So you want to get a line on a few nonfiction authors. We are, after all, in the midst of what Chuck Klosterman calls the “rise of the real.” You’ve got patrons asking for memoirs and biographies, as well as for read-alikes for authors like Stephen Ambrose and David Sedaris. It only makes sense that you’d want to get a bit familiar with more nonfiction authors. There’s only one tiny problem.
You don’t read nonfiction.
Fear not! There’s a tricky way to find a lot of great nonfiction authors without reading a lot of, you know, whole nonfiction books. I have one word for you: Magazines. Take some time and peruse the latest issues of Vanity Fair or The Atlantic Monthly (in hard copy or online). You’ll find articles by respected nonfiction authors like William Langewiesche (“Rules of Engagement“), Jeanne Marie Laskas (“Underworld“), Mark Bowden (“The Desert One Debacle“), or Chris Anderson (“The Long Tail“).
So wow your friends and amaze your patrons with your encyclopedic knowledge of nonfiction authors…all gleaned a five-page magazine article at a time.
Sarah Statz Cords is the author of The Real Story: A Guide to Nonfiction Reading Interests , one of Libraries Unlimited’s Genreflecting Advisory series. She also blogs at Nonfiction Readers Anonymous.
Nonanon–
Audible does charge a monthly subscription fee. I would love to use OverDrive since my library subscribes to it but it doesn’t work with Mac computers or iPods and that is what I use. I’m hoping OverDrive will become a little more responsive and do whatever it takes so Mac users can use this valuable library resource.
If you’re lucky enough to live near a library that has subscribed to the OverDrive system for audiobooks, you can checkout and download the books to your PC, laptop or MP3 player absolutely free–without leaving home. It’s terrific for exercising or riding public transportation to work! Audible is great but it costs money.
Didi:
Do you know, I’ve tried the same idea, only listening to fiction (as I am more of a nonfiction girl)? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t; as I am usually driving or doing other work when listening to books on tape, it’s harder to pay attention to the fiction story. And, because I’m not real up on these things, could you tell me a bit about Audible? Is it a fee service, and can I just go to “audible.com”? Sorry to sound so dense but I just don’t do enough “book listening” to keep up with all these things!
I’m a fiction kind of girl but do see the value in keeping up with nonfiction. I do better listening to it rather than reading it. I’m addicted to listening to the New Yorker on audio downloads from Audible. Occasionally I run across articles about or excerpts from nonfiction books that sound pretty interesting. I’m going to have to see if Audible does Vanity Fair, Atlantic Monthly, or BUST now.
Oh, BUST magazine. I’ve got to look at one of those. I used to read Entertainment Weekly but started getting depressed by how few of the music bands and movie stars I was recognizing (although, that’s probably exactly WHY I should go back to reading it). I forgot to mention People magazine too–their reviews/mentions usually work out to be things that people will soon be requesting!
I’d forgotten about Vanity Fair and it makes such fun summer reading too. I get great information from BUST magazine and, surprisingly enough, Entertainment Weekly. They often have reviews of interesting books outside the publisher’s mainstream. Reviews are short and sweet too.