Top 5 per Genre Pt. 3
January 22nd 2007 11:29
This is the last part of the Angus and Robertson Top 5s by genre. Read on!
LITERATURE
1. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
5. Tully by Paulinia Simons
Jodi Picoult went from being popular author to literary superstar with the success of 'My Sister's Keeper' in 2004. It's remained her biggest selling novel so far. Most of this Top 5 have been popular for a while... the newest of their number is probably the increasingly popular 'The Kite Runner'. Interestingly, the Top 5 of the Literature section is dominated by the more traditionally 'female-friendly' Literature books... Chuck Palahniuk, Brett Easton Ellis, DBC Pierre, Roddy Doyle and Mark Haddon are nowhere to be seen.
SCIENCE-FICTION
1. Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
2. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
3. The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
4. The Elder Gods by David Eddings
5. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Angus and Robertson insist on classifying this Top 5 as the 'Science-Fiction' Top 5, even though none of these books are actually Science-Fiction. Is it really that hard for laymen to tell the difference between science-fiction and fantasy? One concerns magic, one concerns science. More or less. What's the problem? Previous entries in this Top 5 that have been knocked out are Terry Pratchett's first Discworld novel, 'The Colour of Magic', and Douglas Adams' absurdist comedy masterpiece 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Replacing these two books are David Eddings' recent comeback piece, 'The Elder Gods', and Jasper Fforde's genre-bending best-seller 'The Eyre Affair'. I don't think anyone would argue against the first 3 books of the Top 5, between the three of them they pretty much define the modern Fantasy genre.
CRIME FICTION
1. Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
2. Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
3. One For the Money by Janet Evanovich
4. The Poet by Michael Connelly
5. Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
I'm surprised that Patricia Cornwell isn't higher in that list. Other than that, this list is pretty unsurprising... it checklists the most popular current authors of the genre. Kathy Reichs is probably the newest star amongst them, but even she's been pumping them out for at least five years now.
BIOGRAPHY
1. Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
2. Marley and Me by John Grogan
3. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
4. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
5. A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey
I'm surprised to see 'Marley and Me' in the Top 5 for Biographies... I mean, I know it's been popular since it's release last year, but that popular? I guess it just goes to show that some people will read any old shit (hey, I never said I wouldn't pass judgement in this blog!). C'mon, it's a book about a freaking dog. Anyway, moving on, the rest of this Top 5 are fairly safe choices - 'A Child Called It' is probably the biggest seller of the lot, 'A Fortunate Life' is a classic from way back, and 'Tuesdays With Morrie' has turned Mitch Albom into an author who's sparsely released works have become literary events. 'Mao's Last Dancer' has been pushed by Angus and Robertson ever since it's release a few years ago, and is strangely yet to be released in a small papaerback form.
MILITARY
1. Tobruk by Peter Fitzsimons
2. Kokoda by Peter Fitzsimons
3. 18 Hours: The True Story by Sandra Lee
4. A Bastard of a Place by Peter Brune
5. Hellfire by Cameron Forbes
The Military Top 5 is dominated by Australian-centric or Australian-written war chronicles, the exception being Sandra Lee's recent SAS best-seller '18 Hours'. Peter Fitzsimons has carved out a niche for himself with his own in-depth tomes on war, 'Kokoda' nudged into the number 2 slot by his more recent offering, 'Tobruk' - which did big business over Christmas.
And that's it. Strangely, Angus and Robertson have neglected a section or two in their Top 5 collations... General Fiction, True Crime, Science and Reference were all snubbed, as were several other less-popular sections. Maybe if they indicated which five books were the most popular in these 'lesser' sections they'd attract a bit more attention to them, eh? Oh well.
LITERATURE
1. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Jodi Picoult went from being popular author to literary superstar with the success of 'My Sister's Keeper' in 2004. It's remained her biggest selling novel so far. Most of this Top 5 have been popular for a while... the newest of their number is probably the increasingly popular 'The Kite Runner'. Interestingly, the Top 5 of the Literature section is dominated by the more traditionally 'female-friendly' Literature books... Chuck Palahniuk, Brett Easton Ellis, DBC Pierre, Roddy Doyle and Mark Haddon are nowhere to be seen.
SCIENCE-FICTION
1. Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
2. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
3. The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
4. The Elder Gods by David Eddings
5. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
CRIME FICTION
1. Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
2. Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
3. One For the Money by Janet Evanovich
4. The Poet by Michael Connelly
5. Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
I'm surprised that Patricia Cornwell isn't higher in that list. Other than that, this list is pretty unsurprising... it checklists the most popular current authors of the genre. Kathy Reichs is probably the newest star amongst them, but even she's been pumping them out for at least five years now.
BIOGRAPHY
1. Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
2. Marley and Me by John Grogan
3. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
4. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
5. A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey
I'm surprised to see 'Marley and Me' in the Top 5 for Biographies... I mean, I know it's been popular since it's release last year, but that popular? I guess it just goes to show that some people will read any old shit (hey, I never said I wouldn't pass judgement in this blog!). C'mon, it's a book about a freaking dog. Anyway, moving on, the rest of this Top 5 are fairly safe choices - 'A Child Called It' is probably the biggest seller of the lot, 'A Fortunate Life' is a classic from way back, and 'Tuesdays With Morrie' has turned Mitch Albom into an author who's sparsely released works have become literary events. 'Mao's Last Dancer' has been pushed by Angus and Robertson ever since it's release a few years ago, and is strangely yet to be released in a small papaerback form.
MILITARY
1. Tobruk by Peter Fitzsimons
2. Kokoda by Peter Fitzsimons
3. 18 Hours: The True Story by Sandra Lee
4. A Bastard of a Place by Peter Brune
5. Hellfire by Cameron Forbes
The Military Top 5 is dominated by Australian-centric or Australian-written war chronicles, the exception being Sandra Lee's recent SAS best-seller '18 Hours'. Peter Fitzsimons has carved out a niche for himself with his own in-depth tomes on war, 'Kokoda' nudged into the number 2 slot by his more recent offering, 'Tobruk' - which did big business over Christmas.
And that's it. Strangely, Angus and Robertson have neglected a section or two in their Top 5 collations... General Fiction, True Crime, Science and Reference were all snubbed, as were several other less-popular sections. Maybe if they indicated which five books were the most popular in these 'lesser' sections they'd attract a bit more attention to them, eh? Oh well.
| 64 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
