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Literary title trends, dog books for fall, and a look at Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan and Zone One by Colson Whitehead

A completist’s guide to title trends:

Our friend and librarian extraordinaire Carol K. pointed us to this article from Shelf Talk, the Seattle Public Library blog: Top Trends: The Irresistible “-ist” List. We love that observant librarians are discovering new treands in book titles. Coincidentally, Michael is currently reading Tom Mullen’s The Revisionists. Can you think of other “ist” titles? Go share them in the comments at Shelf Talk.

[photos: courtesy of BOTNS listeners who were on twitter when I needed cute dog photos: @picky_girl, @LaraFromOhio, @LittleGidget, @ya_reader, @Rita_liccious, @SarahMMcCoy and @melizaallen]

BOTNS goes to the dogs:

Speaking of trends, this fall is chock full of dog books. Now in the front of bookstores everywhere:

You Had Me at Woof by Julie Klam

Love at First Bark by Julie Klam

Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean

Also, some members of our Goodreads groups had some suggestions:

Libby recommends:

Pack of Two by Caroline Knapp

Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know by Alexandra Horowitz

Through a Dog’s Eyes by Jennifer Arnold

Elizabeth recommends:

The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell

Dog Years: A Memoir by Mark Doty

A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

Janet recommends Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie Mysteries, the first of which is called Dog On It.

Wade Rouse edited a collection called I‘m Not the Biggest Bitch in this Relationship, with essays from actors, comedians and authors.

And fear not, feline fanciers: we will have a podcast on cat books sometime in the future.

Two books we can’t wait for you to read:

In the 1970s, there was a national fascination with the book and movie Sybil, about a young woman with multiple personalities. A new book by Debbie Nathan, Sybil Exposed, looks at the real story behind the case, using many of the original papers and records of the therapist and the author of the original book. It’s a fascinating expose, especially if you remember the original Sybil mania.

Michael recommends Zone One by Colson Whitehead, which is not your typical zombie book. It follows a group of 3 soldiers, including one whose nickname is ‘Mark Spitz’ as they are tasked with cleaning up Manhattan from the zombies left behind. Esquire called this the best book of the fall, and Justin Cronin, author of The Passage, called it “a zombie novel with brains.”

Next week, the second part of our “Literary Mount Rushmore series.”