Pearl, Nancy (Linn) 1945-

PERSONAL: Born January 12, 1945; married Joseph Harold Pearl (an educator); children: Eily Raman, Katie. Education: University of Michigan, M.L.S., 1967.

ADDRESSES: Office—Seattle Public Library, 800 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101.

CAREER: Librarian and writer. Washington Center for the Book, Seattle Public Library, Seattle, WA, director, c. 1993-2004, retired. Formerly worked as a children's librarian in Detroit, MI; in an independent bookstore; and in the Tulsa City-County Libraries. Book reviewer for National Public Radio. Also has appeared on KUOW radio in Seattle, as a book reviewer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Library Journal's Fiction Reviewer of the Year award, 1998; Allie Beth Martin Award, American Library Association, 2001; Washington Humanities Award, 2003; Louis Shores—Greenwood Publishing Group Award, 2004, for excellence in book reviewing.

WRITINGS:

(With Martha Knappe and Chris Higashi) Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978-1998, foreword by Joyce S. Saricks, Libraries Unlimited (Englewood, CO), 1999.

Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990-2001, Libraries Unlimited (Englewood, CO), 2002.

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, Sasquatch Books (Seattle, WA), 2003.

More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, Sasquatch Books (Seattle, WA), 2005.

Contributor of book reviews to Seattle Times, Booklist, and Library Journal. Also author of "Book Lust"calendars and reader's journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Nancy Pearl was a librarian for many years before retiring and she has since achieved wide recognition as perhaps the most famous librarian in the United States. The reason for this widespread renown stems from the successful "reader advisory" books she has written. She also has gained fame through a gag item—the best-selling action figure of her as the "shushing" librarian. In her first book, Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978-1998, Pearl includes a list with comments on 1,000 novels primarily chosen for their inclusion on American Library Association Notable lists and/or for winning the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Awards, the National Book Critics Circle awards, and Britain's Booker Prize. Pearl accomplished the almost Herculean task of annotating so many books with assistance from Martha Knappe and Chris Higashi, as well as from University of Washington students studying library science. The book is arranged according to four categories: "Setting," "Story," "Characters," and "Language." The book also includes an appendix explaining in detail the various awards the books have won and separate indexes based on title, subject, and author. A Booklist contributor commented, "The introduction provides a good overview of the philosophy behind the appeal characteristics and how to use the book." Melissa Gross, writing in Library Quarterly, commented that Now Read This "is unique in its ability to break free from the usual dependency on subject headings, best book lists, and the genre fiction approaches to public reading needs, providing a unique tool that offers a useful response to the user who says, 'I really liked this book. Can you help me find another one like it?'"

Pearl followed up her first book with Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990-2001. Once again, she focuses on specific aspects of the novels that will appeal to certain readers. Pearl includes 500 novels, with 400 of them new to this book. The author also added new segments to the book in which she addresses young-adult designations for some titles and discusses trends in fiction. Patricia Hogan, writing in Booklist, wrote that "this work is a truly useful tool." Library Journal contributor Paul D' Alessandro, commented that "Pearl offers a simple method of finding good novels based on the elements of a book that make readers enjoy them."

Pearl's next book became a surprise best seller. Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason focuses on books of all types for all kinds of readers of all ages, from romance to literary efforts, old and new books, and both fiction and nonfiction. As she told Brad Hooper in Booklist, Pearl views Book Lust as "the book that I think my whole life (and career as a librarian) has been leading toward." Based on research in her own personal library, Pearl came up with approximately 200 categories for books, from standard designations, such as "Latin American Fiction" or "Biographical Novels," to more idiosyncratic categories, such as "Grit Lit" and "Three-Hanky Reads," For each of the books, she provides a narrative discussing the book. In Booklist, Hooper noted that the "commentaries are concise and sound" and added that it is "difficult to put down and easy to be guided by." Will Manley, writing in American Libraries, called Book Lust "a celebration of the written word," and went on to note: "What distinguishes it from the myriad of bibliographies and recommended-reading lists that clutter our shelves is that you actually get the sense that the person who compiled and annotated the lists really did read, devour, and thoroughly enjoy the books that are cited."

The success of Book Lust led to its follow up titled More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason. The book contains 120 additional reviews and a discussion of the Dewey Decimal system. Her unusual category listings in this edition include "Adapting to Adoption," and "All in the Family," which focuses on books written by members of a literary family. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote, "If you're clueless about what to read next, you'll find something to pique your interest here." Carolyn M. Craft, writing in the Library Journal, commented, "If Pearl's book does not encourage reading, nothing will!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Libraries, February, 2004, Will Manley, review of Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, p. 72.

Booklist, March 15, 2000, review of Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1978-1998, p. 1403; September 1, 2002, Patricia Hogan, review of review of Now Read This II: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction, 1990-2001, p. 173; September 1, 2003, Brad Hooper, review of Book Lust, p. 24; September 1, 2003, Brad Hooper, interview with Pearl, p. 55; December 1, 2003, Will Manley, "The Eloquence of Silence" (interview), p. 629.

Library Journal, May 1, 2002, Paul D'Alessandro, review of Now Read This II, p. 141; April 15, 2005, Carolyn M. Craft, review of More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, p. 87.

Library Quarterly, July, 2001, Melissa Gross, review of Now Read This, p. 420.

Mother Jones, September-October, 2003, Elaine Zelmanov, "Stronger than a Silent 'E,'" p. 32.

Publishers Weekly, February 28, 2005, review of More Book Lust, p. 54.

Reading Today, October-November, 2002, Jane McFann, "'Open City, One Book': Creating Community through Reading," p. 24.

Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), October 3, 2004, Jeff Wright, "Model for 'Shushing Librarian' Plans Visit."

Teacher Librarian, February, 2003, review of Now Read This II, p. 42.

ONLINE

Seattlepi.com, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ (May 2, 2004), Rebekah Denn, "Nancy Pearl Trading the Quiet Confines of the Library for a Life of Leisure."