Check These Out: One Librarian’s Catalog of the 200 Coolest, Best, and Most Important Books You’ll Ever Read

Check These Out is a bookworm’s road-map to libraries and bookstores everywhere. Librarian and author Gina Sheridan has created a list of 200 must-read novels, short story collection, and graphic novels. While this book compiles a variety of genres and type of works, it is by no means all-inclusive. Instead, the Sheridan has gathered her favorite reads and organized them into a more subject based system of chapters that pays very little attention to genre or style of writing. Each synopsis includes a captivating glimpse into the plot of the story and offers tidbits of information on the authors themselves. Some entries also include excerpts from the book that gives you a taste of the writing you will find in that book.

While being overall very pleased with this book and quite eager to read many of the titles included, there are a few things that seem to have been overlooked: First, the chapters are not organized by genre, nor is a genre given in the description (many you can determine from the synopsis, but this is still more convoluted than was probably necessary). This means more research for me when I come across titles I don’t recognize, because—while I’m a multi-genre reader—I like to know what I’m getting myself into before I commit. Secondly, the master list in the back of the book fails to indicate which page the title is actually featured on, which makes it difficult to track down the synopsis if the title intrigues you or want a refresher.