NoveList RA News: Nonfiction Edition

Here is the link to the September 2015 NoveList RA News, as it says in the title, with articles all about Nonfiction RA.

While I encourage you to read the entire issue, there is one article in particular that I not only enjoyed, but, you can use it immediately to help readers- Audrey Barbakoff's article on nonfiction readalikes for fiction bestsellers.

Here are three samples from the list:

If you like… The Girl on the Train by Paula HawkinsTry… Paris Views by Gail Albert HalabanWhat is so compelling about The Girl on the Train -- even more than the murder plot or the quick pacing -- is the protagonist's universal experience of imagining lives for the strangers she sees through the window. Halaban's book of photography gives viewers a captivating literal look into the windows of strangers in their homes.  Through Halaban's photos the viewer becomes like Hawkins' unreliable narrator, questioning the meaning and reality of what we do and do not see through the window.

If you like… All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrTry… Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind by Sarah WildmanIn Doerr's tender yet gripping story, World War II forever alters the lives of a blind girl in occupied France and a well-meaning German boy with a talent for math.  In Paper Love, Wildman discovers a long-hidden set of letters from her grandfather's first love, who was trapped in Europe during the Holocaust.  Both stories are suspenseful, yet fundamentally about complex characters and relationships struggling to endure in a time of war. 

If you like… Grey by E.L. JamesTry… The Secret Life of a Submissive: A True Story by Sarah K.The newest installment in James' erotic BDSM 50 Shades of Grey series isn't the only steamy read on the shelves. This memoir's anonymous author was a newly divorced, middle aged empty-nester when she discovered her hidden passion for bondage.  Her relationship with her first "dom" contains both ample explicit sex scenes and an interesting peek into one real-life dominant/submissive relationship. 

As you can see, she includes a wide range of bestsellers from thriller to literary, to E.L. James.  There are many more suggestion if you click here, and they are for many of the current hottest books.

Read the entire article. Heck, print it out and leave it at the desk. I am pretty sure you will be consulting it more than once this weekend as you work with readers. Right after I finishing posting this, I am going to put 2 of these books on hold, 1 for myself, and 1 for my neighbor.

And even if you never use one of Audrey's suggestions please keep the spirit of her article in mind as you help readers. There might be a perfect readalike for that fiction bestseller hiding in the nonfiction stacks.