For instance, may book stores have a New Author section. Not just new titles, mind you, but new authors. Most often they are debut books from authors you've never heard of.
At Waterstones in England, this is called New Voices. The list for 2009 reads like a fairy tale of romance, adventure, monsters and rescues. While books in the UK may have different covers than those in the USA or Canada, the story inside remains just as excellent.
Barnes and Noble has a section called "Meet the Writers" on their website, and that will point you to award winning new authors as well as the bestselling books for the week. There are excellent interviews as well as reviews of the books as they come out.
So how do you get out of your readers slump? Well, if it is historical fiction a reader likes, why not try the new Lost: Searching for Six in Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn, about trying to locate a family of Jews after WWII?
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Pub. Date: September 2006
- ISBN-13: 9780060542979
- Sales Rank: 403,029
- 528pp
If you like romance, take a look at A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth. While it's still romantic, it offers a substantial amount of depth that many romance novels dont.
- Format: Paperback 200 pages
- Date of publication: 27/02/2009
- Publisher: Arcadia Books
- ISBN: 9781906413064
If you're into thrillers, why not try one that takes place in a different country than you are familiar with? The Vagrants by award winning author Yiyun Li is sure to take the reader on a deep, intense journey through poverty in China.
- Format: Hardback 352 pages
- Date of publication: 05/02/2009
- Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd
- ISBN:9780007196647
The Street Philosopher by Mathew Plampin is the arresting story of a journalist during the Crimean war. Instead of picking up the latest legal thriller, try Plampin's journey through the1920's in London.
- Format: Hardback 496 pages
- Date of publication: 05/02/2009
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
- ISBN: 9780007272433
Or if you have a bit of wanderlust, give up the crime novels and take a trip with Eric Blehm in Last Season as he researches the dissapearance of naturist Randy Morgenson in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains.
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Pub. Date: January 2007
- ISBN-13: 9780060583019
Whatever it is, the reader can find it. While the genres and authors we like are, in many ways, like old comfortable friends to us, it is good to branch out. Pick up a book with an interesting cover, even if you've never heard of them and give them a chance. Not only might they suprise you, but they also might teach you about things you have never even considered.
Victoria Oldham - Victoria is a freelance writer from Southern California, currently living in the Midlands of England with her partner. She is in the ...
