This was a freebie I picked up somewhere, and I was arrested by the bright yellow cover. I know James Patterson is a popular author, so I thought it would at least be entertaining. And it was!
Each person's entry was an individual essay, and the essays were divided into categories. Actually, the categories made no sense at all; hello, was there an editor home? but it didn't really matter, because each essay was fairly interesting in and of itself.
Some of the essayists were booksellers and some were librarians. All of them had interesting vignettes to share about their reading and recommending lives. What became a little annoying was that someone obviously told them to write in the present tense, even though they were recounting past experiences. It was a little strange.
I've kept the book around, though, because several of them mention their favorite authors and some of their favorite books. I thought it would be handy to explore some of their recommendations, but I wish I had marked them as I read the book, because I'm having trouble finding them now...
This kind of book is convenient for me, though, because I can read an essay or two and then go to sleep. I don't get hung up on a long plot. It occurs to me, though, that I might want to gift this to my friend Sally Mielke, who is a retired librarian. She might like it...
