Fiction_L Archives Nonfiction RA Dates: 5/8/02,8:49 PM  through  7/29/02,2:42 PM  (22 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to May 2002 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: Julia Henderson <[removed]@kcls.org>
REC'D: 5/8/02, 8:49 PM

I'd like to add my 2 cents to the RA discussion by saying don't forget non-
fiction! I know this is a Fiction-L listserv, but in the general RA
discussions, I've only seen a few people mention non-fiction, and usually as
something that gets in the way of reading for RA. Is RA somehow defined as
only RA for fiction? I hope not! I read a lot of fiction AND non-fiction, and
find my favorite RA interactions are for non-fiction. I've always had a hard
time with names, and I'm better at remembering non-fiction subjects than
fiction authors; maybe that's why. At any rate, remember your NF-reading
patrons!

Julia Henderson
Federal Way Regional Library
King County Library System

FROM: "M. Wms." <[removed]@adelphia.net>
REC'D: 5/8/02, 9:33 PM

Julia,

I agree with you. I'm just a patron, not a librarian, and while
about 50% of my reading is mysteries, 40% is non-fiction (including
reference books, which I enjoy as entertainment), and 10%
fictionalised non-fiction (like _The Nanny Dairies_, which I am
loving). I really appreciate a librarian who can recommend
/non-bestseller/ non-fiction based on my eclectic interests. I have
a couple of examples and maybe someone on the list could make a
suggestion for me:

* more books that read like Thomas Merton's journals
* more books that read like Ned Rorem's diaries
* funny or really engaging books about living abroad as an expat,
either now or in the 1920s
* more like _Lying Awake_ by Mark Saltzman (which actually is
fiction but reads like it's not)
* more like Alice Koller's _An Unknown Woman_ (and her follow-up to
that, _The Stations of Solitude_, was not nearly as good, I thought)
* another book like Noel Coward's one novel, _Pomp and Circumstance_
(which was fiction, but something similar could be fiction or non- )
* a readable cultural history of NYC, esp. in the early part of the
20th century (I have _American Moderns_ already)
* the most readable Noam Chomsky book (on politics, not linguistics)

I could go on but I'll stop!

~ Molly Wms.
--
Molly Williams
Volunteer, Waterboro Public Library (Maine)
daily library weblog: http://www.waterboro.lib.me.us/blog.htm

Julia Henderson wrote:

> I'd like to add my 2 cents to the RA discussion by saying don't forget non-
> fiction! I know this is a Fiction-L listserv, but in the general RA
> discussions, I've only seen a few people mention non-fiction, and usually as
> something that gets in the way of reading for RA. Is RA somehow defined as
> only RA for fiction? I hope not! I read a lot of fiction AND non-fiction, and
> find my favorite RA interactions are for non-fiction. I've always had a hard
> time with names, and I'm better at remembering non-fiction subjects than
> fiction authors; maybe that's why. At any rate, remember your NF-reading
> patrons!
>
> Julia Henderson
> Federal Way Regional Library
> King County Library System
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>
>

FROM: "BookBitch" <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 7:35 AM

* funny or really engaging books about living abroad as an expat, either now
or in the 1920s

Under the engaging rather than humorous umbrella would be Blood Washes
Blood: A True Story of Love, Murder, and Redemption Under the Sicilian Sun
by Frank Viviano about an American journalist who goes to Sicily to find his
roots. An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser may be more of a stretch. It's
the memoir of an American woman going through a divorce who consoles herself
by having an affair with a married Parisian with whom she travels throughout
Europe.

More humorous titles include a new one, Ciao America: An Italian Discovers
the U.S. by Beppe Severgnini that you may enjoy, although it is the converse
of what you're asking for. More along the lines of what you want are the
Provence books by Peter Mayle; A Year in Provence, Toujours Provence, Encore
Provence etc. Also the Tuscany books by Frances Mayes; Under the Tuscan Sun
and Bella Tuscany, and all of Bill Bryson. You might also enjoy:
A House in Corfu : A Family's Sojourn in Greece by Emma Tennant
Still Life in Crete by Anthony Cox
A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain
On Rue Tatin : Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Beyond the Last Village : A Journey of Discovery in Asia's Forbidden
Wilderness by Alan Rabinowitz
River Town : Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
Iron & Silk by Mark Salzman - It's about Mr. Salzman's two years spent
living in China, teaching English to Chinese doctors. It was made into a
film and is available on video.

Which segues nicely to...

* more like _Lying Awake_ by Mark Saltzman (which actually is fiction but
reads like it's not)

I would recommend all of Salzman's works, if you haven't read them. He
writes fiction and nonfiction, including two memoirs, the one mentioned
above and Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia. His other novels are
excellent as well, I especially recommend the Soloist.

