James Metcalf on the fictionality of the latest archaeological page-turners
Stephen Puddicombe looks at the unusual appeal of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
Ciaran Rafferty investigates the science of book classification
With vampires (the Sookie Stackhouse series and Twilight saga) and thrillers (The Millennium trilogy) dominating the bestseller lists, the public’s penchant for the supernatural continued unabated. But what can we look forward to in 2011?
Vamping it up?
Although the 11th in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Dead Reckoning, will be released in May, it seems that the public has had its fill of fanged literature as the market reached saturation point. With the overload of Edward Cullens and smouldering vampire romances, bookstores even added a ‘paranormal romance’ shelf to their Young Adult sections, ready to be eagerly snapped up by angsty tweens. The trend for paranormal romance looks set to continue as strongly as ever, but without the focus on vampires – faeries, werewolves and even characters from mythology will hog the limelight.
Weepy drama
The penchant for overblown weepy family relationships in books is as strong as ever. Expect a book by Jodi Picoult involving all the usual ingredients – a moral dilemma, a court battle and finding new love. As regular as clockwork her books are released and gobbled up by the waiting public. Kim Edwards, the author of book-club favourite The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, will be releasing Lake of Dreams on the 4th January. It will involve the death of a loved one and working through “complicated family relationships”. In the world of literature, when are family relationships ever not complicated?
Self-help books
2010 was dominated by Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, as it was translates to screen with Julia Roberts, a curious but insanely popular hybrid of story, true life and self-help, about the author’s cathartic experience whilst travelling. This year this genre looks ready to be even more popular, as pseudo spiritual books crowd our shelves, for example Paul McKenna’s latest offering, I Can Make You Happy, released on the 6th January.
One to watch
One of the most hotly anticipated releases of 2011 is You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon, a collection of short stories about military wives. She has already been compared to Raymond Carver and Tim O’Brien, and the book will be released mid January.
You must log in to submit a comment.
