And The Best Selling Book of '21 Is....
Plus winter reading ideas, the rise of the audiobook and bookish travel.
And the best selling book of 2021 is…….
Yep, that is right, the top selling book in America for 2021 is a middle grade comic book. This actually gives me a bit of faith in humanity. Our kids are reading, and two years into a pandemic, their sense of humor is alive and well. Each of my kids went through a Captain Underpants phase (also by Pilkey). Pilkey gets what is funny and relatable for kids.
Other facinating facts from the year’s top ten sellers: Six were back list titles including perenial favorites Atomic Habits, The Four Agreements, and Oh The Place’s You’ll Go. There are only two adult fiction books on the list: Kristen Hannah’s The Four Winds and It Ends With Us by Kathleen Hoover, a 2016 backlist title that received a ton of love from #booktoc which drove sales.
This marvelous comic by Grace Ferris caught my eye. Here are some recommendations from her winter reading categories:
The Tropical Book: The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen, Diamond Head by Cecily Wong
The 600 Page Romance book set in Scotland: Winter Solstice by Rosmunde Pilcher or The Winter Sea by Sussana Kearsley
The Bloody Alpine Thriller: One By One from Ruth Ware and the classic true story Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Rise of the Audiobook
If you are not listening to books, what are you doing? Audiobooks are becoming an increasingly popular choice for many readers. No longer reserved for long car rides and commutes, they are being incorporated into everyday life. I am clearly not the only one that is walking around with headphones on in my home. 71,000 audiobooks were published in the United States last year, a 39-percent increase in titles over those published in 2019. Audiobook revenue hit to $1.3 billion last year in the US in 2020 (a 38% increase since 1918.) They still remain a major accessibility tool into the world of books for the blind, disabled, and those with learning challenges. Audiobooks are more afforable and more widely available than ever. In recent years, production values have skyrocketed, often showcasing famous narrators, mulitple voices, clips from live readings, and other special effects to improve the listening experience.
Where to get books:
Assuming you are familiar with Audible.com, here are some other listening options:
Library Apps such as Hoopla and Libby are my go-to. Free but sometimes long hold waits on Libby.
Chirp sells many audiobooks for under $5.00. Sign up for their emails to find out what is being discounted.
LibroFM is an independent audio book supplier that has a monthly subscription service for $14.99, which includes one title and 30% off additional purchases. When you purchase from LibroFM you also choose a local bookseller to support and LibroFM splits the profits with them. How great is that? Here are Libro’s top 10 best sellers for 2021. This is my choice.
Scribed is an all in one book subcription that gives you access to their library of books, audiobooks, magazines, podcasts and some other things for a flat $9.99. It has a pretty extensive selection and may be the best overall reading subscription because it offers e-books and audio books where most other subscriptions specialize in one or the other.
Improve your Listening Experience:
Speed up the pace. As you know when we read we often skim over familiar words. Listening to the narrator pronounce each work can feel slow; I have found listening at a playback rate of about 1.25-35x moves things along.
Find a genre that works for you. I started to up my listening when I began borrowing memoirs and other nonfiction titles. Other people find they like listening to suspense or self-help. Keep trying to find what works for you.
Don’t listen while in bed at night. You will fall asleep and not remember where you are in the book or what is happening. Try listening when doing household chores like folding laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning, gardening, or even walking the dog.
My family took a fabulous trip over Christmas to London and Edinburgh. It was long in the planning and a bit tricky with testing, but so worth it. Above are some of the bookish items I brought home.
The Appeal - a Sunday Times Book of the Year, not published in US yet (see review below),
A fun pair of bookish socks,
London Underground book clips,
Wilding: Returning Nature to our Farm - chosen for its gorgeous cover, which is so much better than the US version,
Edinburgh bookmark - We saw this painting on display at the Scottish National Gallery.
We had the very best afternoon tea in a library in Scotland and managed to visit more than a few bookstores.
Recent Reads
Sorrow and Bliss is not usually my type of book: a character driven novel narrated by a difficult person. But I was patient and this grew into a really powerful story. Martha is struggling with a mental illness that thwarts all her efforts to be the person she wants to be. The story line weaves between her unconventional childhood with poet and artist parents, up through her disastrous relationships, to her current situation. Her close sibling relationship is a constant through the book. I loved the London and Oxford setting that timed perfectly with our travels. This is a beautifully written story told with humor and heart about life, family, relationships and mental illness. Note: the author does something really interesting by leaving the diagnosis unnamed, allowing readers to not get distracted or pigeon hole the character based on this.
All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle is one of those charming “curmudgeon” books I highlighted back in my October newsletter. Hubert is a grumpy pensioner who gets a second chance at life when Ashley, a single mum new to his neighborhood befriends him. As Hubert looks back on the ups and downs of his life, immigrating from Jamaica and his beloved family, he finds purpose in new connections he makes. Hubert deals with some difficult things and I like that not everything is tied up in a bow at the end. There is a likeable supporting cast of characters and a couple twists that I don’t want to give away. This is a great feel-good novel for the new year that centers on the issue of loneliness, something most humans can relate to.
The Devotion of Suspect X is a backlist title set in Japan (translated) that started getting some love on podcasts I listen to. Please disregard the strange title. This book sets up a sort of “chess match” between a tenetious detective and a brilliant suspect in a murder. What makes this book unusual is you see the case from both sides and it is hard to decide whom to root for. I really enjoyed how well constructed the plot is. This police procedural succeeds because even though you know who did it, the author leaves the conclusion to the very end.
Janice Hallett’s The Appeal1 is a mystery told solely through emails and a few additional correspondences. A murder is commited, someone is wrongly convicted, and two law students are tasked with revisiting the evidence. The emails weave an entertaining web of trickery and deceit centered around a local theater company preparing to stage a new play. A company member’s child is gravely ill and a charity is formed to raise funds for a special treatment. The suspects include a dramatic actress, a husband hiding things, a lonely hanger on, a questionable doctor, and a great number of people not telling the truth. I appreciate the unique structure and found it fun to get to know the characters only through correspondence.
Cover shown is US version, kindle release date is 1/25/22.