June 10, 2013
Why do people read narrative nonfiction? Reasons are many and varied, not unlike reasons for reading fiction. Both have various appeal characteristics and genres and can work well together in readers’ advisory.
Week 8: Assignment 1Read the following two articles for an introduction to nonfiction readers’ advisory.
Reading Nonficiton for Pleasure was a similarly helpful supplement. I like the strategy the author introduced of creating hybrid appeal factors that can be applied equally effectively to a readers fiction and nonfiction reading interests.
Week 8: Assignment 2View this E-Learning video produced by the Maryland State Library Resource Center.
Yes! I adore recommending non-fiction beyond the informational and this was a great resource for enhancing my general knowledge of narrative non-ficiton. Comprehensive but to the point and overall, just ideal.
Week 8: Assignment 3Choose any four of the 16 nonfiction genres presented in the video. In what Dewey area(s) did you find narrative nonfiction in these genres? List each of the four genres and their Dewey areas on your blog. Choose one book from each of these four genres that you could recommend to someone who normally reads only fiction. List these titles and their authors.
In order to offer a taste of how diverse these genres can be, I selected two books to represent each genre:
Genre 1: Biography - Amelia Lost! The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming (Children's Bio Earhart) and The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys (Bio Pepys)
Genre 2: History - usually upper 900s, as well as occasional outlying dewy areas, including the 640s - I selected Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of at President by Candice Millard (973.099 M) and Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life (643 B)
Genre 3: Travel - lower 900s - Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman (910.4 G) and The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost (919.595 T)
Genre 4: Disaster/Survival - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (796.522 K) and Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson (976.4 L)
Week 8: Assignment 4 Using appeal factors, write a 1-2 paragraph book talk for two of the four titles you would recommend, noting who you would recommend them to and why. Post these on your blog.
Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
I'd recommend this title in general for fans of historical fiction, true crime, and biographies. Destiny of the Republic is the dramatic, richly textured story of James Garfield, perhaps the most remarkable president history has ever forgotten. In equal measure it is also the story of Garfield's would-be assassin, a madman consumed by his own delusions of grandeur, and the astonishing medical blunders which ultimately brought down the nation's leader. Balanced pacing, a keenly developed narrative voice, and exquisitely reconstructed characters all serve to draw the reader into a page-turning, suspenseful journey through the extraordinary series of events leading up to the tragic fate of a beloved president.
I would specifically recommend this title to any customer who mentioned that they had enjoyed the following titles: The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester and Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson.
Each of these compelling, history-altering tales reflect American conventions and society during the latter half of the 19th century. They also have at their center a remarkable character plagued by criminal insanity who affects the course of history in one significant manner or another.
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
I'd recommend this title in general for fans of suspenseful, tension-driven, man vs. nature and apocalypse stories, whether in fiction or non-ficiton. Isaac's Storm is the story of a storm of almost biblical proportions that devastated the Galveston, Texas region at the turn of the 20th century. Chronicling the greatest natural disaster in American history, Erik Larson brings Isaac's Storm alive again, drawing the reader in with fast pacing, suspenseful narrative timing, and attention to character details and survivor accounts Featuring anecdotes about and the personal predictions of Isaac Cline, chief observer for the Federal Weather Bureau in Galveston, this harrowing true tale of tragedy trumps any plot line mere fiction could offer.
I'd specifically recommend this title to any customer who had read and enjoyed The Perfect Storm: a True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger or Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester.
Each of these titles offer gripping, fast-paced, true accounts of the awesome power of nature and the utter devastation that results from natural disasters that were tragically under anticipated. *Caveat: Krakatoa is at times actually slightly slower in pace than the other two titles, but is fully as rich in detail about the aftermath of the natural disaster.
Why do people read narrative nonfiction? Reasons are many and varied, not unlike reasons for reading fiction. Both have various appeal characteristics and genres and can work well together in readers’ advisory.
Week 8: Assignment 1Read the following two articles for an introduction to nonfiction readers’ advisory.
- Borderlands: Crossing between Nonfiction in Readers’ Advisory
- Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?
Borderlands was a nice supplement to the E-Learning video. I liked that the author provided some specific titles as well as some examples of how some considerably diverse types of appeal factors in narrative non-fiction that may wind up grouped together under the same category of, for example, travel non-fiction or true crime.
Reading Nonficiton for Pleasure was a similarly helpful supplement. I like the strategy the author introduced of creating hybrid appeal factors that can be applied equally effectively to a readers fiction and nonfiction reading interests.
Week 8: Assignment 2View this E-Learning video produced by the Maryland State Library Resource Center.
Yes! I adore recommending non-fiction beyond the informational and this was a great resource for enhancing my general knowledge of narrative non-ficiton. Comprehensive but to the point and overall, just ideal.
Week 8: Assignment 3Choose any four of the 16 nonfiction genres presented in the video. In what Dewey area(s) did you find narrative nonfiction in these genres? List each of the four genres and their Dewey areas on your blog. Choose one book from each of these four genres that you could recommend to someone who normally reads only fiction. List these titles and their authors.
In order to offer a taste of how diverse these genres can be, I selected two books to represent each genre:
Genre 1: Biography - Amelia Lost! The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming (Children's Bio Earhart) and The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys (Bio Pepys)
Genre 2: History - usually upper 900s, as well as occasional outlying dewy areas, including the 640s - I selected Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of at President by Candice Millard (973.099 M) and Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life (643 B)
Genre 3: Travel - lower 900s - Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman (910.4 G) and The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost (919.595 T)
Genre 4: Disaster/Survival - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (796.522 K) and Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson (976.4 L)
Week 8: Assignment 4 Using appeal factors, write a 1-2 paragraph book talk for two of the four titles you would recommend, noting who you would recommend them to and why. Post these on your blog.
Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
I'd recommend this title in general for fans of historical fiction, true crime, and biographies. Destiny of the Republic is the dramatic, richly textured story of James Garfield, perhaps the most remarkable president history has ever forgotten. In equal measure it is also the story of Garfield's would-be assassin, a madman consumed by his own delusions of grandeur, and the astonishing medical blunders which ultimately brought down the nation's leader. Balanced pacing, a keenly developed narrative voice, and exquisitely reconstructed characters all serve to draw the reader into a page-turning, suspenseful journey through the extraordinary series of events leading up to the tragic fate of a beloved president.
I would specifically recommend this title to any customer who mentioned that they had enjoyed the following titles: The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester and Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson.
Each of these compelling, history-altering tales reflect American conventions and society during the latter half of the 19th century. They also have at their center a remarkable character plagued by criminal insanity who affects the course of history in one significant manner or another.
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
I'd recommend this title in general for fans of suspenseful, tension-driven, man vs. nature and apocalypse stories, whether in fiction or non-ficiton. Isaac's Storm is the story of a storm of almost biblical proportions that devastated the Galveston, Texas region at the turn of the 20th century. Chronicling the greatest natural disaster in American history, Erik Larson brings Isaac's Storm alive again, drawing the reader in with fast pacing, suspenseful narrative timing, and attention to character details and survivor accounts Featuring anecdotes about and the personal predictions of Isaac Cline, chief observer for the Federal Weather Bureau in Galveston, this harrowing true tale of tragedy trumps any plot line mere fiction could offer.
I'd specifically recommend this title to any customer who had read and enjoyed The Perfect Storm: a True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger or Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester.
Each of these titles offer gripping, fast-paced, true accounts of the awesome power of nature and the utter devastation that results from natural disasters that were tragically under anticipated. *Caveat: Krakatoa is at times actually slightly slower in pace than the other two titles, but is fully as rich in detail about the aftermath of the natural disaster.
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