Read On ... Life Stories

I'd like to write a companion to this book for biography.

Thomas Ford just received its copy of Read On ... Life Stories by Rosalind Reisner, the sixth title in the Read On... readers' advisory series, the second title this year. This book which focuses on autobiography and memoir has the same look and feel as the other books in the series. It has five reading appeal sections: character, story, setting, language, and mood. In each of these sections there are between seven and sixteen lists of book titles arranged around a theme, such as food-related memoirs and personal accounts from authors tracking down their ancestors. I like the headings, such as "A Hard Day's Night: Life in the Music Business" and "Crooked Lives: People Behaving Badly." It should be easy to use these lists to make readers' advisory displays.

I am pleased because Read On ... Life Stories is the first nonfiction title in the expanding series. Reisner chose well in writing about life stories, which are currently very popular with readers. Scanning through her lists, I see that she has chosen to include both classic and recent titles, spanning the late 1980s to 2008. I recognized many of the titles, many of which should be in many library collections. (That's too many manys in one sentence.)

There is a single index to Read On ... Life Stories which includes authors, titles, and subjects. Find a book that you like and then turn to its list for new reading suggestions. It is so easy that it should not be locked in a reference collection. Put your copy in circulation.

Reisner, Rosalind. Read On ... Life Stories. Libraries Unlimited, 2009. ISBN 9781591587668