Nancy Pearl | |
---|---|
Born | Detroit, Michigan | January 12, 1945
Occupation | Librarian |
Known for | Book Lust guidebook, blog, and radio commentary |
Nancy Pearl (born January 12, 1945) is an American librarian, best-selling author, literary critic and the former executive director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library. [1] Her prolific reading and her knowledge of books and literature first made her locally famous in Seattle, Washington, where she regularly appears on public radio recommending books. She achieved broader fame with Book Lust, her 2003 guide to good reading. Pearl was named 2011 Librarian of the Year by Library Journal . She is also the author of a novel and a memoir.
Nancy Pearl was raised in Detroit, Michigan and, by her own account, spent much time of her childhood at the public library. Her decision to become a librarian started at the age of 10 with the inspiration of the children's librarian at her local public library. She credits books and librarians with helping her through a difficult childhood: "It's not too much of an exaggeration—if it's one at all—to say that reading saved my life." [2] She earned her master's in library science at the University of Michigan [3] (1967) and became a children's librarian in her hometown library system before moving on to other libraries. As a hobby, Pearl wrote poetry as a young woman and in 1980 published a story in Redbook magazine called "The Ride to School." [4]
Pearl moved with her husband, professor Joe Pearl, from Detroit to Oklahoma, where she raised two daughters (Eily Raman and Katie) while earning another master's degree, this one in history. She worked in an independent bookstore, Yorktown Alley, as well as the Tulsa City-County Library System. Craig Buthod, who worked with Pearl in Tulsa before he became the deputy director of the Seattle Public Library, recruited her to come to Seattle in 1993. She originally traveled to Seattle without her husband for four years, until he reached retirement age and joined her. Pearl said the decision to join the library was one of the few times in her life when she instinctively knew she was doing the right thing. [1]
In Seattle, she became something of a local celebrity, founding the pioneering and much-imitated "If All Seattle Read The Same Book" project, encouraging every adult and every adolescent in the city to read the same book at the same time. The project, initially funded by a grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, was subsequently adopted by a number of cities, including Chicago, Buffalo and Rochester. [3] [5] [6] Pearl appeared regularly on KUOW public radio to review and recommend books. While there she first came up with her "Rule of 50" to read a book's first 50 pages before deciding if you were interested enough to finish it or uninterested enough to quit. [6] [7] She later became the executive director of the library system's Washington Center for the Book. [6] She has also taught a readers' advisory course at the University of Washington Information School called "Book Lust 101." [8]
Pearl achieved broader fame with Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason (2003), her readers' advisory guide to good reading. More Book Lust (2005), with the same subtitle, received much acclaim ("a sprightly follow-up") and was chosen by the Today Show as one of its book-club selections. In March 2007, Pearl released a book of recommendations for children and teens titled Book Crush.
Pearl is also the author of the novel George & Lizzie [9] and The Writer's Library, [10] co-written with Jeff Schwager, which contains interviews with 23 American authors, including Pulitzer Prize-winners Michael Chabon, Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Richard Ford, Andrew Sean Greer, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Donna Tartt.
In January 2012, Amazon.com announced that it would publish a number of out-of-print titles recommended by Pearl, in a venture called Book Lust Rediscoveries. Approximately six novels, originally published between 1960 and 2000, will be published each year in various print and electronic formats. For each title, Pearl will provide an introduction, book discussion points and suggestions for further reading. [11]
"Amazon just blew me, my agent – both of us – away with their enthusiasm for doing something so wonderful as resurrecting books that never should have gone out of print in the first place," Pearl said on National Public Radio's Morning Edition . [12] Although 20 traditional publishers had turned down Pearl's proposal for the rediscoveries, Amazon's agreement to re-issue the titles set off an intense negative response.
"I knew the minute I signed the contract that there would be people who would not be happy, but the vehemence surprised me," Pearl told The New York Times in February 2012. "I understand and sympathize with the concerns about Amazon's role in the world of books. If I had to do this deal all over again ... well, it's a hard question. But I would still want these books back in print." [13]
Others applauded Pearl for rescuing beloved, out of print books, including two by American novelist and short-story writer Elizabeth Savage who'd once written "It is very dangerous to get caught without something to read"—a favorite line of Pearl's. Savage's novels, The Last Night at the Ritz and The Girls from the Five Great Valleys, now appear under the Book Lust label.
Pearl has had her face on an American Library Association poster [14] and has received numerous awards. Her book reviews appear in The Seattle Times , Booklist , Library Journal , and on the radio on KUOW-FM Seattle, and KWGS Tulsa, Oklahoma. [3]
In 2003 she received an unusual honor when the Seattle-based company Accoutrements created a librarian action figure in her likeness to be sold in their Seattle store, Archie McPhee. Featuring Pearl with a stack of books and a finger to her lips, the doll's "push to shush" action was popular with some librarians and dismaying to others who felt that the doll reinforced librarian stereotypes. Pearl herself said that the shushing aspect of the action figure would determine "which librarians have a sense of humor." [6]
A tribute band called 'The Nancy Pearls' gave their debut bluegrass performance on the Mitchell Library rooftop (Sydney, Australia) on December 17, 2004.
Julie Anne Peters was an American author of young adult fiction. Peters published 20 works, mostly novels, geared toward children and adolescents, many of which feature LGBT characters. In addition to the United States, Peters's books have been published in numerous countries, including South Korea, China, Croatia, Germany, France, Italy, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil. Her 2004 book Luna was the first young-adult novel with a transgender character to be released by a mainstream publisher.
