The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction

This was a class textbook. I probably wouldn't have purchased it otherwise, as most libraries I've been to have pretty extensive readers' advisory holdings. Saricks is an outstanding describer of what a genre is about, "sure bets", authors to introduce someone to a genre, authors to introduce someone to other genres, etc. She's the reigning queen of NoveList, and with good reason. If you're able to direct your attention long enough to memorize the important items in her book -- and almost everything is important -- you'll be well on your way to providing excellent readers' advisory. My one quibble is that, with accelerating pace in publishing novels (and little attention being paid to marketing novels unless the writer is a proven winner), the material needs supplementation on a regular basis. I think it would be great for establishing a baseline and moving forward, though.