The Christmas season held no surprises when it came to sales through the tills, with end-of-year staples such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Deon Meyer, Lee Child, Malcolm Gladwell, Wilbur Smith, John Grisham, Robin Sharma, John Platter’s Wine Guide, Guinness World Records, Zapiro , David Walliams and Jamie Oliver all putting in an appearance on the Top 20. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck continued its dominance of the charts, perhaps indicating the settling of a permanent mood in the market. Marita van der Vyver, Jojo Moyes and Lucinda Riley all made welcome returns to the bestseller list, while Heather Morris repeated the success of the previous year’s Tattooist of Auschwitz with her new book, Cilka’s Journey. […]
Readers’ love affair with expletives continued into the year with no less than three titles containing the word f*ck making it to the Top 20 in August. South Africa’s plague of corruption remains a source of fascination, with Bosasa, the tobacco industry and the so-called Stellenbosch Mafia all covered on the bestseller list, the latter topping the charts. The boom in local memoir and biography goes from strength to strength, seeing the month dominated by Letshego Zulu, Gabi Lowe and the story of Zephany Nurse. The surprise hit of the month was undoubtedly Living Coloured by Yusuf Daniels, making it to number 19 on the list. The most anticipated release of the month did not disappoint: Dr. T: A Guide […]
Does one lead and the other follow? The international book trade is a rich and varied creature with each territory influenced – more or less so – by cultural and local influences: priests-turned-chefs in Brazil, economics and business titles in India and home-grown fiction authors in Italy for example. But there are also trends that ricochet around the world. In the last few years we’ve observed the global popularity of adult colouring, a grown-up Harry Potter (of course) and dystopian fiction (initially targeted at the emerging adult), to name but a few. How do you predict what will translate, literally and culturally? How do you take a punt and find you have the next Elena Ferrante? The next Millie Marotta? […]
