From the Book Group Toolkit #51
Posted by: Kaite Stover
Those responsible for making the reading selections for their book groups will be happy to know there’s another huge resource at their disposal. The third volume in the “Now Read This” series was published earlier this year.
Now Read This III is co-authored by Nancy Pearl and Sarah Statz Cords. Sarah is to nonfiction what Nancy is to fiction and the combination of these two book brains in one suggested reading tome is a boon for all book groupies.
Pearl and Cords have followed the format of the previous NRTs. NRT3 has new entries; none have appeared in previous NRTs. They’ve also beefed up the subjects and this is where selectors will find useful descriptors for possible book group titles. A short lists of nonfiction appear copiously throughout the book as readalikes for specific titles. Those lists come with intriguing headings: Immersion Journalism, Working Life Memoirs, Change-Makers and Activists. These will be very helpful for those groups with a preference for nonfiction and/or book group leaders who want to spice up the discussion by bringing along a related title.
A succinct annotation is the meat of each entry along with secondary appeal (if one is applicable), awards received, and an extensive Now Try listing. I’m finding the Now Try list to be extremely useful. I especially appreciate mentions of previous titles written by the author of a particular entry and the appeal connections between suggested books.
I rarely worry about running out of reading material for my book groups. I can completely stop now.
