Nancy Pearl: Rock Star Librarian

I've been fascinated by librarian Nancy Pearl for a while now because despite all the gloom and doom news about the demise of independent bookstores, large bookstore chains struggling to turn a profit, schools that no longer teach the classics, and the fact that one in four Americans did not read a single book in 2006, she seems to be everywhere sharing her excitement about books. Turn the radio to NPR and you're likely to hear Pearl talking about books. Pick up a newspaper, and there's her latest book commentary. Go to your local bookstore and you'll find copies of Book Lust , More Book Lust and Book Crush, the three books in which she recommends hundreds of books that she's enjoyed over the years. She's everywhere and, in the book world, she seems to have reached rock star status. Heck, the lady even has an action figure patterned after her.

I particularly like her common sense advice when it comes to reading habits because Nancy is not afraid to remind readers that there are only so many hours in a lifetime that can be dedicated to reading and that those hours shouldn't be squandered on books that don't work for you as a reader.

Nancy Pearl is tough on books. She guesses she finishes one for every 10 she starts.

"I really demand a lot," the retired Seattle librarian says, "sometimes, I think, too much. But I don't want to waste time on a bad book."

"A bad book," she explains, "is any book you don't like. A good book is any book you like."

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These days, in addition to her regular radio appearances and writing books and book reviews, Pearl speaks at libraries, bookstores and various literary events across the globe, encouraging adults and children alike to read.

"We are a community of readers and what we need to do as adults ... is really allow kids to find themselves in the pages of a book," she says.

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Her research for "Book Crush" included asking kids what they were reading, then reading the same books herself.

"Unless I liked them, too, I didn't put them in here," says Pearl, gesturing to the book. If a title is listed in one of her books, she assures she's read the entire thing.

"Time is short and the world of books is very large," she says. "To slog through a book you're not loving is a waste of your time. If you don't like a book, no matter how old you are, you should stop reading it."

It really is as simple as that. I've found that reading a "bad book" takes at least twice as much time as reading one that I enjoy and, since I have stacks and stacks of books waiting to be read, I can't waste much of my reading time on "bad books." The trick is knowing when to admit that enough is enough. I'm considerably less likely to give up on a book than Nancy is. Where she admits to finishing only one book in any ten that she starts, I am just the opposite, finishing at least nine of any ten that I begin. But, as my reject rate has gradually risen over the years, I find that I read more books per year now than ever before and, more importantly, that I enjoy reading more than ever. Words of wisdom from a rock star.