Another book that explores nuns from a very different viewpoint is Altar
Music, written by a former nun, Christin Lore Weber.

Stacy Alesi
Southwest County Regional Library
Palm Beach County Library System

I am the BookBitch
www.bookbitch.com

FROM: "M. Wms." <[removed]@adelphia.net>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 9:42 AM

Thank you Stacy! Obviously a librarian who knows her non-fiction.
I've read the Peter Mayle books (and seen the videos) and _A Cook's
Tour_ has been on my TBR list but the others are new to me and much
appreciated!

~ Molly Wms.
--
Molly Williams
Volunteer, Waterboro Public Library (Maine)
daily library weblog: http://www.waterboro.lib.me.us/blog.htm

BookBitch wrote:

> * funny or really engaging books about living abroad as an expat, either now
> or in the 1920s
>
> Under the engaging rather than humorous umbrella would be Blood Washes
> Blood: A True Story of Love, Murder, and Redemption Under the Sicilian Sun
> by Frank Viviano about an American journalist who goes to Sicily to find his
> roots. An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser may be more of a stretch. It's
> the memoir of an American woman going through a divorce who consoles herself
> by having an affair with a married Parisian with whom she travels throughout
> Europe.
>
> More humorous titles include a new one, Ciao America: An Italian Discovers
> the U.S. by Beppe Severgnini that you may enjoy, although it is the converse
> of what you're asking for. More along the lines of what you want are the
> Provence books by Peter Mayle; A Year in Provence, Toujours Provence, Encore
> Provence etc. Also the Tuscany books by Frances Mayes; Under the Tuscan Sun
> and Bella Tuscany, and all of Bill Bryson. You might also enjoy:
> A House in Corfu : A Family's Sojourn in Greece by Emma Tennant
> Still Life in Crete by Anthony Cox
> A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain
> On Rue Tatin : Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susan Herrmann Loomis
> Beyond the Last Village : A Journey of Discovery in Asia's Forbidden
> Wilderness by Alan Rabinowitz
> River Town : Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
> Iron & Silk by Mark Salzman - It's about Mr. Salzman's two years spent
> living in China, teaching English to Chinese doctors. It was made into a
> film and is available on video.
>
> Which segues nicely to...
>
> * more like _Lying Awake_ by Mark Saltzman (which actually is fiction but
> reads like it's not)
>
> I would recommend all of Salzman's works, if you haven't read them. He
> writes fiction and nonfiction, including two memoirs, the one mentioned
> above and Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia. His other novels are
> excellent as well, I especially recommend the Soloist.
>
> Another book that explores nuns from a very different viewpoint is Altar
> Music, written by a former nun, Christin Lore Weber.
>
> Stacy Alesi
> Southwest County Regional Library
> Palm Beach County Library System
>
> I am the BookBitch
> www.bookbitch.com
>
>
>
>
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>
>

FROM: Sarah Nagle <[removed]@co.carver.mn.us>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 1:13 PM

I, too, feel that nonfiction definitely should be included as RA. It is,
after all, the telling of a good story. I haven't found much on the net but
there is www.nonfictionreviews.com which lists some new books (and short
blurbs) in several categories.

Re expatriates - this book isn't humorous, BUT, as a patron said, "It reads
just like a novel!": EVERYBODY WAS SO YOUNG by Amanda Vaill, the story of
Sara and Gerald Murphy, an American couple in 1920's Paris who knew and
influenced "everybody".

FROM: "M. Wms." <[removed]@adelphia.net>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 2:28 PM

Sarah,

Thanks for the book recommendation. It sounds great. It's on my
Amazon wishlist now. :-)

~ Molly

--
Molly Williams
Volunteer, Waterboro Public Library (Maine)
daily library weblog: http://www.waterboro.lib.me.us/blog.htm

> Re expatriates - this book isn't humorous, BUT, as a patron said, "It reads
> just like a novel!": EVERYBODY WAS SO YOUNG by Amanda Vaill, the story of
> Sara and Gerald Murphy, an American couple in 1920's Paris who knew and
> influenced "everybody".
>

FROM: Meg Justus <[removed]@pcl.lib.wa.us>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 2:38 PM

* funny or really engaging books about living abroad as an expat,
either now or in the 1920s

Look for Bill Bryson's earlier books, esp. Notes from a Small Island (about
Great Britain) and Neither Here nor There (about continental Europe). Just
don't read them in a public place unless you plan on embarrassing yourself
by choking with laughter.

Neither Here nor There is really about just traveling, but Notes is about an
expat about to go home to the States saying good-bye to his adopted country.

