Now Read This ─ A Guide to Mainstream Fiction

Pearl (formerly Washington Center for the Book) and Cords (library and information studies, U. of Wisconsin, Madison) present librarians and book store personnel with a guide to some 500 of the most popular mainstream fiction titles published between 2002 and 2009. The titles are grouped into four sections according to their primary appeal characteristics--setting, story, character, or language--with each section alphabetically arranged by the authors' last names. Each annotation includes the title, author, bibliographic information, an annotation, and a list of subjects assigned by Pearl and Cords, roughly corresponding with Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress Subject Headings. Award-winning titles are identified with a visible icon. Each annotation also includes a list of suggested books--fiction and nonfiction--that may also appeal to readers who enjoyed the annotated book. Indexed by both subject and author/title. Libraries Unlimited is an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Nancy Pearl, former director of Washington Center for the Book, is a best-selling author, literary critic, speaker, and consultant. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the PNBA Lifetime Achievement Award,Library Journal's Librarian of the Year, ALA's Margaret E. Monroe Adult Services Award, and the Women's National Book Association Award.

Sarah Statz Cords has worked in an engineering library and at the reference desk in a public library, is the author of the nonfiction lit blog Citizen Reader, and is currently associate editor of the Readers' Advisor Online blog.