Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction

The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction: Third Edition 

by Neal Wyatt and Joyce G. Saricks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very helpful guide to the various genres of fiction including what makes them distinct (or distinct-ish) and what appeals to their readers about them. Also gives author and title suggestions. Which book to start readers with for specific authors or subgenres is suggested, but there isn't any explanation of why that book is the best starting point (other than series that begin at the beginning) and I think that would have been helpful.

 
The end of the book offers a 5-book challenge (read 5 books each year in a new-to-you genre) to build your Readers' Advisory skills. The authors also encourage librarians to create lists from their own collections for each genre and to consider how their local collections correspond to the sure-bet titles in the book.

I was a bit surprised to realize that there are books and authors that I like in all the genres. I didn't expect to find anything I had read in Horror or Suspense because those are genres I stay away from (I don't like the fast pace). But Kathy Reichs and Anne Rice and Christopher Moore are all authors whose work I enjoy and they fit into those categories.