How was the recent publicity tour? What kind of questions and comments did you receive? Which chapters resonated with the tour audiences? Did you receive feedback on the Rule of 50 and the amended Rule of 50?
I recently came back from a four-week publicity and have to say that it was gratifying, exhilarating, exhausting, and just a lot of fun. I loved being around people who love to read as much as I do, and sharing book recommendations with them. There were lots of questions about why I included some books and authors and not others (i.e., why Sue Grafton and not Marcia Muller in the mystery section; why On the Beach and A Town Like Alice and not Nevil Shute’s Trustee from the Toolroom) – my answers were basically because those were the books that I liked best and could more heartily recommend. And other questions – like why no Anthony Trollope, for example, I could honestly answer that I forgot them! And then assure people that many of those omissions will be part of Book Lust II, due out probably September of 2005. People love the rule of 50, and they also loved the selected “Too Good to Miss” authors, like Iris Murdoch, Elinor Lipman, Ross Thomas, Richard Powers, and Rex Stout (among others).
Just two weeks after the first printing of Book Lust in September Sasquatch Books went into a second printing. What do you attribute the success of the book to?
I think that whatever success Book Lust has is due to a couple of factors. One is that people are generally hungry for suggestions for good books to read, a map, if you will, through the world of books. But perhaps the most important aspect of Book Lust is its non-stuffy, non-scolding, non-contentious, and conversational tone. I wrote Book Lust as if I were talking to a good friend and I think that comes across to readers.
You have been asked to write sequel to Book Lust. What can your readers anticipate in the new volume? Will it have a different title? Do you plan to include the suggestions from government documents librarians on the GOVDOC-L (a LISTSERV ® for government information and the Federal Depository Library program)? Can you give us a sneak peak?
The working title of the sequel is Book Lust II: Because Once is Not Enough, although I have no idea if that will be the final choice. It will probably have about 200 categories, most of them new. These will include books on Winston Churchill, fly fishing, more poetry, probably more children’s and young adult books, more straight biography, a category I’m calling Other People’s Shoes, and a series of categories called Reading Itineraries, about different parts of the world. I am going to try to include some of the suggestions for good government documents. Of course, this means that I have to read all of them to choose among them! I am saving all the emails I get from people with suggestions, and will include as many of them as I can.
What is the next step in your career as a writer and a digitized librarian?
Believe me, Margaret, after you’ve been digitized there is nothing left to aspire to! Seriously, I would love to be able to leave my day job and earn a living traveling around the country and talking to library groups and others about the joy of reading and good books to read. I would also like to find the time to write a novel that I’ve been thinking about for a while.
Nancy Pearl congratulations. Thank you for the interview.
