What’s our most popular fiction title?

Appearing a whopping seven times in our top 500 most borrowed titles this year list, author James Patterson is no surprise appearance. You may remember a previous blog post about him where he had become the most published author of all time. Alex Cross, Run, currently his most popular title, is sitting at number 2 with 150 checkouts this year. Other recent work Private Berlin and Twelfth River come in an numbers eight and nine.

Coveted first place though, is the ever popular Michael C0nnelly with The Drop, a book that is three years old, but is still lending very heavily with 153 checkouts.

David Baldacci, Lee Child, Dan Brown and Maeve Binchy fill out the rest of the top ten.

At the other end of the list, number 500 is Aussie author Caroline Overington’s, I came to say goodbye.

 

Ireland mourns a ‘National Treasure’

Maeve Binchy, author of numerous works including Circle of Friends, Tara Road and Heart and Soul passed away last Tuesday (Australian Time) aged 72. The Irish novelist was the author of seventeen novels with her final work, A Week in Winter to see print towards the end of this year. Most of Binchy’s stories are set in Ireland, and are based around the tensions between urban and rural life, the differences between England and Ireland, and the changes in Ireland since the Second World War. A number of her novels are also interrelated, with characters from The Copper Beech appearing in Silver Wedding, The Lilac Bus, Evening Class, and Heart and Soul.

Maeve died on 30 July 2012 in a hospital in Dublin after a short illness. According to Enda Kenny, Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Ireland has “lost a national treasure”. Maeve was featured in our spotlight series in 2009.

Spotlight on: Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy, Irish born contemporary writer, usually features her homeland in her stories that revolve around the interactions between her characters during periods of unrest. Her books always focus on the female perspective often featuring timeless problems associated with regular life, including marriage, divorce, corruption, abortion and bankruptcy. The tensions are often based on the differences between rural and city life which is also mirrored with the differences between English and Irish life. The issues between England and Ireland and the related Church division are core themes of her work. Often the same characters appear in several of her books. Her latest book ‘Heart and Soul’ has been rumoured to be her last as she devotes her time to her family and other activities.