Nonfiction Genre and
Readers' Advisory
What is Nonfiction?
According to Goodreads (2014), "Nonfiction
is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact."
According to author Sarah Statz Cords, "It is not an invented story,
but rather (as David Carr defines it,) it differs from fiction in its
presentation of documented experience as a written record, without
fabrication" (as cited in Husser, 2012).
Nonfiction has also been described as books that allow one to
acquire knowledge while enjoying what is being read.There are many varied
titles that put the emphasis on the story and not on learning, while there are
others that the reader will learn new and informative information (Beerbower
& Wittmayer, 2006).Burgin argued, "Many users read nonfiction for
pleasure and not to meet specific information needs or to conduct reseearch"
(as cited in Alpert, 2006).
Narrative Nonfiction
Nonfiction collections in
libraries are predominately composed of information and "how-to"
books; however, books for "story people" have been greatly emphasized
in the past few years. Increasingly popular narrative nonfiction "tells a
true story as a compelling narrative", including all categories and
appeals for readers. It is not a genre; instead, it is a style that includes
any nonfiction genre or topic that accentuates a story including biographies,
memoirs, and essays (Alpert, 2006). Hume notes that "somewhere between the
newspaper on your doorstep and the novel on your nightstand lies narrative
nonfiction (as cited in Alpert, 2006). Herda explains, "The key word
in Narrative Nonfiction is nonfiction. Narratives must be fact. Unlike the
Historical Novel that uses a real-life element as a focal point and then is
fleshed out with fictional elements and characters, the Narrative Nonfiction
tale starts with fact and ends with fact (and, in fact, has fact
sandwiched in between" (as cited in Alpert, 2006).
Nonfiction Readers' Advisory
Finding nonfiction browsing material can prove difficult for patrons due
to the use of numbers used to organize nonfiction for the Dewey Decimal or
Library of Congress classification systems. For the Dewey Decimal System,
patrons can locate fiction titles by simply knowing the first three letters of
the author's last name and locating the book in the fiction section which is in
alphabetical order (Husser, 2012). Some libraries my break down the fiction
titles by genre. Saricks and Deutsch noted, "Patrons don't worry about
Dewey when they're looking for a good book to read...they seek a story that
meets their interests and mood at that moment (as cited in Husser, 2012). Utilizing
the same approaches that have been used to locate fiction books and authors may
also be used to find appropriate nonfiction titles (Alpert, 2006).
There are three ways to assist a patron who wants suggestions finding an
appropriate book: Appeal factors, also known as "read-alikes";
subject, also known as "read-" or "book-related"; and
"author-related" (Beerbower & Wittmayer, 2006).
"Read-alike" Suggestions
When
attempting to discover what areas of a book a patron enjoys, there are appeal
factors to consider such as story/plot, character, setting, language and pace.
You may also ask yourself questions regarding the last book you enjoyed
reading. What did you like most about it? What aspect of the book did
you rave about when telling others about it? Consider what the patron is
requesting in a nonfiction book that may produce
a similar "read-alike" reaction that you felt when
answering the above questions. Another question to ask yourself is if the
nonfiction book has the same attraction as an appealing novel (Beerbower
& Wittmayer, 2006).
"Read-" or "Book-Related"
Suggestions
For patrons who like reading fiction novels on a
particular subject, you may suggest nonfiction books that provide more material
on the matter. Another suggestion is to find nonfiction counterparts for fiction titles; for
instance, locating true adventure/survival books for those who like fictional
action/adventure(Beerbower & Wittmayer, 2006) .
"Author-Related"
Suggestions
Show the patron where there are nonfiction books by authors who
mainly write fiction or books about the fiction authors themselves. Most of the
titles are usually memoirs and written in the same style as
the nonfiction books so they may provide reading enjoyment for the
patron (Beerbower & Wittmayer, 2006).
Narrative Nonfiction Readers' Advisory
There are several resources that library staff
can utilize to provide readers' advisory services, For instance, bestseller
lists and reviews of new and upcoming nonfiction titles from review sources
such as Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and
Bookpages. The New York Times Book Review, along with other newspaper review sections, have
been dedicating a larger amount of space to nonfiction titles (Alpert,
2006).