Meg Justus
Pierce County Library, WA

FROM: David Wright <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 10:39 PM

That article on R.A. in the law library can
currently be found online at
http://www.aallnet.org/products/2001_25.pdf

David Wright
Seattle Public Library
--- Sarah Nagle <[removed]@co.carver.mn.us> wrote:
> I, too, feel that nonfiction definitely should
> be included as RA. It is,
> after all, the telling of a good story. I
> haven't found much on the net but
> there is www.nonfictionreviews.com which lists
> some new books (and short
> blurbs) in several categories.
>
> Re expatriates - this book isn't humorous, BUT,
> as a patron said, "It reads
> just like a novel!": EVERYBODY WAS SO YOUNG by
> Amanda Vaill, the story of
> Sara and Gerald Murphy, an American couple in
> 1920's Paris who knew and
> influenced "everybody".
>
>
......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th!
http://shopping.yahoo.com

FROM: David Wright <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 5/9/02, 10:39 PM

There is a nice article - one of the first I've
seen - on "Readers' Advisory and Nonfiction" by
Robert Burgin in 'The Readers' Advisor's
Companion', just out from L.U. Another
interesting piece on a non-traditional RA topic
is 'Good Reads in the Law Library' by an
ex-colleague of mine, Mary Whisner - for those
who think RA doens't apply in Special Libraries.

David Wright
Seattle Public Library

--- Sarah Nagle <[removed]@co.carver.mn.us> wrote:
> I, too, feel that nonfiction definitely should
> be included as RA. It is,
> after all, the telling of a good story. I
> haven't found much on the net but
> there is www.nonfictionreviews.com which lists
> some new books (and short
> blurbs) in several categories.
>
> Re expatriates - this book isn't humorous, BUT,
> as a patron said, "It reads
> just like a novel!": EVERYBODY WAS SO YOUNG by
> Amanda Vaill, the story of
> Sara and Gerald Murphy, an American couple in
> 1920's Paris who knew and
> influenced "everybody".
>
>
......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

=====
David Wright Seattle Public Library

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th!
http://shopping.yahoo.com

FROM: Kaite Mediatore <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 5/11/02, 11:19 AM

This is a topic I've been stewing over for more than a year
now. How do you do Readers' Advisory for someone who enjoys
non-fiction? I've been getting this question quite a bit in
my RA training workshops as well from other library staff.

Here's an example: I had a workshop attendee who primarily
reads non-fiction for pleasure. She LOVED "Fast Food
Nation" and asked me what would I recommend to a patron who
read and enjoyed that book?

I was stumped. We've got great tools for suggesting further
reading in almost every fiction area imaginable, but where
would you start for a readalike for "Fast Food Nation"? Or
"Perfect Storm"? Or "Midnight in the Garden of Good and
Evil"? Or "The Professor and the Madman"?

Are the appeal factors for nonfiction the same as the
appeal factors for fiction? Wouldn't we want to take the
book's subject matter into consideration? Are the
non-fiction books that "read like fiction" the only ones
we'd be able to use for nonfiction RA because we can easily
identify the appeal characteristics? Is that even a term
some readers will want to hear since they specifically
asked for non-fiction?

Am I just rambling because it's Saturday morning, no one's
in the library yet and I've had two cups of coffee? :)

But seriously, folks, how do you all do RA for the patron
who wants non-fiction?

Kaite

=====
Kaite Mediatore, Reader's Services Librarian
KCKPL Main Branch
625 Minnesota Ave.
Kansas City, KS 66101
913.279.2067 fx 913.279.2032
[removed]@kckpl.lib.ks.us

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
http://launch.yahoo.com

FROM: "Deborah T. Walsh" <[removed]@geneva.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 5/11/02, 11:19 AM

Kaite Mediatore asked:

>>>How do you do Readers' Advisory for someone who enjoys non-fiction?

Our Readers' Advisory Desk and service is located in the middle of
the Fiction Room. We do not, as a rule, do non-fiction RA from that
desk.

When a person asks about non-fiction, we direct or walk them over to
the reference desk on the other side of the building (that's where
all the non-fiction is shelved anyway)

...UNLESS the book or topic they've mentioned happens to be in the
selection area of the RA staff member they've gotten by luck of the
draw on the Desk.

Most of my RA staff also work shifts at reference, and most of them
have non-fiction selection areas too. In that case, the individual
staff member might talk about what's new in the collection, and at
least initiate an RA transaction to get a sense of appeal
characteristics and subject interest so that a smooth referral can be
made when they reach the staff at reference. If "luck" doesn't work
here, we would make an immediate referral to the selector who might
be most appropriate, and if that person isn't available, he or she
follows up by phone with the patron. This doesn't seem to happen
very often, however.

