Series ✦ Penny’s Take
What Do I Read Next?
Neil Barron · 1990
42/100
👎 Skip It
When it was published in 1990 this was exactly what librarians needed: a single navigable volume with 1,477 genre fiction entries, eight indexes, and genre overview essays to help readers find their next book. In 2026 every piece of practical information inside it has been replaced by online databases, Goodreads, and library discovery tools that are updated in real time. It survives as a useful historical document of what genre fiction publishing looked like in the late 1980s, and nothing more.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety88
Substance / usefulness35
Craft & writing62
Originality55
Evidence & accuracy25
Hype vs delivers85
Age-fit30
👁 Human-eye gut-check35
Penny’s verdict42
Cross-pollinate