When Booklist suggested these one-author spotlights were one of the best features of the book, Pearl admitted, not surprisingly, that she loved preparing them. The authors receiving this special treatment include Frederick Busch, Mark Kurlansky, Eric Kraft, and Iris Murdoch. In "Too Good to Miss," always approximately a page in length, Pearl isolates what makes a particular writer special to her and what books she would recommend. One of the most interesting categories is called "Too Good to Miss." Actually, this category makes repeat appearances throughout the book, each time focusing on the work of a single author. I basically went through my bookcases at home, where I have managed to accumulate most of my favorite books, and figured out categories they would go in." She came up with almost 200 categories, many of them not surprising, such as "Latin American Fiction," "Science gFiction, Fantasy, and Horror," "Techno-Thrillers," "Biographical Novels," and "First Novels." Other categories reflect Pearl's creative approach to linking books, and these unexpected but exciting categories include "Our Primates/Our Selves," "Historical Fiction for Kids of All Ages," "Grit Lit," "Do Clothes Make the Man (or Woman)?" and "Shrinks and Shrinkees." "It's the book that I think my whole life (and career as a librarian) has been leading toward. Pearl sees this book as a personal milestone. It is also a book for personal use by library patrons, and even a book to own and keep on one's reading stand. But her new book is more than a reference resource for librarians in their readers'-advisory work. She has written a two-volume readers'-advisory reference set titled Now Read This (1999 2000). The idea has spread from city to city across the country. Also, it was her brilliant and much-imitated idea to get all the readers in her hometown to read the same book at the same time and join discussion groups about it. A practicing librarian for many years, Pearl is currently the director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle (WA) Public Library. The publisher certainly approached the right person for the job. They wanted it to be friendly and inviting, to sound like I was talking to people who shared my love of reading and good books and wanted some ideas of what to read next." "The publisher came to me," she confided, "with the idea of doing a book of recommended reading-incorporating all sorts of books, old and new, fiction and non, for all ages. When Booklist asked Pearl about the provenance of her new book, her answer struck us as the dream of every writer and book lover.
Our focus this time is on Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl, a longtime freelance contributor of reviews to this magazine (see our review of the book on p.24 of this issue).
This column is the latest in our series of interview articles showcasing books written by Booklist contributors.
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