In 2019, many readers cultivated the art of not giving a damn while managing their wallets like grown-ups, despite clear indications that everything is well and truly messed up. Or at least, that is what the top 20 bestseller chart seems to tell us, and the prevalence of titles with the f-word on it. Mark Manson’s self-help classic, The Art of Not Giving a F*ck, outsold all other books by some margin and then some, contributing nearly R1 million per month to bookshop coffers. The sequel, Everything is F*cked, published in May last year, shot all the way to no. 10 on the back of the first instalment. Not to be outdone, South Africa’s own Sam Beckbessinger’s Manage Your Money Like a F*cking Grown-Up bagged the no. 6 slot.

Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid franchise saw three series titles in the top 20 (the only children’s books), while four other prescribed books made the list: Born a Crime, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Alchemist and The Choice. Only five local titles reached the top: Gangster State, Stellenbosch Mafia, Manage Your Money Like a F*cking Grown-Up, Born a Crime and Deon Meyer’s The Last Hunt. Mogau Seshoene’s The Lazy Makoti almost reached the chart, with Meyer beating her by a mere 13 copies.