Short Nonfiction Help

I have a shortened day of work today so I can rest up for 5.5 hours of Wagner this afternoon/evening (click here for details).

This night has been on my calendar for almost a year, but the idea of sitting still for that long (with two 3o minute breaks) is what I am dreading.  The opera itself will be stunning, beautiful, and, as I have been assured by the press releases of the Lyric Opera, not at all anti-Semitic as it was when first performed.

But why do you care.  Ahh, well this thought of this long evening of got me thinking about shorter pieces.  You know, the whole reverse psychology thing.

Last February I had this post where I wrote about how many people, including myself, love long form journalism, but how hard it is to do readers' advisory work for these readers due to the dearth of resources. So, each time I find a new resource for these queries, I try to pass it on.

Thanks to RA Online, I was pointed in the direction of this article listing 102 Spectacular Nonfiction Stories from 2012.  Each entry has access to the full article, plus information about the author of the piece and links to other stories by that person.  All of this is compiled on the Byliner website by this guy.

Click here for Byliner's full "About" page, but let me say that it is an impressive resource to both access and identify long-form journalism.  While a full subscription requires payment, there is quite a lot you can find for free.  And, honestly, your library is probably already getting a subscription to most of the periodicals in which these stories are appearing.  All we RAs need is a good real time index with commentary, which Byliner can be.

I hope my need to think "short" today helps you to help a reader.  Now I am off to catch a quick nap.