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Genre flecting: A Guide to Reading Interests in Genre Fiction. 5th edition. By Diana Tixier Herald. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 2000. 553p. $49 (ISBN 1-56308-638-7). www.lu.com.
Genreflecting has proven to be a well-known handbook and reference tool since the first edition by Betty Rosenberg (Libraries Unlimited, 1982) appeared. Subsequent enlarged and updated editions were released in 1986, 1991, 1995, and now in 2000. As most librarians know, especially those serving in public libraries, Genre flecting follows Rosenberg's "first rule of reading: Never apologize for your reading tastes." This mandates that popular fiction be held in high regard for a number of reasons, certainly because "common readers" who "are our public and our customers" are people who very much enjoy reading. Often what these clients hope to find are books they...