Tis the season for gift giving. This means many of us are racking our brains trying to find just that right gift for someone we care about. My definition for the perfect gift is something the recipient will definitely enjoy and perhaps not buy for themselves.
During my adult life my favorite gift has usually been a book. Not just any book, but a book not on my radar, that is both entertaining and worthy of literary admiration. I treasure a book gift that is both surprising and inciteful and most importantly—a book I was previously unaware of because maybe it is an “oldie but goodie” or was overlooked by reviewers, and because it is not currently on the bestseller list.
About twenty years ago, my cousin Ron gave me such a book The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker Prizewinner 2000). I remember curling up on the window seat New Year’s Day when the house was quiet and reading page after page, enjoying both the story and the structure (a story within a story). I’ve cleared out many books from my shelves, distributing dozens of books to friends and charities, but I’ve kept The Blind Assassin and read it more than once.
In the interests of time efficiency, many of the books I “read” are on tape, because listening enables me to do household chores or eat lunch hands free. Sometimes if I want to see that way a book is laid out or the way it appears in print, I’ll get a copy from the library, but listening enables me to read more books.
When we go on a long driving trip, I look for a book both my husband and I might enjoy. Finding something has become a real challenge, because Audible (owned by Amazon) the biggest vendor of recorded books, promotes the “bestsellers.” If you’ve got a name like John Grisham, your book is on the bestseller list, before hardly anyone reads it and has a chance to weigh in on their opinions. I can’t rely on what they recommend, I need to do my research in advance.
Yet, I stupidly did that when I purchased Grisham’s latest release, The Exchange, currently in 5th place on the bestseller list. Known for his fast -paced legal dramas, Grisham’s plotlines are predictable but entertaining, and my husband has been a fan. I write “has been” because he was the one that told me he didn’t want to hear any more. “I am totally disinterested in the characters and is has no discernible plot,” is how he characterized what we’d been listening to. Happily, I’d been asleep during part of the ride, that’s how captivated I was by the storyline. When we returned home, I read some of the reader’s reviews on Goodreads. Most of those who had no received a free advance copy, shared my husband’s viewpoint.
What can readers and writers do about this sad state of affairs in the publishing industry? Why are mediocre books the ones being promoted as best sellers? One way is to try and support the smaller independent presses and if you do discover a gem of a book, share the information with your friends and if possible, the greater public. Here is a link to a listing published in 2022 that provides a comprehensive list.and the list of small presses listed in Poets and Writers.
Maybe the book you enjoyed, was published by a major publisher, but because of luck and timing may have not been given its fair due, in which case once again unless you tell other people about why you enjoyed it, it may not get the recognition it deserves. I feel that way about the novel Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger.
However, when in doubt, by checking out the nominees and winners of the National Book Award and the Booker Prize you’ll be able to zero in on some great reads. Usually these are not on the “bestseller lists”. Some of my favorites in no particular order: Interior Chinatown, Trust Exercise, and The Luminaries.
Thank you for reading. Remember you can follow me on either Medium or WordPress. Just sign up for emails, to be notified when a new blog post at Nadjamaril.com is published. Have a safe and wonderful winter holiday whether traveling or staying at home.
Nadja Maril, Writer & Author 