In our library what we call readers' advisory service is focussed on
fiction. I realize that some readers want non-fiction, but
truthfully, we usually treat that as a reference question, by and
large, not readers' advisory.

Deborah T. Walsh
Geneva Public Library District
127 James Street
Geneva, IL 60134
[removed]@geneva.lib.il.us

FROM: Alan Ziebarth <[removed]@chipublib.org>
REC'D: 5/11/02, 11:51 AM

Kaite Mediatore wrote:

> This is a topic I've been stewing over for more than a year
> now. How do you do Readers' Advisory for someone who enjoys
> non-fiction? I've been getting this question quite a bit in
> my RA training workshops as well from other library staff.
>
> Here's an example: I had a workshop attendee who primarily
> reads non-fiction for pleasure. She LOVED "Fast Food
> Nation" and asked me what would I recommend to a patron who
> read and enjoyed that book?
>
> I was stumped. We've got great tools for suggesting further
> reading in almost every fiction area imaginable, but where
> would you start for a readalike for "Fast Food Nation"? Or
> "Perfect Storm"? Or "Midnight in the Garden of Good and
> Evil"? Or "The Professor and the Madman"?
>
> Are the appeal factors for nonfiction the same as the
> appeal factors for fiction? Wouldn't we want to take the
> book's subject matter into consideration? Are the
> non-fiction books that "read like fiction" the only ones
> we'd be able to use for nonfiction RA because we can easily
> identify the appeal characteristics? Is that even a term
> some readers will want to hear since they specifically
> asked for non-fiction?
>
> Am I just rambling because it's Saturday morning, no one's
> in the library yet and I've had two cups of coffee? :)
>
> But seriously, folks, how do you all do RA for the patron
> who wants non-fiction?
>
> Kaite
>
> =====
> Kaite Mediatore, Reader's Services Librarian
> KCKPL Main Branch
> 625 Minnesota Ave.
> Kansas City, KS 66101
> 913.279.2067 fx 913.279.2032
> [removed]@kckpl.lib.ks.us
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

You may want to look at the Summer and Christmas issue of the New York
Times
or the online magazine Salon for suggestions.

FROM: Heuer <[removed]@itol.com>
REC'D: 5/11/02, 2:32 PM

I don't read non-fiction but my husband does and that's where I get my RA
non-fiction practice. Now he is not everyman so helping him does not solve
all my RA requests for non-fic but it helps. The fiction selector I work
with at the RA desk also reads a lot of non-fiction (go-figure) and she is a
great source for recommended reading. By the way, my husband like Fast-food
Nation as well. After that he read Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour
both are by the same author who does not come to mind and I am at home
without a card catalog before me.

For some non-fiction RA, I just check the subject area that the book in
question is in and then skim the other titles in that area. Familiar titles
I have read about then pop out and I can suggest those as possible
readalikes.

--
Jeanne Heuer
Brown County Library
Green Bay, WI
[removed]@itol.com

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes, Art is knowing which ones
to keep." -anonymous

> From: Kaite Mediatore <[removed]@yahoo.com>
.org>
> Subject: RA for NF
>
> This is a topic I've been stewing over for more than a year
> now. How do you do Readers' Advisory for someone who enjoys
> non-fiction? I've been getting this question quite a bit in
> my RA training workshops as well from other library staff.
>
> Here's an example: I had a workshop attendee who primarily
> reads non-fiction for pleasure. She LOVED "Fast Food
> Nation" and asked me what would I recommend to a patron who
> read and enjoyed that book?
>
> I was stumped. We've got great tools for suggesting further
> reading in almost every fiction area imaginable, but where
> would you start for a readalike for "Fast Food Nation"? Or
> "Perfect Storm"? Or "Midnight in the Garden of Good and
> Evil"? Or "The Professor and the Madman"?
>
> Are the appeal factors for nonfiction the same as the
> appeal factors for fiction? Wouldn't we want to take the
> book's subject matter into consideration? Are the
> non-fiction books that "read like fiction" the only ones
> we'd be able to use for nonfiction RA because we can easily
> identify the appeal characteristics? Is that even a term
> some readers will want to hear since they specifically
> asked for non-fiction?
>
> Am I just rambling because it's Saturday morning, no one's
> in the library yet and I've had two cups of coffee? :)
>
> But seriously, folks, how do you all do RA for the patron
> who wants non-fiction?
>
> Kaite
>
>
> =====
> Kaite Mediatore, Reader's Services Librarian
> KCKPL Main Branch
> 625 Minnesota Ave.
> Kansas City, KS 66101
> 913.279.2067 fx 913.279.2032
> [removed]@kckpl.lib.ks.us
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>

