LIBRARY LIN'S CURATED COLLECTION OF SUPERLATIVE NONFICTION

A retired Virginia librarian compiles an annotated bibliography of high-quality nonfiction.

With decades of experience in public and school libraries, Maxie has a lifetime of experience helping patrons locate the next book to add to their reading list. In her debut, written under the pen name of Library Lin, Maxie distills a century of nonfiction into a digestible best-of compilation. Following the organizational structure of the Dewey Decimal System, the book’s 10 chapters parallel the classification system’s 10 hierarchal divisions of knowledge, from General Knowledge and Computer Science (000-099) and Religion (200-299) to Languages (400-499) and Geography, Biography, and History (900-999). Drawing on 65 lists, including those of National Book Award winners and the Kirkus Best Nonfiction Books of the Year, Maxie’s entries include a brief synopsis paragraph that describes each book’s thesis. Books that make Maxie’s cut must meet three additional criteria: They “must teach me something new,” “must change the way I look at life in some small way,” and must “keep the pages turning with a clear, engaging writing style.” Adhering to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, the book does not discriminate based on the ideology or background of the author and thus includes books that span a full range of sometimes competing perspectives on controversial topics like religion and politics. For a reference book of such enormous scope that has barely 400 pages, Maxie acknowledges her lists are “a tiny sampling,” part of a larger network of Library Lin book lists featured on her Further Reading blog. Dedicated “to all those who love to read and learn,” this is a useful reference tool for bibliophiles on the never-ending journey to find their next favorite book, and it’s accompanied by practical appendix material such as an author and title index. And while the book’s introductory chapter makes a too-cursory attempt to deal with topics like theoretical debates over blurred lines between “Fiction vs. Nonfiction,” its lists nevertheless make for a delightful guidebook.

A thoughtful, thorough survey of the best nonfiction found in today’s libraries.