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Nonfiction for Book Groups

Nonfiction for Book Groups

The challenges of nonfiction: Availability of copies; "real"ness of the books; length of books and perceived lack of style; lack of questions

The opportunities of nonfiction: Less turnover on bestseller list (longer shelf life); garner new participants for groups; style is often there and "supporting materials" can lend richness to discussion

Broad groupings to consider: Business titles; Classics in all genres; Humor

Tips: Look at "Under the Radar" lists at RAO; past awards lists (National Book Award, ALA Notables, New York Times Notables); annual "Best of" lists at Largehearted Boy; Graphic Novels; Time 100 Best Nonfiction LIst

Titles discussed 10/16/12: Rick Geary (graphic novel true crime); long-form journalism and magazine articles by William Langewiesche, David Foster Wallace, Michael Lewis, Matt Taibbi, etc.

Erik Larson read-alike possibilities: Victorian/detailed historical true crime (Library Journal list here); Erik Larson read-alikes at the Reader's Advisor Online; perhaps historical nonfiction author/novelist Peter Ackroyd; read-alikes from the ALA program Great Nonfiction Read-Alikes

Crowd-Pleasers

Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit

Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed

Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

Donovan Hohn, Moby-Duck

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky

Tracy Kidder, Among Schoolchildren

Jen Lancaster

Michael Lewis, Moneyball or The Blind Side

Wes Moore, The Other Wes Moore

Anything by Michael Pollan

Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

Business

Marcus Buckingham, First, Break All the Rules

Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

Jim Collins, Good to Great

Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese?

Science

Richard Preston, The Hot Zone

Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

James Watson, The Double Helix

History

Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization

Timothy Egan, The Worst Bad Time

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals

Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken

Candice Millard, River of Doubt

True Crime

Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

Anything by Erik Larson

Memoir

Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

Joan Didion, Magical Thinking or Blue Nights

Tina Fey, Bossypants

Gabrielle Hamilton, Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef

Jenny Lawson, Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Anthony Shadid, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East

Cheryl Strayed, Wild

Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life

Biography

Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind

Travel

Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, or Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson

Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar or The Old Patagonian Express, Paul Theroux

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Readers' Advisory Programs

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