FROM: Julia Henderson <[removed]@kcls.org>
REC'D: 5/11/02, 7:15 PM

How to do RA for NF? I would think it would be fairly similar -- assuming the
person is asking for a pleasure read, not simply information. Many aspects of
Fiction RA are not searchable in the catalog: good character development,
literary style, fast paced, Cuban author... These are aspects that require
some knowledge on our part of what's out there. You can apply the same sort
of thinking to NF RA. What did the patron like about the last book they
read? Was it astrophysics written in an accessible style? A heartwarming
tale of animal behavior fieldwork? History about how a scientific discovery
or natural disaster shaped human history? Take that information and try to
remember reviews and blurbs you read, covers you glanced at on the new book
rack. Subject searching and shelf browsing. And of course, use your co-
workers' knowledge!

I recently used my training in Fiction RA to help someone with a musical
question. He had listened to Handel's Messiah, and wanted something like
that. I decided to handle it like RA, and asked what he liked about it -- the
performers, the fact that it was choral, the baroque style, the religious
aspect... It worked! The patron returned and told me he was really pleased
with what we had picked out. So, the moral of the story is -- you can use
Fiction RA training for many kinds of patron advisory!

Julia Henderson
Federal Way Regional Library
King County Library System

FROM: [removed]@carmel.lib.in.us (Anika Williams)
REC'D: 5/12/02, 9:02 PM

_Kitchen Confidential_ is by Anthony Bourdain. I have frequently recommended this book to patrons who are looking for a "good" Biography to read.

The biggest thing that I do with non-fiction is just keep up-to-date on review reading as well as watching the bestseller lists. If there's not something well reviewed that I know I can recommend, I will send the patron down to the Reference desk.

Most people, in my experience, looking for a non-fiction recommendation will have a subject area that they are searching for, which makes it a little easier.

Anika Williams
Readers' Advisory Librarian
Carmel-Clay Public Library
http://www.carmel.lib.in.us

>I don't read non-fiction but my husband does and that's where I get my RA
>non-fiction practice. Now he is not everyman so helping him does not solve
>all my RA requests for non-fic but it helps. The fiction selector I work
>with at the RA desk also reads a lot of non-fiction (go-figure) and she is a
>great source for recommended reading. By the way, my husband like Fast-food
>Nation as well. After that he read Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour
>both are by the same author who does not come to mind and I am at home
>without a card catalog before me.

FROM: David Wright <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 5/12/02, 9:57 PM

I agree with the respondent who mentions
checking review literature for nonfiction -
although I haven't much cultivated the habit
myself, yet. I do skim the biography reviews for
titles that may be of interest to a few patrons I
work with who only read biographies.
I do think we can think of nonfiction in
terms of bot subject and appeal. Books with a
light or comic tone, armchair travel or
adventure, books with a strong story line, books
with a lot of intellectual content, books that
render complex subjects accessable and enjoyable
to the average person, books that inspire, books
that treat on current social issues - these are
all preferences I've heard or sensed from
nonfiction readers, and they don't have much to
do with specific subjects.
There are readers who just don't read
fiction as a policy, but are browsing nonfiction
on all kinds of subjects for something that looks
interesting. In our library the fiction and
nonfiction are on different floors, and I do
think it is useful to remind folks working
reference desks that not everyone up there is
looking for answers. Sometimes you'll begin what
you think is a reference interview, but patron's
question just doesn't seem to gel, and you
discover that the patron is just looking for a
good history book or a good biography. We know
this, but reference subject specialists sometimes
forget.
Perhaps we will start to see more attempts
at nonfiction readalikes in our resources and
review sources.
David Wright
Seattle Public Library

--- Kaite Mediatore <[removed]@yahoo.com> wrote:
> This is a topic I've been stewing over for more
> than a year
> now. How do you do Readers' Advisory for
> someone who enjoys
> non-fiction? I've been getting this question
> quite a bit in
> my RA training workshops as well from other
> library staff.
>
> Here's an example: I had a workshop attendee
> who primarily
> reads non-fiction for pleasure. She LOVED "Fast
> Food
> Nation" and asked me what would I recommend to
> a patron who
> read and enjoyed that book?
>
> I was stumped. We've got great tools for
> suggesting further
> reading in almost every fiction area
> imaginable, but where
> would you start for a readalike for "Fast Food
> Nation"? Or
> "Perfect Storm"? Or "Midnight in the Garden of
> Good and
> Evil"? Or "The Professor and the Madman"?
>
> Are the appeal factors for nonfiction the same
> as the
> appeal factors for fiction? Wouldn't we want to
> take the
> book's subject matter into consideration? Are
> the
> non-fiction books that "read like fiction" the
> only ones
> we'd be able to use for nonfiction RA because
> we can easily
> identify the appeal characteristics? Is that
> even a term
> some readers will want to hear since they
> specifically
> asked for non-fiction?
>
> Am I just rambling because it's Saturday
> morning, no one's
> in the library yet and I've had two cups of
> coffee? :)
>
> But seriously, folks, how do you all do RA for
> the patron
> who wants non-fiction?
>
> Kaite
>
>
> =====
> Kaite Mediatore, Reader's Services Librarian
>
> KCKPL Main Branch
> 625 Minnesota Ave.
> Kansas City, KS 66101
> 913.279.2067 fx 913.279.2032
> [removed]@kckpl.lib.ks.us
>
>
__________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
>
......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the
> archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
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FROM: "Lorie J. O'Donnell" <[removed]@midyork.lib.ny.us>
REC'D: 5/13/02, 4:18 PM

