Weird It Books and Other Aspects of the Current Bookish Zeitgeist
Spoiler: there are sea creatures
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At the start of every new year since I’ve worked at Book Riot, I’ve liked to look ahead at what seem to be the emerging trends of the upcoming year. For 2024, Arvyn Cerézo discussed everything from romantasy and cozy books maintaining their grip, at least in partially because of BookTok, to books written with AI. And, when it comes to It Books, Jeff O’Neal got into their anatomy and his predictions for 2024.
Now, as a Book Riot editor, I’m very firmly grounded in what new books are coming out and which ones do really well. This gives me a front-row seat to observing book patterns, which can give interesting perspectives on particular moments in time. Sometimes, the observable patterns are predictable — like the consistently popular political nonfiction Kelly Jensen talks about in her look back at the bestsellers of different decades — but then there are other patterns that scratch at things just beneath the surface.
I’ve got a few observations on how the current type of books coming out and the ones becoming bestsellers paint an interesting picture of where we are currently.
We’re Getting Weirder
Since 2022, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt has sold more than 1 million copies. It has the skeleton of many bestselling literary fiction titles — it’s about friendship, hope, and a widow’s vanished son — but it also has one defining feature: its giant octopus narrator. And it’s not the only octo-centric book released lately. There was also Sea Change by Gina Chung, and How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler. Barnes & Noble even had a “Best Books Starring Octopi” category for their 2023 Best Books list. And, reppin’ for the sea mammals, Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet, which features a captive orca named Lolita, is coming in March.
I think these books being published within a year of each other and their subsequent popularity point to a couple things.
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