Wanderlust in a Book
Posted by: Neil Hollands
You probably know Nancy Pearl as the role model for the librarian action figure with real shushing action. In reality, she’s a giving person who is more likely to listen to you than shush you. I’ve just finished a leisurely tour through her latest book, Book Lust to Go. It’s the third in her series of Book Lust titles that help connect readers with titles that are right for them. This time around however, Pearl’s focus is on travel, and instead of authors and themes, her categories are places or means of travel. Particularly for readers who are fascinated by setting (my hand is raised high!), that makes this book a marvel.
The more one loves travel, the more impossible it is to sate the desire by visiting all of the places one wants to go. That’s where armchair travel comes into play, and Nancy Pearl has clearly logged enough armchair miles to qualify for the highest frequent flyer status. Her love for her theme shines through, and makes this even better than her first two Book Lust titles. I like her annotation style, which combines notes into readable essays instead of stranding each book as a tiny island. She has a gift for providing just enough information to tantalize a reader into seeking out new titles. Book Lust to Go has a nice mix of old books and new, fiction and nonfiction, historical and contemporary settings, and books by authors from the place in question and books by outsiders. Book groups that use themes could easily use her book to find new topics and short lists of titles to get them started.
May 17th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
[...] your readers in search of the book that best evokes that particular setting. Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust to Go makes a good starting point for identifying place-appropriate choices. Add to the fun by bringing [...]