Rare Book Monthly
Articles - October - 2009 Issue
BookFinder's Top 10's: A Sign of the Times
Fiction and Literature is headed by a psychological novel, Ticket to Ride, by Dennis Potter. Last year's number 1, Once a Runner, also disappeared from the hard-to-find list as a result of a recent reprint. Nora Roberts' Promise Me Tomorrow is once again the bridesmaid in this category.
The category of History has seen a wide range of subjects at number 1. Three years ago it was the Civil War, two years ago a defunct New York Restaurant, and last year a New Orleans' French Quarter Hotel. This year continues the run of obscure, rather than major historical titles: Folklore of Hamilton County by Violet Morgan. That's Hamilton County, Ohio, that is described in this 1946 book.
Mysteries and Thrillers has a repeat atop its list: Legally Sane, by John Hahn and Harold McKenney. It is a story of a psychopathic killer who may be sane legally, but in no other way. There is also a repeat atop the Popular Science & Technology category where Carl Sagan lives on with his Murmurs of Earth. Other top ten titles include The Rifleman's Rifle Winchester's Model 70, The Rifle in America, and The Modern Gunsmith. Hopefully this means that in hard times people do more hunting for food, not something more ominous.
In Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror, Patricia Briggs' Masques replaces Stephen King's (as Richard Bachman) Rage, now number 2. This is the now-popular fantasy writer's obscure first work, published in 1993. Number 1 in the final category, Society and Culture, is Ray Garton's In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting. It is a haunted house story that despite the contractually obligated title, not even Garton believes is true. However, four of the next five, all new to the top ten, could well reflect concerns with today's economy: Wall St. Under Oath, Secrets of the Federal Reserve, The World Order: Our Secret Rulers, and The Future of Money.
You will find all of BookFinder's Top 10 lists at the following link: BookFinder's Top 10.
