Friday, July 27, 2007

Best-selling Nonfiction


More and more readers are beginning to enjoy nonfiction, not just for the information it imparts, but for reading pleasure. David Carr, a librarian at The University of North Carolina says that “nonfiction addresses our memories, our curiosities and unfinished questions, and our hopes to learn about something remarkable and real, something transforming and true, something lost and something discovered.” (“Many Kinds of Crafted Truths: An Introduction to Nonfiction.” Nonfiction Readers’ Advisory (2005)

Some popular nonfiction favorites at APL have been The Tipping Point,
Freakonomics, The World is Flat, Three Cups of Tea, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and Omnivore's Dilemma. The Tipping Point, for example, is a great science book for all ages. I suggest that you read it aloud to family and friends to start a lively discussion.

The Library's Good Reads nonfiction page has a list of top nonfiction books by year, a list of contemporary memoirs, and books devoted to obscure topics. David Carr also has created a list of his favorite nonfiction.

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