Websites that are recommended to discover new narrative nonfiction
titles are Goodreads,com, Book Browse.com, Biography.com, Overbooked.org. and
Marylaine.com. Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. com can help to provide similar
nonfiction titles of interest from reader-review suggestions (Husser, 2012).
Other
ways to become familiar with nonfiction
Read
nonfiction - Begin reading nonfiction to become acquainted with
titles and recognize matches among titles. Keep reading notes and annotations
in order to keep track of what you have read. Keeping information about what
you have read is helpful to understand the interwoven details of nonfiction and
make connections between titles (Wyatt, 2007).
Practice
whole collection readers' advisory - Begin a connection among the various areas of
nonfiction to become familiar with the entire collection. Becoming familiar
using fiction and nonfiction together will make it easier to make suggestions
from one nonfiction title to another (Wyatt, 2007).
Create small lists – Make
lists of subject-matched titles that have the same appeal, narrative, and type
features. According to Wyatt (2007):
Work within a defined subject to practice
defining these key elements and
create mental lists of possible matches within
popular subject areas. Knowing,
for
example, that Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential makes a good
match to Bill Buford’s Heat builds confidence and teaches us to read books
in connection to each other.
Build a list you can count on once you start working with nonfiction –
Collecting a list of nonfiction titles that hold broad appeal is a great
resource to refer to (Wyatt, 2007).
Popular Subgenre Narrative Fiction Titles
Some genres and subgenres for non-fiction are biography, autobiography, essay, memoir,diary, travel, adventure, food, nature, self-help, history, and crime.The following are just a few examples of subgenres for narrative
nonriction. Some of the titles cross-over to other genres.
Biographies
and Memoirs - These are stories about an actual
person, living or deceased. Readers learn about the individual's achievements,
mistakes, and struggles. The main focus and appeal is the "character"
(Husser, 2012).
- The Diary of a
Young Girl - Anne Frank
- Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth
Gilbert
- Angela's Ashes - Frank
McCourt
- I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Survival/ True
Adventure
- Into Thin Air: A
Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster - Jon
Krakauer
- The Perfect
Storm: The True Story of Men Against the Sea - Sebastian
Junger
- Wild: From Lost
to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail - Cheryl Strayed
- Kilimanjaro and
Beyond: A Life-Changing Journey - Barry Finlay
True Crime
- In Cold Blood - Truman
Capote
- Midnight in the
Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
- Helter Skelter:
The True Story of the Mansion Murders - Vinvent Bugliosi
- Columbine - Dave
Cullen
History
- Schindler's List
- Thomas Keneally
- Unbroken: A World
War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura
Hillenbrand
- Night - Elie
Wiesel
- Catherine the
Great: Portrait of a Woman - Robert Massie
Becoming acquainted with the various subgenres of nonfiction and learning the proper techniques for performing an efficient readers' advisory will help librarians and staff member assist patrons with finding appropriate nonfiction titles.
Alpert, A. (2006). Incorporating nonfiction into
readers' advisory services. Reference & User Services
Quarterly, 46(1), 25-32. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/217895123?accountid=7398
Beerbower, R., & Wittmayer, B. (2006).
Nonfiction Novels and Novel Nonfiction. PNLA
Quarterly, 71(1), 14-16. Retrieved from:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy2.ulib.iupui.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=24&sid=521eefb0-f819-4d2d-a222-f4133c8c0656%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4212
Goodreads. (2014). Genres>Non-fiction.
Retrieved from: https://www.goodreads.com/genres/non-fiction
Husser, K. (2012). Level 19: Nothing but fiction. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from: http://level19english.blogspot.com/2012/01/nothing-but-nonfiction.html
Wyatt, N. (2007). Exploring fiction. Library Journal, 132(3),
32-35. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy2.ulib.iupui.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ebf1e6ab-c05d-4da3-b769-6621753de185%40sessionmgr111&vid=4&hid=127