Cryptid Hunters is a 2005 young adult science fiction novel by Roland Smith; it follows the adventures of thirteen-year-old siblings Grace and Marty O'Hara, who are sent to live with their Uncle Wolfe after their parents are lost in an accident. He is an anthropologist on a remote island, searching for cryptids, which are animals thought to be extinct or not to exist. His rival Noah Blackwood, a popular animal collector, tries to acquire an alleged dinosaur egg from Wolfe, and the twins get involved in the conflict which reveals a convoluted family history. The novel was nominated for several library awards and book lists, which include Hawaii's 2008 Nene Recommended Book List, the Texas Library Association's 2007-2008 Lone Star Reading List, and Third Place for the Missouri Association of School Librarians' Mark Twain Readers Award. Smith has written three sequels called Tentacles, Chupacabra, and Mutation.
Deb Caletti is an American writer of young adult and adult fiction. Caletti is a National Book Award finalist, and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book medalist, as well as the recipient of other numerous awards including the PEN USA finalist award, the Josette Frank Award for Fiction, the Washington State Book Award, and SLJ Best Book award. Caletti's books feature the Pacific Northwest, and her young adult work is popular for tackling difficult issues typically reserved for adult fiction. Her first adult fiction novel, He's Gone, was published by Random House in 2013, and was followed by several other books for adults, in addition to her many books for teens.
Maitland McDonagh is an American film critic, writer-editor and podcaster. She is the author of Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento (1991) and other books and articles on horror and exploitation films, as well as about erotic fiction and erotic cinema. In 2022, McDonagh was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame. She is the founder of the small press 120 Days Books, which became an imprint of Riverdale Avenue Books.
Music Lust: Recommended Listening for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason is a book written by Nic Harcourt, the music director for the Santa Monica, California, radio station KCRW.
Meredith Ann Pierce is an American fantasy writer and librarian. Her books deal in fantasy worlds with mythic settings and frequently feature young women who first wish only to love and be loved, yet who must face hazard and danger to save their way of life, their world, and so on, usually without being respected for their efforts until the end of the story.
Readers' advisory is a service which involves suggesting fiction and nonfiction titles to a reader through direct or indirect means. This service is a fundamental library service; however, readers' advisory also occurs in commercial contexts such as bookstores. Currently, almost all North American public libraries offer some form of readers' advisory.
Gambit is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, first published by the Viking Press in 1962.
Jincy Willett is an American author and writing teacher currently living in San Diego, California. She has written short pieces for various anthologies and periodicals including The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction, Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, Funny Ha Ha, 80 of the funniest stories ever written, edited and selected by Paul Merton, and Issues 22 and 56 of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Her first book, a collection of short stories called Jenny and the Jaws of Life, was initially published in 1987 to critical acclaim but smaller-than-expected sales. The public admiration of Willett's writing expressed by David Sedaris, however, had the book in reprint in 2002, garnering praise from critics and public alike.
Murder by the Book is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout published in 1951 by the Viking Press, and collected in the omnibus volume Royal Flush (1965).
Plot It Yourself is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1959, and also collected in the omnibus volume Kings Full of Aces.
Darconville's Cat is the second novel by Alexander Theroux, first published in 1981. The main story is a love affair between Alaric Darconville, an English professor at a Virginia women's college, and Isabel, one of his students, but includes long sections on other topics, including a general satire of the world of American academics.
Wendy Mass is an author of young adult novels and children's books.
Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their own groups of book suggestions, surveys, polls, blogs, and discussions. The website's offices are located in San Francisco.
One City One Book is a generic name for a community reading program that attempts to get everyone in a city to read and discuss the same book. The name of the program is often reversed to One Book One City or is customized to name the city where it occurs. Popular book picks have been Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Ernest Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima.
Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason was written by Nancy Pearl, former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book and inspiration for the Librarian action figure.
Biggest Elvis, also known as Biggest Elvis: A Novel, is a novel written by the American author P. F. Kluge, a former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Pacific region and writer-in-residence at Kenyon College. This 1996 literary piece started out as a journalistic writing for Playboy magazine, to illustrate the nightlife in brothels and nightclubs when fleets of American naval servicemen dock for sailors' shore-leave in the port of Olongapo City. It is also a portrayal of the entrapment of poverty-stricken residents of Olongapo within a "military economy" through the nightly and ritualistic on-stage rebirths, deaths and resurrections of Elvis Presley by three American copycats living and making a livelihood while in the Philippines.
Carol Gorman is an American writer of children's fiction. She originally aspired to be an actress, and for a few years taught seventh grade at an Iowan middle school. Inspired by her husband and fellow author, Ed Gorman, she began writing in the mid-1980s. With over 22 books published under several names, Carol Gorman continues to write and teach.
Elizabeth Savage was an American novelist and short-story writer. In nine novels, she explored the turbulent decades between 1930 and 1980 in the Western United States and along the Atlantic Coast. Her work focuses on men and women dealing with the Great Depression, World War II, the birth of the women’s movement, the Sixties counterculture and the Vietnam War. Among her best-known books are The Last Night at the Ritz, the semi-autobiographical The Girls from the Five Great Valleys, Summer of Pride, But Not for Love, A Fall of Angels, and Happy Ending.