Book Review: Ex Libris

This book is gorgeous! I may have been the first to obtain our library's copy. It would look lovely on a coffee table - if I had a coffee table, ha! Here is the back-cover description:

"In Ex Libris, the Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic Michiko Kakutani shares her enthusiasm for more than 100 books: novels and memoirs by some of today's most gifted writers, favorite classics worth reading or rereading, and nonfiction works that illuminate our social and political landscape and such pressing issues as climate change, medicine, and the consequences of digital innovation. With Dana Tanamachi's richly detailed illustrations that evoke vintage bookplates, Ex Libris is a timely reminder of why reading matters more than ever."

I have only read a fourth of the titles on Kakutani's list. Moreover, I do not share her political perspectives. Still, this book provided a thrilling peek into many noteworthy titles and increased my ever-growing list of books-to-read. It enticed me to add titles like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Roz Chast's Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit, Mary Karr's The Liar's Club, Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs, and Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. Her descriptions are delightful and her bookish-enthusiasm breathtaking.