I wasn’t planning to review this book, figuring I’d be too embarrassed to write about it (or admit I had read it). After all, the author has sex with her husband every day for an entire year. Not my typical reading material. But after I started reading, I realized that other women need to hear Muller’s message. The book is really a memoir of her entire marriage, not just that one year. It’s reassuring to know that many people run up against the same obstacles in their marriages. This is a great book to read for any married woman, especially if you have kids (which I don’t, but it was still relevant!).

Highly recommended for any lover of books. Fadiman is a superb essay writer, discussing everything from marrying libraries to sesquipedalians (one of my all-time favorite words). A reminder that all of us bibliophiles are not alone – there are others out there who have quirks just as weird as ours!

I finished To Kill a Mockingbird yesterday (well, last week, by the time you read this). My thoughts are still formulating, slowly and solemnly, so I'll just share some of the impressions that stuck with me as I read.

This is a book I'm glad I first experienced as an adult. I know many people first read it as a high school assignment. While I would have enjoyed the chance to discuss the book, I'm not sure a high school English class would have been the best place for that. This is a profound book, and required reading tends to ruin the impact a book can have on someone's life. As an adult, I could fully enjoy the many layers of this story without being forced to analyze. I'm also quite sure I understood more than I would have as a high schooler. And I fully plan to read this book again later in my life so I can delve even deeper into the layers of the story.

It was a brilliant decision on Harper Lee's part to tell this story from Scout's point of view. She sees the world as it should be, without prejudice or other people's opinions to color her view. It also makes those times when Atticus explains something to her equally as brilliant because of the way he needs to explain them so she understands. Children see truth, right through the facades of adults. I don't believe this book would have such a powerful impact if it had been told from the viewpoint of another character. That being said, however, I would love to get inside Atticus' or Boo Radley's or Tom Robinson's head and see the story from their side.

I don't know why it took me so long to pick this book up, but I am incredibly glad that I did. These are characters that will stay with me for a very long time, living in a story that touches us even today. And what a poignant story it is.

So I've been looking for a way to show in more detail what I like about the books I read. Sometimes it doesn't come out very clearly in the review. Sometimes I spend more time focusing on what I didn't like, even though there are some definite positive things about the book. To solve this problem, I am now introducing the 5* Elements.

For each book review I post on Smiling Shelves, I’ll include a list of those things that I absolutely loved about the book (well, only if it deserves them). For an absolutely amazing book, this will show what was so absolutely amazing about it. For a just plain good (or maybe not-so-good) book, this can show the redeeming features, things that were absolutely amazing even if the book as a whole is not. In other words, it doesn't have to be a five star book to have some 5* Elements.

Here are the general categories I’m thinking of right now:

• Lovable or fascinating or well-developed characters
• An interesting or twisty plot
• Learning (for the nonfiction books)
• Voice (I’m a sucker for a first-person narrative with a good voice.)
• Wonderful writing
• Atmosphere (This means a bit more than just the setting to me, but setting is a large part of it.)
• Deeper meaning

So how do the 5* Elements help you? Well, you know your own reading preferences. If you read books because of the characters, then look for my book reviews with a 5* Element of Character. If you love plot twists, look for that 5* Element. If, like me, you’ll pick up a book just because someone said they loved the character’s voice, then the ones with a 5* Element of Voice are for you! I’ll also be tagging my reviews with the various 5* Elements, so you can eventually click on the tag and have a whole list of books with that particular element.

I’d love some feedback from you, especially as this system gets going. Does it work? Is it helpful? What are some other 5* Elements that you’d like to see?