Review by Choice Review
The first edition of this study appeared in 2001 (CH, Dec'01, 39-2018), with Saricks as sole editor. Here she is joined by Wyatt, and together they completely reexamine the popular genres in fiction, assigning each of the 11 genres or categories to one of four overarching genres: adrenaline genre, intellect genre, landscape genre, and emotion genre. These overarching genres have the advantage of lending themselves to media other than the printed book, in particular movies and video games. The book begins with a valuable introduction: "Appeal and Genre: Gateway Frameworks for Working with Readers." Each genre chapter also includes a "Reading the Whole Collection" section that illuminates how those interested in a particular fiction genre could also find nonfiction books, books about poetry, graphic novels, audiobooks, and music, films, and podcasts that are part of that same genre. Thus readers can expand their interests beyond fiction but stay within the same subject or genre that they find intellectually interesting. (The opposite also applies.) Ten years have passed since the second edition of this book, so this third edition includes a great deal of new material. [Disclosure: Choice is part of the American Library Association, which published this book.] Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers. --Jeffrey Stephen Sabol, Long Beach City Collge
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
It's been a decade since Booklist's former audio editor, Joyce Saricks, updated her seminal guide for readers' advisors who don't have time to read everything (aka all readers' advisors). The third edition of The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction is coauthored by fellow RA juggernaut Neal Wyatt, who will carry on the torch. In addition to updated references (Dan Simmons' The Terror is now a TV show!), this edition acknowledges that we are living in a post-genre period, where the lines between traditional genres are so blurred we cannot rely on a genre sticker to do the book-suggesting for us; instead we must consider what genre conventions say about appeal and what subverting them means for the reader. But don't panic. The book is as well written and engaging as ever, and it is so chock-full of both theoretical and practical information it puts Mary Poppins' bag to shame. Sections on expanding readers' horizons address format crossovers, from graphic novels and audiobooks to films and video games, driving home the idea of Whole Collection Advisory. And bless Saricks and Wyatt for changing the easily dismissed Women's Fiction to Relationship Fiction. Readers are also encouraged to Hack this Book at the end of each chapter, space is provided for their own lists of sure bets and key authors from their library's collection. The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction is absolutely essential, and this updated edition cements its relevance.--Susan Maguire Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In the third edition of this guide, former librarian Saricks (Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library) is joined by Wyatt, LJ's readers' advisory columnist. The authors promote the "appeal framework," a set of terms for readers' advisors to use in classifying works, based on writing elements and features including pacing, story line, characterization, and tone. The framework crosses genre, subject, and format; indeed, this latest version of this guide emphasizes the importance of the entire collection (including nonfiction and multimedia) more so than previous editions. Another key component is genre studies, which examines in detail what makes each category unique, while also looking at genre subdivisions, core features, titles, and authors. Rather than focusing on well-known genres (mystery, romance, sf, etc.), the authors combine them into four broad-based topics: adrenaline, intellect, landscape, and emotion. These more general terms allow librarians to determine more effectively how genres overlap and connect while also acknowledging that their readers' preferences do not always fit easily into a particular type of work. VERDICT This valuable resource lets public librarians move beyond a narrow approach to readers' advisory and become more open to a wide range of possibilities.-Dave Pugl, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
