ON HALLIE'S REVIEW

We love it, and we know you'll love it, and now, the Boston Globe loves it. And we could not resist sharing this wonderful review of Hallie's latest. We're still talking about "stuff" in the blog below...but take a look at this before you reveal your latest triumph of organization! (And this is not even the whole review--go to Hallie's site to read every wonderful word. Thanks, Chuck Leddy!)

Sad, mad, glad, and beyond: What to read in any mood

By Chuck Leddy
July 7, 2008

Boston Globe book columnist Hallie Ephron's new book, a terrific reference guide for the mood-altering substances known as stories, offers a literary prescription for whatever ails you.

Ephron's book is organized into dozens of moods, and she offers several books to fit each of those moods. For every book, Ephron offers a capsule description and rates the book on its literary merit, level of reading difficulty, and other criteria. "Think of it as mood therapy in a book," writes Ephron, "and your personal guide to the outstanding, funny, sad, thrilling, inspiring, mind-bending . . . books of our times."

If, for example, you're in the mood for a good laugh, Ephron offers 10 books from Evelyn Waugh's "Scoop" (a satirical skewering of British tabloid journalism) to Erma Bombeck's "If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?" ....

Taking the opposite tack, if you're in the mood for a good cry, Ephron offers 17 books from the obvious, such as Toni Morrison's "Beloved" ("It's one of those books that burrows its way in and takes up residence in a dark place in your soul," explains Ephron), to the surprising, such as Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" .....

Several of the moods Ephron describes are quirky. She offers, for example, six great books for those in a mood "to go over the edge." Among these books about temporarily losing your mind are Susanna Kaysen's unforgettable "Girl, Interrupted," a memoir set in Belmont's McLean Hospital......Another "over the edge" recommendation is Jay McInerney's classic "Bright Lights, Big City," whose Manhattan protagonist gets dumped by his model wife, "loses his job, buys a ferret, tries to kill himself, and takes a limo ride with a cocaine magnate." ...

Those in a mood for thrills are offered eight spine-tinglers, including Peter Benchley's "Jaws" and Thomas Harris's "The Silence of the Lambs," the novel that made Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter a household name. Ephron mixes in nonfiction books too, recommending Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster" for literary thrill seekers.

Whether you're in the mood for love, mystery, adventure, or inspiration, Ephron has a book for you. "1,001 Books For Every Mood" might best be described as a reference guide to great reading that acts as a best friend or a friendly, phenomenally well-read librarian who's there to point you in the right direction for reading pleasure. If, as Emily Dickinson wrote, books are like sailing ships, then Ephron offers one that will transport you to wherever you'd like to go.

Read more here!
https://mail.whdh.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?RL=http://www.hallieephron.com/1001books/

And Hallie always wants to know--what books would you have included?

PS: Tomorrow--the delightful (and very successful) Lorraine Bartlett!