An Introduction to the Adult Reading
Round Table
Nonfiction Leisure Interests Study
BEYOND SUBJECT HEADINGS: CONSIDERING A BOOK'S
APPEAL: NONFICTION
Frame/Tone
How is the background detail presented? Does the book offer a scholarly or popular
treatment of the topic?
Are there indexes, footnotes, bibliography, glossaries, maps, illustrations?
Is the setting contemporary or historical, exotic or familiar?
Does the frame/background detail affect the tone or atmosphere?
bittersweet, bleak, comfortable, contemporary, darker (tone), detailed setting,
details of [insert an area of specialized knowledge or skill], edgy, evocative,
evangelistic, exotic, foreboding, gritty, hard-edged, heartwarming, historical details,
humorous, journalistic, literary, lush, magical, melodramatic, menacing, mystical,
nightmare (tone), philosophical, political, popular, psychological, romantic, rural,
scholarly, sensual, small-town, stark, suspenseful, timeless, upbeat, urban
Pacing
What is the pattern of the pacing? Does the author pull readers quickly into the story or
spend time providing background details? Is there a introduction to set up action
and heighten curiosity?
Do descriptive details slow the pacing?
Is the author’s approach scholarly or popular?
Is the book densely written? How much white space is there on pages?
Are there short sentences, short paragraphs, and short chapters? Do illustrations and/or
figures break up the text?
Is there a straight-line plot or are there multiple plotlines, flashbacks, or alternating
points of view
breakneck, compelling, deliberate, densely written, easy, engrossing, fast-paced,
leisurely-paced, measured, relaxed, stately, unhurried
Other terms relating to style/language: austere, candid, classic, colorful, complex,
concise, conversational, direct, dramatic, dry, elaborate, extravagant, fervent,
flamboyant, frank, graceful, homespun, jargon, laconic, metaphorical, natural, ornate,
passionate, poetic, polished, prosaic, restrained, seemly, showy, simple, sophisticated,
stark, thoughtful, unaffected, unembellished, unpretentious, unusual
Questions to Consider in Discussing Books
What does the author do best?
What makes the book popular?
What do readers talk about?
Does it emphasize people or events?
Do you fall into the book immediately or learn about what is going on at a more leisurely
pace?
What other authors/titles does the book remind you of? Fiction? Nonfiction?
Who else might enjoy reading this book and why?
Past Nonfiction Genre Reading Lists
"But Enough About You" . . . Popular Biography
Meeting: August 3, 2006, 2 p.m., Downer’s Grove
Public Library
Please read any David McCullough OR Alison Weir biography and two
other books. Suggested (but not mandatory) titles are listed below.
Meeting: October 5, 2006, 2 p.m., Des Plaines Public Library
Suggested (but not mandatory) titles are listed below.
Where Angels Walk Anderson, Joan Wester
The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
Armstrong, Karen
Iron John Bly, Robert
Insight: Case Files from the Psychic World Browne, Sylvia
The Artist’s Way Cameron, Julia
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It’s All Small Stuff Carlson,
Richard
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success Chopra, Deepak
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Covey, Stephen R.
The Art of Happiness Dalai Lama XIV
The Power of Intention Dyer, Wayne W.
Stumbling on Happiness Gilbert, Daniel
Emotional Intelligence Goleman, Daniel
Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus Gray, John
When Bad Things Happen to Good People Kushner, Harold S.
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith Lamott, Anne
Love Smart: Find the One You Want – Fix the One You Got McGraw, Phil
Look Great, Feel Great Meyer, Joyce
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior Millman, Dan
Care of the Soul Moore, Thomas
Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can Myss, Caroline M.
The Cloister Walk Norris, Kathleen
Very Far From Anywhere Else: or, A Rough Guide to Travel
Nonfiction
Meeting: June 1, 2006, 2-4 p.m., Des Plaines Public Library
For which everyone reads In a Sunburned Country, or another Bill Bryson
travelogue, and two other books. Below are some suggestions.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah
Story Berendt, John
Lost in My Own Backyard: A Walk in Yellowstone National Park Cahill, Tim
Wrong About Japan: A Father's Journey With His Son Carey, Peter
A Woman Alone: Travel Tales From Around the Globe Conlon, Faith
Unforgettable Places To See Before You Die Davey, Steve
You Can't Get There From Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World Forman,
Gayle
Devils on the Deep Blue Sea: The Dreams, Schemes, and Showdowns that
Built America's Cruise Ship Empires Garin,
Kristoffer A.
Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World Gelman, Rita Golden
A House Somewhere: Tales of Life abroad George, Donald W.
Monkey Dancing: A Father, Two Kids, and a Journey to the Ends of the Earth Glick,
Daniel
Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague Goldberg, Myla
Round Ireland With a Fridge Hawks, Tony
Blue Highways: A Journey Into America Heat Moon, William Least
Baghdad Without a Map, and Other Misadventures in Arabia Horwitz, Tony
The Best American Travel Writing (yearly) Iyer, Pico
A Walk Across America Jenkins, Peter
Into a Paris Quartier: Reine Margot's Chapel and Other Haunts of St. Germain Johnson,
Diane
On the Road With Charles Kuralt Kuralt, Charles
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy Mayes, Frances
A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller Mayes, Frances
A Year in Provence Mayle, Peter
Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World McGregor, Ewan
Chasing Matisse: A Year in France Living My Dream Morgan, James
The World: Travels 1950-2000 Morris, Jan
My Kind of Place: Travel Stories From a Woman Who's Been Everywhere Orlean, Susan
Fugitives & Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon Palahniuk, Chuck
Italian Neighbors, Or, A Lapsed Anglo-Saxon in Verona Parks, Tim
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel Piven, Joshua
Imagined London: A Tour of the World's Greatest Fictional City Quindlen, Anna
I Should Have Stayed Home: The Worst Trips of Great Writers Rapoport, Roger
Weird Us Sceurman, Mark
The Caliph's House Shah, Tahir
Three Weeks With My Brother Sparks, Nicholas
Travels with Charley: In Search of America Steinbeck, John
Dark Star Safari: Overland From Cairo to Cape Town Theroux, Paul
Fresh Air Fiend: Travel Writings, 1985-2000 Theroux, Paul
Assassination Vacation Vowell, Sarah
Seasons in Basilicata: A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village Yeadon, David
Natural History or A Trip to the
Field Museum
Meeting: April 6, 2006, 2-4 p.m., Downer’s Grove Public
Library
Read: A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California
Earthquake of 1906 OR The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth
of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester
Alvarez, Walter T. Rex and the Crater of Doom
Attenborough, David The Life of Mammals
Benton, M. J. (Michael J.) When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time
Bolles, Edmund Blair The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered
the Ice Age
Buckley, Bruce Weather: A Visual Guide
Byatt, Andrew The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans
Carson, Rachel Silent Spring
Croke, Vicki The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to
Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal
Dillard, Annie Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Feldman, Jay When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire Intrigue,
Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes
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