Finished December 21
Why We Read What We Read: a delightfully opinionated journey through contemporary bestsellers by Lisa Adams and John Heath
This is an interesting read about reading. The authors looked at a number of bestseller lists for a ten year period and then looked at books by category and/or genre to see what it told them.
Some groupings were interesting such as good and evil in political nonfiction and adventure novels; and diet wealth and inspiration. The looked at commonalities between the popular books, trends, and what it said about American society.
The last chapter: Deciphering Da Code looked at the phenomenally popular Da Vinci Code and what it had that fed that popularity. It talked about the fallout from the novel and the other books that it spawned. Their interpretation of the meaning of this and what it says about the society we live in was fascinating and thought-provoking.
As a librarian I am interested in what makes different books popular and their analysis is food for thought in that area. After all, knowledge is power, right!
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