Here are three sites that I found which seem to do the job fairly well.
HTH.

Lorie

Readers Advisory - with many lists for non-fiction readers
http://sachem.suffolk.lib.ny.us/advisor/advisor.htm

Readers' Club
http://www.readersclub.org/category.asp?cat=2

If You Like... For non-fiction and biographies
http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Guides/IfYouLike/#Biographies

on 5/11/02 10:40 AM, Kaite Mediatore at [removed]@yahoo.com wrote:

> This is a topic I've been stewing over for more than a year
> now. How do you do Readers' Advisory for someone who enjoys
> non-fiction? I've been getting this question quite a bit in
> my RA training workshops as well from other library staff.
>
> Here's an example: I had a workshop attendee who primarily
> reads non-fiction for pleasure. She LOVED "Fast Food
> Nation" and asked me what would I recommend to a patron who
> read and enjoyed that book?
>
> I was stumped. We've got great tools for suggesting further
> reading in almost every fiction area imaginable, but where
> would you start for a readalike for "Fast Food Nation"? Or
> "Perfect Storm"? Or "Midnight in the Garden of Good and
> Evil"? Or "The Professor and the Madman"?
>
> Are the appeal factors for nonfiction the same as the
> appeal factors for fiction? Wouldn't we want to take the
> book's subject matter into consideration? Are the
> non-fiction books that "read like fiction" the only ones
> we'd be able to use for nonfiction RA because we can easily
> identify the appeal characteristics? Is that even a term
> some readers will want to hear since they specifically
> asked for non-fiction?
>
> Am I just rambling because it's Saturday morning, no one's
> in the library yet and I've had two cups of coffee? :)
>
> But seriously, folks, how do you all do RA for the patron
> who wants non-fiction?
>
> Kaite
>
>
> =====
> Kaite Mediatore, Reader's Services Librarian
> KCKPL Main Branch
> 625 Minnesota Ave.
> Kansas City, KS 66101
> 913.279.2067 fx 913.279.2032
> [removed]@kckpl.lib.ks.us
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.
A woman must do what he can't.
-Rhonda Hansome-

FROM: "christine jeffords" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 5/14/02, 9:48 AM

>
>Most people, in my experience, looking for a non-fiction recommendation
>will have a subject area that they are searching for, which makes it a
>little easier.
>

I think this is the major reason that RA tends to neglect nonfiction. Most
people read nonfiction because they're "ruminatin' for information," as John
Wayne's character Bob says in "Three Godfathers." They come into the
library knowing that they want, say, a biography of Winston Churchill, or a
history of China during the Han period, or a book about Greek sculpture, or
a cookbook with a focus on desserts, or what have you. Dewey Decimal will
usually point them to where they want to be, and they'll find a bunch of
books on the same subject all in one spot. But fiction is a very subjective
experience. People like, or don't like, romances, or sf, or British
mysteries, or this, or that. They like, or don't like, certain authors, and
have to be told/warned about others who are similar. And while *some*
libraries separate out their novels by genre, others don't--or not all
genres, anyway--which can make finding them a slow shelf-by-shelf process
unless the patron has some means of keeping up with what's new (or old).
Thus the RA person has to be much more up on novels than on fact books.
Just my opinion.

