A great introduction to some of the world's classics, it gives the first line, a short description and then a quote from author/reviewer/editor of the work. I'd heard of the majority, read quite a few, but the editors cast a pretty wide net, so there were a fair amount of which I had never heard. ( )

I encountered this book at a half-price book store ($3.00) and brought it home. Each day, it gives a brief introduction to one classic (or anticipated to become classic) book. This is a good way to daily stay in touch with what excites you about reading. It will add many books to your must-read list, and remind you of books you have read but haven't thought about in a while. ( )

I did read the entire book as intended, beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31. It introduced me to many books I'd never heard of and told me enough about all the books that I have a pretty good idea of what they're about. In this case, I'm not likely to pursue most of the books mentioned, simply because Ephron's taste in books is different enough from mine that I'm just not interested in most of her choices. I enjoyed how she arranged her summaries: if something about a book tied it to a particular date, the book was listed on that date. And her book gets only three stars from me mainly because in the end, it's a collection of 365 plot summaries (no, not set up for a leap year!) and that's as deep as it gets. Also, I wish she had listed the original publication date for all the books, which would've helped me get a feel for them. But overall, it was an interesting way to get through a year and I'm glad I read it. ( )