WHAT TO READ: The Essential Guide for Reading Group Members and Other Book Lovers by Mickey Pearlman List Price: $14.00 Pages: 351 Format: Paperback Genre: Nonfiction ISBN: 0060953136 Publisher: HarperPerennial

What to read next, what to read next? It's a question as old as Gutenberg, and it can reach crisis proportions when you find yourself faced with selecting books for a group of diverse, avid readers. With the explosion of reading groups in the last decade have come some books on the topic, most offering, along with their suggestions for starting a group, lists of reading choices. But which of these books offers choices that are good for your group? Let's face it --- only the most die-hard classicist will appreciate most of the titles on the Modern Library Top 100 list, and many are finding that Oprah's picks have a similarity that borders on monotony.    
  
Out of the plethora of "list" books a few titles stand out. One of these is WHAT TO READ by Mickey Pearlman, Ph.D. Pearlman has spent years gleaning book recommendations from academics and writers, book club members and leaders. From this collection she has put together an impressive assortment of 33 annotated lists that cover almost every reading category under the sun. There is mystery, sci-fi, war, sports, and biography --- even a category of children's books that adults might enjoy. She lists books by Native Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, Asians and a various assortment of other world cultures. Books from the 19th and early 20th Century rub shoulders with books by Jewish and gay authors. She breaks several of her categories down into works by men and works by women, in case you and your reading group have a special interest in one or the other. As a bonus, Pearlman includes special "dream lists" created by authors Margot Livesey, Sylvia Watanabe, and Jill McCorkle.  
  
One of the joys of paging through Pearlman's books is that she doesn't always go for the most popular title by an author. Her reading choice for Gunter Grass is CALL OF THE TOAD, rather than CAT AND MOUSE, and for D.H. Lawrence, she suggests THE RAINBOW and WOMEN IN LOVE, rather than LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER.  Another surprise in Pearlman's book is the atypical way she categorizes some authors. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is absent from the Mi Vida Latina section, but has entries in "Love is (Only Sometimes) a Many-Splendored Thing," "La, La, La, It's Magic," and also "Questioning the Miraculous." Thankfully, there are indexes in the back so you can easily look up your favorite author or title. For each book, Pearlman lists title and author, number of pages, date of publication and a brief description. In the interest of brevity, Pearlman often oversimplifies plots, but she makes her point about why each book was chosen.  
  
Pearlman also includes advice for those trying to start a book club. She offers suggestions from several real clubs: from very diverse groups that meet in libraries to more homogenous groups that gather in living rooms. Most of the groups she describes have been meeting for several years and most have a chosen (sometimes paid) leader who picks books and leads the discussion. However, with Pearlman's list as a guide, anyone with a couple of reading friends will be encouraged to start their own club. And if you're not in a club, but still find yourself wondering what to read next, pick up a copy of WHAT TO READ.  
  
   --- Reviewed by Liz Keuffer


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