# Who's hot 'n' who's not



## Welshman (May 16, 2008)

I am interested in comparing who is among the 'in' authors in the States at the moment.  Over here in the UK it tends to be the usual old familiars, although I am noticing a rising trend in poor quality light fiction hitting the stands.

Other good ole boys (and girls) who seem to be in favour include -

                                 Ian McEwan
                                 James Herbert
                                 Jeffrey Archer (God help us)
                                 Ian Rankin
                                 Anita Brookner
                                 Bernice Reubens (love her to bits)
                                 Vikram Seth
                                 Kazuo Ishiguro
                                 Iris Murdoch

Now if I were to read between the lines of some of the threads here I would believe you were all consumed by Ken Follet, Clive Cussler etc.  Now I am convinced this is wrong and that in reality you are all far more discerning - but who are you reading?  I know many Canadians are big on Carol Shields, but who else is hitting the headlines?

D


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## buyjupiter03 (May 16, 2008)

*1.  *Sundays at Tiffany's  / Patterson, James, 1947- *2.  *The whole truth  / Baldacci, David. *3.  *Twenty wishes  / Macomber, Debbie. *4.  *Hold tight  / Coben, Harlan, 1962- *5.  *Unaccustomed earth  / Lahiri, Jhumpa. *6.  *Where are you now?  / Clark, Mary Higgins. *7.  *Dead heat  / Rosenberg, Joel C., 1967- *8.  *The miracle at Speedy Motors  / McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948- *9.  *Child 44  / Smith, Tom Rob. *10.  *Certain girls : a novel  / Weiner, Jennifer. *11.  *Days of infamy  / Gingrich, Newt. *12.  *Quicksand  / Johansen, Iris. *13.  *The appeal  / Grisham, John. *14.  *Santa Fe dead  / Woods, Stuart. *15.  *The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao  / Díaz, Junot, 1968- *16.  *The plague of doves  / Erdrich, Louise. *17.  *A thousand splendid suns  / Hosseini, Khaled. *18.  *The Third Circle  / Quick, Amanda *19.  *Change of heart : a novel  / Picoult, Jodi, 1966- *20.  *Belong to me  / De los Santos, Marisa, 1966-

NYT Bestseller List, so help us. (Last Sunday)


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## PageOfCups (May 16, 2008)

Ian McEwan sounds familiar but I have no idea what the guy wrote. The only one of those I know for certain is James Herbert. Then again I always walk right past the bestsellers section to the fantasy section so it's not that surprising. If I even glance at the bestsellers I can't help but think "people actually read that crap?"


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## buyjupiter03 (May 16, 2008)

PageOfCups said:


> Ian McEwan sounds familiar but I have no idea what the guy wrote. ... If I even glance at the bestsellers I can't help but think "people actually read that crap?"


 
McEwan wrote _Saturday_, _Amsterdam,_ _Atonement_, etc. _Atonement_ was really good. _On Chesil Beach_ was good, and the novella format worked really well for this story.

As to bestsellers, I don't read many of them. I make exceptions for stuff by ethnic authors (Marquez, Hosseini, Allende, etc) because they're typically written better than Patterson or Steel. (But like you Page, I tend to skip most of that crap and head straight for fantasy.)


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## Xx Kane xX (May 16, 2008)

Whomever Oprah endorses is "In" over here... and an instant Bestseller thereafter.


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## Welshman (May 16, 2008)

Oh God .. you have Oprah ... we have Richard and Judy!!!  May the Lord protect us all.


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## Xx Kane xX (May 16, 2008)

Welshman said:


> Oh God .. you have Oprah ... we have Richard and Judy!!! May the Lord protect us all.


 
Haha, tell me about it.


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