Bestseller Books
Some of us are purists when it comes to bestseller books and lists. We ignore the lists, read what appeals to us by cover, title, first paragraph, and book blurbs or other reviews…and then find to our delight that the book we just carried around from room to room until we finished it is one of the bestseller books, or is touted by Oprah on the boob tube. Some of us prefer, though, to consult the bestseller books lists—of The New York Times, a writer’s magazine, or a flyer emailed to us by one of the major bookstores.
I recall the first few times the former happened to me. I read Wally Lamb’s SHE’S COME UNDONE. I read it because the title, taken from a song an old boyfriend once dedicated to me (not that I should boast about that) resonated for me. And I was so engrossed in and enthralled by the book, especially because it is written by a man but the central figure is a girl who is so brilliantly depicted, that I wrote an anonymous thank you to Lamb—in care of his publisher. Here’s my point, though, a few days or weeks later, Oprah was gushing (rightfully so) over the book. And we know that when Oprah uses a work for her book club, it will likely be on the bestseller books list within days or hours of her televising.
A similar phenomenon occurred when I read Gibbons’ ELLEN FOSTER, appreciating the theme, dialogue, development, and paralleling structure and protagonist movement (the girl is a foster child who gets relocated often, and the plot moves back and forth and all over the place, accordingly…). I used the book in a freshman comp class I taught that semester. Then I saw Oprah hailing the work as one she felt should be, she implied, on the bestseller books list that year.
Other books I have read and adored have had a harder time of making it to the bestseller books list—though they do make it there: for example, James Redmond wrote THE CELESTINE PROPHECY, self-published it, and peddled it to the bookstores, where it sat neglected for years. Then a wave of readers caught on, the book was revered, and he was accepted by a major publisher to print mass quantities and to soon thereafter hit the bestseller books list.
A similar process impacted K. Kelly and P. Ramundo. They wrote a book on ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). No one would pick it up. That is, no major publishing house took it in. The women did the footwork, peddling it by the tens to individual booksellers, and, as did Redmond’s, the title was bought, published, shelved, and sold out in numerous countries. The book, YOU MEAN I’M NOT CRAZY, LAZY, or STUPID? Has made many bestseller books lists.
You already know, probably, about the Harry Potter books and such, so rather than tell you more stories, I will leave you with a few book titles that have been, are, or should be on the bestseller books lists…in my not so humble opinion:
BESTSELLER BOOKS
GENERAL INTEREST
Ruth Gendler – THE BOOK of QUALITIES
LITERARY
E. A. Holmes – THE END of ALICE
Abigail Thomas – GETTING over TOM
John Irving – A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY
Margaret Atwood – THE HANDMAID’S TALE
MENTAL HEALTH
David M. Viscott’s HOW to LIVE with ANOTHER PERSON
Melody Beatty’s CO-DEPENDENT NO MORE
KIDS
All of Shel Silverstein’s books, especially THE MISSING PIECE and THE GIVING TREE.
Robert N. Munsch – LOVE YOU FOREVER
DIFFERENT GENRES—NONFICTION/MYSTERY/CRIME FICTION
Frederic Beigbeder - WINDOWS on the WORLD
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