JK Rowling and Bill Bryson top the charts, while film tie-ins give Paula Hawkins and Jojo Moyes a second bite of the cherry – but this unpredictable year has also seen a welcome revival of humorous writingIt was a year when the No 1 book was a play script. When hyper-prolific James Patterson, dubbed the “library king” as Britain’s long-reigning most-borrowed author, could manage no higher than 60th place. When the anonymous, insanely difficult GCHQ Puzzle Book was 43rd, and so beat super-sellers like Patterson and Ian Rankin, not to mention all those much-hyped hygge books.The all-year sales rankings for 2016 are full of such surprises, as befits an unpredictable year, but also contain much that is comfortingly recognisable, such as the ghosts of Christmas charts past at the top. With Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, JK Rowling reclaims the No 1 spot that used to be reserved for her in the noughties, and her versatility is underlined by four other entries in various genres (12, 28, 64, 95). Bill Bryson reprised the round-Britain trip behind his mid-90s hit, Notes from a Small Island, in The Road to Little Dribbling (13) and the result is the list’s highest placed non-fiction title. Mary Berry (17), easily this year’s leading conventional cookery writer, was penning bestselling festive gifts long before either of them emerged. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Remember the days when getting an author in the New York Times, on the Today show, Oprah, or, for us old-timers, Carson practically guaranteed a spot on the bestseller list? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At the ABA town hall, booksellers raised a range of issues, from paying a living wage to whether cover prices should be removed from books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As writer and television producer Noah Hawley puts it, with Emmy, Golden Globe, PEN, Critics Choice, and Peabody Awards under his belt, “I certainly don’t have to write another book if I don’t want to, but I find it’s a very important thing to me to be a novelist. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Introduced in 1947’s Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Betty MacDonald’s eponymous heroine won the hearts of children and their parents, who were—and continue to be—enchanted by her magical cures for such timeless vexations as kids’ impudence, interrupting, bickering, and refusal to share. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In answering whether the NFL would allow betting in Las Vegas should the Oakland Raiders relocate to Las Vegas, the director of the largest sports book operation on The Strip may have created the town’s new catchphrase.“You come to Vegas, you take Vegas the way Vegas is,” said MGM Resorts’ Jay... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While the late Prince represents the Minneapolis sound to millions of adults, two other Twin Cities musicians, the Okee Dokee Brothers, represent its flip side: a more pastoral and family-friendly Minneapolis sound. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marcia Clark wanted to write crime fiction since childhood, but lacked the confidence to go for a career as a writer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For more than 30 years, bestselling author Sebastian Junger has been haunted by something told to him by a close friend who is half Lakota, half Apache. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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You wouldn’t expect bestselling, award-winning author Louise Penny to be, in her words, “wracked with fear” each time she sends a draft out to be read. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Meg Little Reilly describes herself as a “writer, environmentalist, quilter, aspiring banjo player, hiker of mountains and swimmer of lakes.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thomas Mullen has been playing with genres for a long time. He has mixed historical fiction with magical realism, played with the spy novel, and is now mixing a police procedural with a fact-based piece of historical fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kristina Riggle was inspired to write "Vivian in Red" (Polis, Sept.), a multigenerational story with a family mystery, after her agent urged her to expand her horizons from the usual short time-line focus on a particular family or small town. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Schumacher doesn’t know why he is so fascinated with the Great Lakes, but it’s been a lifelong passion. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If Thomas J. Stanley were alive today, he would have be none too pleased with the celebration that is taking place today at the Globe Pequot booth. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faith Salie says she is both “deeply honored and deeply apologetic” at being chosen as master of ceremonies for today’s Adult Book & Author Breakfast: “I looked up the names of hosts from the last few years, and I hope they won’t be sorry they picked me.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A select handful of children’s book editors have arrived at BEA eager to spread word of forthcoming first novels for which they have have high expectations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With more than 40 novels under her belt, including several popular romance series, it’s no wonder that Robyn Carr is the 2016 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Although Maria Semple has written two previous novels—most recently the bestselling "Where’d You Go, Bernadette," with a film adaptation in the works—the one-time TV writer ("Mad About You," "Arrested Development") says writing them never gets easier. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The striking similarities between Pulitzer Prize–winner Robert Olen Butler and the narrator in his latest novel, "Perfume River," leads readers to wonder if the book is in some way autobiographical. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What began as a quirky little musical at New York’s Public Theater has now blossomed into the most hyped show on Broadway. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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