James Patterson: a perennial bestseller
Last spring we discovered from our 2010 Reader Survey that half of BookPage readers rank bestsellers as their favorite kind of book. Now, BookPage reviews a lot of different kinds of books, from commercial books that have print runs in the millions, to literary novels by debut authors with much smaller first printings.
It would be impossible to cover all the bestsellers being published (and as we learned a couple months ago during the Jonathan Franzen-inspired literary vs. commercial fiction showdown, many people would ask, what’s the point?). But in tomorrow’s edition of BookPageXTRA (our bi-monthly e-newsletter), we’ve devoted our full attention to this particular kind of book—fast-paced, entertaining, often funny stories that will inspire thousands of people to pull out their wallets at the bookstore then run home to start turning the pages.
You’ll have to sign up for BookPageXTRA to learn which books we’re highlighting*, but for now, I’d love to know:
Which bestsellers do you think are worth the hype? (Or, who is your favorite best-selling author?)
What makes a bestseller?
*You’ll also get a chance to win copies of all the featured books.
I always love when a Daniel Silva book ocmes out, worth the hype and he always delivers.
I’m sure there are others, but this one springs to mind because I love his Gabriel Allon series.
James Patterson~~overhyped.
I like to read Stephen King. I have his latest on the table, ready to take to the coast next week. However, I prefer historical fiction a la Diana Gabaldon, who doesn’t usually show up on the NY Times bestseller list.
Ditto Bev on James Patterson. My husband reads him, and we joke about the number of chapters!
Michael Connelly. We always pre-order and can’t wait!
“The Invisible Bridge” by Orringer was well worth the hype as was ” Let The Great World Spin.”
Joan, I read an ARC of The Invisible Bridge and LOVED it. It was the best historical fiction I have read in 2010 and as a bookseller, I recommend it a lot. I have, personally, never been let down by anything by Michael Connelly, Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child or P.D. James mystery-wise.
I’d have to say anything by Nicholas Sparks. I started reading The Notebook because a) of the movie hype and b) because of the book hype as a best seller. Since then I’ve read every book in his collection, and have bought many in hardcover as soon as they came out.
Barbara Kingsolver is reliably wonderful. What makes a best seller? Usually a great advertising campaign because more often than not the “best sellers” are not the most well-written or even interesting books.
Just finishing up THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST and it’s as good as the first one in the trilogy (larsen). Working in an independent, used book store we have requests for everything from bestsellers to graphic novels…Neil Gaiman is very popular and lots of mystery series like Harris or Cornwall or Connelly are popular. Stephen King and Dean Koontz continue to be in high demand too.
I enjoy Naomi Ragen’s books – family sagas that have an international twist
Just finished her “Tenth Song.”
Kristin Hannah is my favorite author. I can’t wait until her next book comes out.
I prefer non-fiction especially biographies and autobiographies. My most recent choices are Patrick Swayze, Ellen DeGeneres, Rose Kennedy, Siegfried & Roy, Somewhere in Heaven (Christopher & Dana Reeve), Tori Spelling, Loretta Lynn. After going through at least ten of each of Stephen King and Mary Higgins Clark, I couldn’t help but notice that they either lost their uniqueness or all started sounding the same with only names and places changed. I do like James Patterson so far although I miss Alex Cross when he isn’t included. I also have to be able to find the book in the audio selection which can sometimes be limited.
bestsellers are usually not my thing. i never read the davinci code and probably never will. i do like a good preston/child pendergast novel, but dont rush out to get it every time a new one comes out. word of mouth from indies is good-its how i found guernsey, water for elephants and the postmistress. i did not read the help or the shack simply because the topics didnt interest me.
i like to read about what im going to read so book reviews are key, but i usually go in the opposite direction of the hype. i did read franzen’s freedom, but had it on my list pre-hype
Don’t know if you’ve noticed BUT Pattersons, Grishams, and Picoult’s latest books are weak on plot and written poorly–now that they have to crank out so many in a limited time, they are not very good books.
I read many reviews of future books and always have a list of “must reads” that is longer than I have time to get through them all. I rely on the reviews to help narrow the list. I especially like mysteries, historical fiction, as well as police and law enforcement procedural. My “must read” authors include many bestsellers like the ones you mention, but need to include David Baldacci, Lee Child, Linda Fairstein, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, Philippa Gregory, Chris Mooney, James Grippando, C J Box, Vince Flynn……
I always enjoy Daniel Silva’s books, and right now I’m really excited about the new book from Raymond Khoury, The Templar Salvation!
I always wait for the new Lee Child books and Michael Connelly
Not always, but often, I’m underwhelemed by bestsellers. It would be nice to occasionally learn of a “small” book or a new author who every other book-oriented blog and magazien isn’t also talking about.
Having said that, I gobble up Richard Russo, Ann Pachett, and Michael Chabon.
It’s fun to discover an author you know will be best-selling after reading their debut. I recently read Gina Holmes’ Crossing Oceans and it had the stay with you appeal of Terms of Endearment. When I ask friends if they’ve read it and they say, “no”, I want to shake them. So, I guess the reason I think it will be a best-seller is that it 1. is well written. 2. has a universal theme. 3. excellent and unique characters. 4. entertaining. 5. (and this might be most important) I can’t stop thinking about it.
I do enjoy reading Nora Roberts books and she seems to hit the best seller list often, but I also really like authors like Jane Porter who write more realistic fiction with characters that are single moms, women facing unemployment due to age discrimination, women dealing with divorce and children with depression and make it fun and entertaining to read. Her characters are real, speak to the heart, deal with their problems, but come out with a happy ending. In the world we live in, a happy ending is very important to me and lots of other readers too. So, I would like to see you feature Jane Porter’s books. BTW Jane has an excellent and personal web site: http://www.janeporter.com that I can recommend. I also love to read non-fiction like Tim Cahill’s books and The Journal Keeper by Phyllis Theroux. Thanks for this opportunity for our insights into books. Reading is not just a hobby with me, it is a passion and was my profession as a librarian.