I've read a few threads on MN where people are expressing their disappointment in books they've read and I can't help noticing that many of the novels are the very ones which are shoved under our noses at every turn - the ones on the three-for-two table in major bookshops, the ones on the supermarket shelves etc.
Recently I've been trying to read 'off-piste', looking at things from small publishing houses, or by authors who aren't household names. The three best books I've read this year are all by authors who you may never had heard of.
Out of the many titles they bring out each year publishers will only promote a small percentage and I'm beginning to think they're mostly shite not necessarily the most worthy, but are promoted because they're deemed to be 'marketable' (eg. household name authors, books written by wives of famous people, etc.) AIBU in thinking that just because a book is prominently displayed and widely reviewed it is not necessarily worthy of our attention? In fact, could I go so far as to suggest a boycott of the 3 for 2s?
Would anyone like to join me in recommending their favourite books of the year - something that wouldn't be on the 3 for 2 tables, or sold in Tesco?
Mine are:
Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller
Glasshopper by Isabel Ashdown
and
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb