I'm not sure how to rate this because I feel confused on what exactly this is. I will give it another go but it does seem cool and informative.

Well I'd like to be a 'Mogul Diamond' about this book, and not do a 'Ripon'. It was great. OK, it doesn't always manage to be the most essential stuff – the list of the hunters of the Snark, and other things in books that might pass your way once or twice a life at most, is not absolutely vital. But this still packed a punch, with discussion of Oulipo, river novels, Nobel Laureates in public perception alone, authorial epitaphs and so much more. It had been years since I'd seen an update from the winners of the Bulwer Lytton Contest for bad opening lines, and they are still as suitably dreadful as you'd expect. We do only get two instances of what won the Bad Sex Award – but then, forty of them would be as stimulating as a soggy sock draped over a brick and covered in horse manure to be left on a radiator. Moist.

This is for the serious book lover who wants the daftest book discussion – the most trivial alongside the most erudite and canonical. The Pavolvian response to titles like these is that they are only preaching to the converted – a book about books for book lovers. But perhaps I should dismiss this verdict – just because they are book-based and for book-based mindsets doesn't make them bad whatsoever. This wasn't bad at all, it was a very enjoyable browse. Four and a half stars.

“Five thousand years ago, humans invented writing in order to write lists.”

I want this book. I mean, I want it on my coffee table, in hardcover, fabric-bound (is it fabric-bound? It should be). Elliot’s Book of Bookish Lists is perfect for the reader who finds themselves obsessively making lists.

It starts innocently enough: to-do lists, bucket lists, to-be-read lists. Soon you learn you can make “done” lists. Sometimes your lists are pretty - washi tape, calligraphy - and sometimes they are scribbled, maybe you’ll redo it as a beautiful spread one day, you argue.

Top Ten lists abound, and when you’ve exhausted the top ten of every genre, it becomes more obscure… and that’s where Elliot comes in.

A list of the worst opening lines of books (even more entertaining than bad pick-up lines).

A list of authors who had limbs amputated.

A list of cats of authors - and dogs of authors - and their names. (This was one of my favourites.)

Some of these lists will ring a bell, and some are entirely new, adding book after book to the TBR pile.

I not only want to own a copy of this book, I also want to make my own.

My criticism is that while Elliot is clearly very well read, and obviously focuses on acclaimed works and interesting authors, his mention of recent works is sparse, and at risk of alienating younger readers. It is concerning that “educated” and “well read” book lovers and critics do sometimes spurn younger readers, and the books they enjoy.

Of course, authors and their works become best known after their death, so perhaps this is not preventable, although it certainly sets the scene for some morose musings about the state of modern literature, and even the very reader’s own place in history.

Great trivia for bibliophiles

I love trivia, facts and figures that fill in the gaps and enrich understanding and this book of lists is full of them. I found more than a few new books to add to my list.

It’s more a book to dip into than read and could be useful for solving crosswords and pub quizzes too. This cornucopia of facts covers a wide range of subjects. From Roald Dahl testing chocolate confectionary as a child and then going on to write ‘Charlie and the Chocolate factory’, through to the prize winning worst opening lines and even Thespis winning a goat for the first greek tragedy, apparently ‘tragedy’ means goat song, and so much more in between.

If you love reading, books and trivia this book is well worth dipping into.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

I think this is a book which would be better in hard copy. The formatting on kindle is difficult to follow in places. That said, the content is a must fir anyone who loves book, lists, reading or quizzing. It’s totally random, but it’s one of those titles that once you pick it up, you find yourself going from one bit to another picking up the most amazing facts. It’s quirky and one to dip into at any time for a bit of learning or fun. I’ll be looking it out in paperback because it’s original and interesting.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley

I am most grateful to Netgalley and Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, Particular, Pelican, Penguin Classics for giving me the chance to read "Eliot's Book of Bookish Lists" in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a must have for every booworm who wants to have lists of both known and unknown facts regarding books.
A whole book dedicated to lists with the sole purpose of giving the reader facts and information that could contribute to the amount of general book knowledge about everything and anything. From list of peculiar narrators, the names of the 101 dalmatians, lists of existing book titles you've (probably) never heard off, the middle names of authors you always wondered about, whatever possible question you've had regarding books, libraries, authors, book characters, this book has a list for it.

The amount of times I found myself saying 'wow, I never heard of this" or "I didn't know this" and "that's information I need to boast about knowing to someone" was surreal, which made this book an amazing read for me.

It would definetely be the gift you get your bookworm friend if you don't know what book to pick, because you simply can't go wrong with providing them with information that not most people have time to search and find on their own.

I think this was very interesting but unfortunately the kindle formatting was so chaotic I found it hard to make sense of a lot of it. What I could gather, I enjoyed. Famous cats, size of books (genuinely interested - I had custom made bookshelves and was very particular about the height of them.)

In saying that though, I’m going to try and get hold of a physical copy.

As a bibliophile, I found this book very intriguing. Full of interesting facts and fun anecdotes, this is a great book to pick up and dip in and out of. This also makes a great gift for your book loving friends.

Hours of harmless fun. A must-read for all of us who love books AND lists. Quirky, eccentric, personal and random. Perfect.

Thank you for letting me read this book. It is a cute little book full of lists where I think every one can find a list that interests them.

I love books of miscellany and tidbits I can squirrel away in my brain and as an avid reader I thought his would be an excellent title to add to the collection. Unfortunately, this one did not hit the mark with me.

The lists were quite random and often did not have an explanatory preamble to help me enjoy or given them any context. The formatting was also a little odd on my Kindle which did not help. I don't think this is a book I will be returning to in a hurry.

Very different than what I was expecting but still intriguing. It's random lists about all kinds of things books, classical literature and popular literature. I'd prefer this as a physical copy though as it's something you skim through, read a little here and there but definitely not cover to cover.

This was an interesting book. This book must contain something that everyone has ever wanted to know. It has list of banned books, lists of titles based on poems and information lists like explaining a few publishers logos. It even explains how book isbn numbers are produced a fact I never knew. I also loved the dewy system. A few lists had me a bit confused as to what they were about. I think some lists could do with an explanation. There were some interesting science lists including how moons or creaters on the moon were named after fictional characters. List of authors and the animals and there pets name. Definitely useful for those who like naming their animals after authors pets. This would make a great gift for book lover especially those who love poetry, literary fiction and classics, but there is something for everyone. I think this book would of flowed alot better if the lists were organised into hatters based on type of list or genres. Some of this lists are very interesting but some just seem to be there to pad out the book a bit. I actually expected lists on top books to read etc. I enjoyed reading it but I am not sure I would reread it or find it useful enough to keep after reading. I actually rated this book 3.5 stars rounded up as it is better than an average rating. 

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating an interesting list of bookish thing. That I learnt so much from.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads,waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/eliot-s-book-of-bookish-lists-by-henry-eliot-penguin-3-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

A book of lists that is utterly charming- a book side bed to dip in and out of in order to entertain and educate

Thanks to Net Gallery for the Book.
As Someone Who Loves to Make Lists that are informative, Inspiring & Quirky, This Book Suits Me & anyone who buys it to a T.

It' a lovely, bizarre, and eccentric book. It's perfect if you love lists and books about book.
Even if some formatting issue made it hard to read it was a lovely book.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Deliciously Eccentric…
A miscellany is quite correct - hundreds of lists to appeal to bibliophiles of all types are contained in this seemingly randomly selected and oft haphazard tome. The author has scoured the history books and libraries of literature around the world to come up with a truly eclectic mix. Fun and frivolous, entertaining and engaging, deliciously eccentric and sometimes perfectly bonkers, and complete with maps and illustrations, this will appeal to book lovers everywhere.

I love books about books and I love a good list so this should have been a winner for me, but there was a lot wrong with it, for me.

Starting with the positives though, it is only 160 pages long so it’s perfect for a quick dip in and out read. It is full of some interesting facts which is good, it makes it slightly more informative.

Unfortunately, the formatting of this e-copy was a bit off which made it quite difficult to read. I’m sure it’ll be fixed for the final copy, but it did make the experience quite hard. One of the biggest selling points for the book was the images and maps it had, but again, due to the formatting of it, those were lost amongst the haphazardness.

The majority of the books chosen are older books, there are a handful of modern ones, and whilst I can’t say that’s a complete negative, it did feel a bit unbalanced because of it.

It’s quite haphazard, not very coherent. The lists don’t seem to link, it simply jumps from one to the next. On the same page you’ll read bad openings, followed directly by bad sex scenes and then poems. It’s a bit all over the place. I also found it a bit dull and monotonous. Now, this could be because I tried to read it all in one sitting as a long piece of prose, and maybe it’s been written that you come and go and therefore you don’t get that chance to be bored.

I agree with other reviewers that say it would be a good gift for a literature story or extreme bibliophile, but for the average reader, it’s not that pleasant or interesting a read.

It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be lists of books he liked, ones he didn’t, books that contained particular characters or themes etc. but it was all a bit higgledy piggledy and fell flat.

I’m glad I’ve been given the opportunity to read it but I won’t be rushing to recommend it.

You can't beat a good list and if it's an entire book of lists about books then that's even better right? Well, yes and no.
Let me start by saying this book would make an excellent coffee table book that you can dip in and out of. I made the mistake of trying to read it in one go, and the format then felt a bit same-ish.
I enjoyed the quirkiness of the book - the list of terms about reading, the list of worst written sex scenes etc. I also learnt a lot from the lists - who knew "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" was written in two and a half days? I do feel that the content of the book is heavily skewed towards classic literature, with very few modern publications included and after I noticed that, the omission of more recent books started to irritate me. All in all, it's a good book for someone with space on their coffee table and a love of classic literature, or as a secret santa gift for your book group or biliophile friends.

Thanks to Henry Eliot, his publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the idea of this book: lists drawn from literature. It is clear Eliot has achieved something impressive, referencing literature far and wide. I can’t begin to imagine the process by which he did this.

The introduction was brilliant, outlining the human need for compiling and sorting
in this manner. This would be a beautiful book to physically have but the beautiful illustrations, map and thoughtful layout translate really well on a digital device and only enhanced the reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will post my review to good reads as soon as they have uploaded this book to their library. I have placed a formal request for this.