_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com

FROM: Vicki Novak - LIBRARYX <[removed]@MAIL.MARICOPA.GOV>
REC'D: 5/14/02, 4:52 PM

I like to read about half fiction, half nonfiction, and I agree that
reader's advisory for our nonfiction readers is generally somewhat
neglected. This discussion really made me consider the appeal factors of my
nonfiction reads. When I look for nonfiction pleasure reading, I am NOT
looking for specific subject matter. I just like books that are good reads.
I know everyone defines "good reads" differently, but for me, I mean that
it:

-is well-written (creative use of language is a plus)
-is engaging, not dry
-is fascinating: appeals to my curiosity
-has well-developed "characters"
-offers a vicarious experience
-appeals to the senses
-makes me think
-has a continuing story that makes me eager to get back to the book
-might be suspenseful
-could be humorous

Some nonfiction "genres" that we might consider recommending to patrons:
-biography, autobiography and diaries
-true crime
-travelogues or other true stories with a sense of place
-true medical accounts
-journalistic reportage or exposes
-short true stories
-humor
-essays
-accounts of overcoming adversity
-adventure or survival accounts

Here are some of the books I've enjoyed, loosely divided by type:

Biography
Angela's Ashes: a memoir by Frank McCourt
Having our say: the Delany sisters' first 100 years by Sarah and A.
Elizabeth Delany
Roommates: my grandfather's story by Max Apple

Sense of place
Going back to Bisbee by Richard Shelton
Desert wife by Hilda Faunce
The secret knowledge of water: discovering the essence of the American
desert by Craig Childs
Midnight in the garden of good and evil: a Savannah story by John Berendt
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

Medical accounts
The Blood of strangers: stories from emergency medicine by Frank Huyler
Learning how the heart beats: the making of a pediatrician by Claire
McCarthy
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales by Oliver
Sacks

Interesting experiences
Fifty acres and a poodle: a story of love, livestock and finding myself on a
farm by Jeanne Marie Laskas
The Cat who went to Paris by Peter Gethers
Nine lives: from stripper to schoolteacher: my year long odyssey in the
workplace by Lynn Snowden
Treasure: a New York Times reporter tracks the Quedlinburg hoard by William
H. Honan
Waiting: the true confessions of a waitress by Debra Ginsberg

Short true stories (inspirational, unusual or humorous)
I thought my father was God: and other true tales from NPR's National Story
Project
Chicken soup for the soul books

Humor
Mirth of a nation: the best contemporary humor
Mama makes up her mind and other dangers of Southern living by Bailey White

Dealing with adversity
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson by
Mitch Albom
Where is the mango princess? by C.E. Crimmins
Under the eye of the clock by Christopher Nolan
Nobody Nowhere: the extraordinary autobiography of an autistic by Donna
Williams

Survival accounts
Alive by Piers Paul Read

Vicki Novak
Adult Services Librarian
[removed]@mail.maricopa.gov

North Central Regional Library
Maricopa County Library District
17811 N. 32nd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85032
http://mcld.maricopa.gov

FROM: "Lisa Colcord" <[removed]@CI.GLENDALE.AZ.US>
REC'D: 5/14/02, 5:21 PM

Vicki,

Thanks for sharing this...it really helps to know why nonfiction appeals, and some good examples of the different types. Well thought out and great list!

Lisa

Lisa Colcord
Librarian
Glendale Public library
Glendale, AZ

....my views are my own....

-The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time- James Taylor

>>> [removed]@mail.maricopa.gov 05/14/02 02:49PM >>>
I like to read about half fiction, half nonfiction, and I agree that
reader's advisory for our nonfiction readers is generally somewhat
neglected. This discussion really made me consider the appeal factors of my
nonfiction reads. When I look for nonfiction pleasure reading, I am NOT
looking for specific subject matter. I just like books that are good reads.
I know everyone defines "good reads" differently, but for me, I mean that
it:

-is well-written (creative use of language is a plus)
-is engaging, not dry
-is fascinating: appeals to my curiosity
-has well-developed "characters"
-offers a vicarious experience
-appeals to the senses
-makes me think
-has a continuing story that makes me eager to get back to the book
-might be suspenseful
-could be humorous

Some nonfiction "genres" that we might consider recommending to patrons:
-biography, autobiography and diaries
-true crime
-travelogues or other true stories with a sense of place
-true medical accounts
-journalistic reportage or exposes
-short true stories
-humor
-essays
-accounts of overcoming adversity
-adventure or survival accounts

Here are some of the books I've enjoyed, loosely divided by type:

Biography
Angela's Ashes: a memoir by Frank McCourt
Having our say: the Delany sisters' first 100 years by Sarah and A.
Elizabeth Delany
Roommates: my grandfather's story by Max Apple

Sense of place
Going back to Bisbee by Richard Shelton
Desert wife by Hilda Faunce
The secret knowledge of water: discovering the essence of the American
desert by Craig Childs
Midnight in the garden of good and evil: a Savannah story by John Berendt
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

Medical accounts
The Blood of strangers: stories from emergency medicine by Frank Huyler
Learning how the heart beats: the making of a pediatrician by Claire
McCarthy
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales by Oliver
Sacks

