A book that was bound to catch my eye in the library. I love books like this and I love them even more if they have modern classics as well as older classics. There were even some books that I have read.

Pre-1800

1800-1872

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

1870-1920

Tess of the d'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

1920-1950

Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

1950-1980

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

1980-present

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Each book has at least a double page spread, sometimes showing the front cover of the first edition, a picture of the author, summary of the book, a quote and then other information that adds context. In the case of Half of a Yellow Sun there is a description of symbolism of the national flag, half a yellow sun, the civil war and the starvation described as the struggle to survive. It's quite simple and if you have discussed the book at book club, My Brilliant Friend, you will have moved considerably further than this book.

It's beautiful but the content is a little disappointing. I think it might be a book for those people who want to talk about books that are important but don't want to spend the time reading it. ( )