follows:

**** Highly recommended! Read it soon!

*** Recommended, read it if it appeals to you

** OK, read it at your own risk

* Not recommended, avoid it if possible

Fiction is noted with an "(F)" and non-fiction with an "(N)". Without further ado, here is the list:

The Metamorphosis**** (F)
Franz Kafka
Man becomes insect, body and soul.

Open**** (N)
Andre Agassi
Image is everything, except on court

Charlotte's Web**** (F)
E.B. White
Some pig, some spider, some story!

Little Women*** (F)
Louisa May Alcott
1800's, Massachusetts sisters growing up

Thank You for Smoking**** (F)
Christopher Buckley
Greed, hypocrisy, high jinx, and smoking

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society*** (F)
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Survived German occupation with books, friendship

The Long Walk Home** (N)
Nelson Mandela
Important but endlessly detailed saga, long!

Emma**** (F)
Jane Austen
Young busybody: growing pains, finds love

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People*** (N)
Steven Covey
Obvious but profound, re-read it often

Gift from the Sea*** (N)
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Wealthy woman, tumultuous life, seeks respite

Notes from a Small Island**** (N)
Bill Bryson
Transplanted American retraces introduction to Britain

Northanger Abbey**** (F)
Jane Austen
Gothic horror meets Georgian youthful romance

Life of Pi* (F)
Yann Martel
Forget awards, it's tedious, frustrating allegory

Nicholas Nickleby*** (F)
Charles Dickens
Characters, subplots, tragedy, redemption, ultra Dickensian

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World*** (N)
Vicki Myron and Bret Witter
Charming to a fault, easy read

The Little Prince**** (F)
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Planets, kingdoms, whimsical, excellent life lessons

Les Miserables*** (F)
Victor Hugo
The dense original: story without music

1984*** (F)
George Orwell
Future society imperfect, big brother watching

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel**** (F)
Jonathan Safran Foer
Boy seeks answers, healing after 9/11

Dispatches from the Edge:
A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival** (N)
Anderson Cooper
Global ambulance chaser successfully avoids introspection

The English American: A Novel**** (F)
Alison Larkin
Cross-pond adoption, personal discovery, autobiographical

My Freshman Year*** (N)
Rebekah Nathan
Anthropology professor goes undercover, studies natives

Mutant Message Down Under*** (F?N? ambiguous!)
Marlo Morgan
American woman learns wisdom of aborigines

Gone with the Wind**** (F)
Margaret Mitchell
Sweeping civil war drama, must read!

American on Purpose*** (N)
Craig Ferguson
Zany Scottish comic gets serious, poignant

As I Lay Dying* (F)
William Faulkner
Grim, morbid, was there a point?

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation*** (N)
Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
Not a comic book, exceptionally powerful

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (or Philosopher's) Stone**** (F)
J. K. Rowling
Boy wizard, launch of fabulous franchise

The Bookseller of Kabul*** (N)
Asne Seierstad
Nuanced portrait of Afghani patriarch/bookseller

The Glass Castle**** (N)
Jeanette Walls
Stunning memoir, triumph over childhood deprivation

A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton*** (N)
Carl Bernstein
Watergate sleuth unearths facts, connects dots

Maisie Dobbs**** (F)
Jacqueline Winspear
Female detective in London between wars

An Unquiet Mind*** (N)
Kay Redfield Jamison
Prominent psychiatrist confesses her own bipolarity

Ladder of Years*** (F)
Anne Tyler
Baltimore wife runs away, starts over

The Killer Angels*** (F/N)
Michael Shaara
Gettysburg battle novel eerily authentic, moving

Seeing** (F)
Jose Saramago
Citizens submit blank ballots, government over-reacts

On Writing *** (N)
Stephen King
Prolific novelist reveals tricks of trade

The Flame Trees of Thika*** (N)
Elspeth Huxley
British girl growing up in Kenya

Growing Up*** (N)
Good TImes
Russell Baker
Journalist's mellow memoirs, Baltimore, London, New York

Moo**** (F)
Jane Smiley
Hysterical send-up of state college life

The Doonesbury Chronicles**** (F)
Gary Trudeau
Collection of classic Trudeau, sheer genius

A Room With a View*** (F)
E. M. Forster
Wonderful film based on wonderful book

Carpool*** (F)
Mary Cahill
Clever first novel, suburban mid-life crises

Excellent Women*** (F)
Barbara Pym
Subtle comedy of manners, Britain 1950's

Nickel and Dimed:
On (Not) Getting by in America*** (N)
Barbara Ehrenreich and Frances Fox Piven
Difficult lives of the working poor

A Plague on Both Your Houses**** (F)
Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles #1
Susanna Gregory
Murder mystery series, Cambridge University mid-1300's

The Kings of New York*** (N)
Michael Weinreb
NYC public high school chess team

White Widow*** (F)
Jim Lehrer
Texas bus driver has disconcerting fantasies

Boomsday**** (F)
Christopher Buckley
Outrageous proposal to solve Social Security crisis

The Last Lecture**** (N)
Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
CMU professor realizes his childhood dreams