Remember the 'readers' adviser'?

Remember the 'readers' adviser'? Rennison, Nick, ed Good reading guide: what to read and what toread next. London: Bloomsbury, 2002. 338p A$29.95 soft ISBN ISBNabbr.International Standard Book NumberISBNInternational Standard Book NumberISBNn abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m0747554498 THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE GOOD READING GUIDE, AS IN PREVIOUSEDITIONS, seeks to answer two main questions: 'Which book should Iread?' and 'Which book should I read next?' The originalauthor of the guide was the late Kenneth McLeish, and Nick Rennison, abookseller and freelance writer, has maintained many of the elements ofthe first four editions. In the fifth edition entries have been updatedto include books (and deaths of authors) since the last edition (1996).In addition, entries have been revised substantially, with new titlesand authors added. A small number of authors appearing in earliereditions have been excluded mainly because of waning popularity with thereading public. The main portion of this edition is devoted to articles on some 375authors, describing the kind of books they wrote, listing titles andsuggesting books which could make interesting reading after the initialtitle. A 'Read on' section for each author directs readers tosimilar books by other authors. 'Pathways' for twelveinfluential works of literature branch out to dozens of books withsimilar themes. The 'Startpoints' for nine main genre providean introductory reading list of some of the most popular or mostenjoyable. 'Read on a theme' topics range from adolescence tospies and allows the reader to select books dealing with themes thatinterest them and then lead on to other titles. Rennison does not provide literary criticism within the text,choosing to '... describe books, not to be clever at theirexpense', and he also has tried to avoid ranking authors byliterary merit Literary merit is a quality of written work, generally applied to the genre of literary fiction. A work is said to have literary merit (to be a work of art) if it is a work of quality, that is if it has some aesthetic value. . He does, however, use symbols to denote de��note?tr.v. de��not��ed, de��not��ing, de��notes1. To mark; indicate: a frown that denoted increasing impatience.2. highlyrecommended titles and those he regards as masterpieces. Overall, this is a title worthy of a place on any bookshelf and onethat can be read and dipped into on its own merits. It is certainly amust in public libraries, where advice on more books by the same authoror the same genre or theme is sought often. Sally C Anderson, NSW NSWNew South WalesNoun 1. NSW - the agency that provides units to conduct unconventional and counter-guerilla warfareNaval Special Warfare Agriculture