The New York Times is right on the money to call Nancy Pearl "the talk of librarian circles." She may not be a rock star (I leave that honor to the Eric Claptons and U2s of the world), but she taught us librarians the value of readers advisory and offered ideas on how to market our knowledge of and passion for the book in the Wired Age. Thanks to her series of best-selling books and syndicated book reviews on NPR, Pearl has developed quite a cult following for people unsure of what to read next.Pearl's Book Lust Wiki: A Community for Book Lovers is based on on her best-selling books Book Lust (2003) and More Book Lust (2005), 011.73 P. (http://booklust.wetpaint.com/). Sasquatch Books published her latest book Book Crush: For Kids and Teens in April (028.55 P).
Since her retirement from the Seattle Public Library, Pearl writes books, speaks at bookstores and libraries, edits her Book Lust Wiki, and contributes two weekly "Book Beat" book reviews each week for NPR station KUOW in Seattle. Quite a work load!
In creating Washington County Free Library's BookShare program, I took inspiration from Pearl's belief that we should enlighten our library's readership about books - both fiction and nonfiction - that never make the bestseller lists. This is about 95% of books published and sitting on our shelves unread, so we have our work cut out for us.
Book Lust Wiki has several interesting features. Pearl invites readers to share their ideas of what will be the new literary classics for adults and children. She's also starting a list of the most popular authors "too good to miss" and encourages readers to add their favorite. I wonder what Pearl thinks about Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo who completes one book every six or seven years. His Empire Falls (2001) is a masterpiece and equals to his earlier work about life in small town America: Straight Man, Nobody's Fool, and Mohawk. Russo's latest book is Bridge of Sighs, to be published by Knopf in September.
You can post a notice in the Out of Print Books section which connects you to members of the community who may have a copy of the book you're interested in buying.
You can link your book discussion blog to Book Lust Wiki. Most helpfully, Pearl has categorized the blogs contributed so far into recognizable genres:
Chick Lit
Contemporary Romance
Fantasy
Historical Romance
Horror
Inspirational Romance
Mystery
Non-Fiction
Paranormal Romance
Science Fiction
Suspense/Thriller
Women's Fiction
General Book-Related Blogs
Children's Literature Blogs
Bookseller Blogs
When you join Book Lust Wiki, you can submit comments, edit pages, add a page, and keep tabs on a favorite page.
Her list of books guaranteed to "ignite" discussions are taken from her 2005 book More Book Lust. However, the world of books never stands still, so it would be interesting to see what newer titles in paperback Pearl recommends. The list includes Deborah Schupack’s The Boy on the Bus, Ann Packer’s The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, and two novels by Anne Ursu: Spilling Clarence and The Disapparation of James.Book Lust Wiki accepts Google-generated ads and acts as a marketing campaign to sell Pearl's books. I have no problem with Pearl running a commercial website since marketing is what sells and/or circulates books.
I suggest that we invite Nancy Pearl to speak at a future Staff Day.
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