Special Topics Paper

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.

References

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