Interesting experiences
Fifty acres and a poodle: a story of love, livestock and finding myself on a
farm by Jeanne Marie Laskas
The Cat who went to Paris by Peter Gethers
Nine lives: from stripper to schoolteacher: my year long odyssey in the
workplace by Lynn Snowden
Treasure: a New York Times reporter tracks the Quedlinburg hoard by William
H. Honan
Waiting: the true confessions of a waitress by Debra Ginsberg

Short true stories (inspirational, unusual or humorous)
I thought my father was God: and other true tales from NPR's National Story
Project
Chicken soup for the soul books

Humor
Mirth of a nation: the best contemporary humor
Mama makes up her mind and other dangers of Southern living by Bailey White

Dealing with adversity
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson by
Mitch Albom
Where is the mango princess? by C.E. Crimmins
Under the eye of the clock by Christopher Nolan
Nobody Nowhere: the extraordinary autobiography of an autistic by Donna
Williams

Survival accounts
Alive by Piers Paul Read

Vicki Novak
Adult Services Librarian
[removed]@mail.maricopa.gov

North Central Regional Library
Maricopa County Library District
17811 N. 32nd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85032
http://mcld.maricopa.gov

FROM: "Kathleen Marszycki" <[removed]@rathbunpl.libraryofconnecticut.org>
REC'D: 5/15/02, 12:03 PM

Vicki, your list is great -- I've already copied into my
RA/Bookmark/Display file! Your criteria for an engaging non-fic read
is interesting -- as a matter of fact, Lib. Journal interviewed Geoffrey
Wall, who recently published Flaubert: A Life. His
point to writing biography was culled from Richard Holmes' Footsteps:
Adventures of a Romantic Biographer, who stated
that the best "have a strong narrative...recreate a sense of time and
place...all the details that evoke the person, the place, the
moment in history." In other words, not merely a bunch of facts strung
together.
This would make a great book discussion series, starting with
Holmes' work and perhaps comparing several "types" of
biographies -- ?!

Kelly Marszycki
Rathbun Memorial Library
East Haddam, CT 06423

FROM: "Roberts, Julie" <[removed]@rolling-meadows.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 7/29/02, 2:42 PM

To all on this fantastic list: While going through my huge stack of
unread/not filed emails, I came across this one. The first site is
FANTASTIC !!!! I do the displays for my Reference dept. This will help a
LOT!! I made up a list from some previous postings, and this adds to them.
Thanks Lorie! (:-D Julie A. Roberts [removed]@rolling-meadows.lib.il.us

-----Original Message-----
From: Lorie J. O'Donnell [[removed]@midyork.lib.ny.us]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 8:35 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: RA for NF

Here are three sites that I found which seem to do the job fairly well.
HTH.

Lorie

Readers Advisory - with many lists for non-fiction readers
http://sachem.suffolk.lib.ny.us/advisor/advisor.htm

Readers' Club
http://www.readersclub.org/category.asp?cat=2

If You Like... For non-fiction and biographies
http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Guides/IfYouLike/#Biographies

on 5/11/02 10:40 AM, Kaite Mediatore at [removed]@yahoo.com wrote:

> This is a topic I've been stewing over for more than a year
> now. How do you do Readers' Advisory for someone who enjoys
> non-fiction? I've been getting this question quite a bit in
> my RA training workshops as well from other library staff.
>
> Here's an example: I had a workshop attendee who primarily
> reads non-fiction for pleasure. She LOVED "Fast Food
> Nation" and asked me what would I recommend to a patron who
> read and enjoyed that book?
>
> I was stumped. We've got great tools for suggesting further
> reading in almost every fiction area imaginable, but where
> would you start for a readalike for "Fast Food Nation"? Or
> "Perfect Storm"? Or "Midnight in the Garden of Good and
> Evil"? Or "The Professor and the Madman"?
>
> Are the appeal factors for nonfiction the same as the
> appeal factors for fiction? Wouldn't we want to take the
> book's subject matter into consideration? Are the
> non-fiction books that "read like fiction" the only ones
> we'd be able to use for nonfiction RA because we can easily
> identify the appeal characteristics? Is that even a term
> some readers will want to hear since they specifically
> asked for non-fiction?
>
> Am I just rambling because it's Saturday morning, no one's
> in the library yet and I've had two cups of coffee? :)
>
> But seriously, folks, how do you all do RA for the patron
> who wants non-fiction?
>
> Kaite
>
>
> =====
> Kaite Mediatore, Reader's Services Librarian
> KCKPL Main Branch
> 625 Minnesota Ave.
> Kansas City, KS 66101
> 913.279.2067 fx 913.279.2032
> [removed]@kckpl.lib.ks.us
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.
A woman must do what he can't.
-Rhonda Hansome-

......................................................................
Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

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