• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Blog
  • Writing Advice
  • Publishing Advice
  • About
  • Take a Class
  • Get Editing

This post is self-aware (This week in books)

August 21, 2020 by Nathan Bransford Leave a Comment

This week! Books!

I’ve been reading more literary novels by twenty-somethings lately and woo boy is crippling self-awareness and financial penury a combo. Katy Waldman is apparently on the same wavelength and wrote a really great article on whether the self-awareness in these novels are going too far and what it all means.

The New York Times has a great survey of Indigenous authors pushing science fiction, fantasy, and horror forward. In the words of Rebecca Roanhorse, “We’ve already survived an apocalypse.”

Get your historical fiction subgenres right here!

A fascinating 2013 article about the West Village woman who amassed a collection of 20,000 dictionaries is newly available online! Her dictionaries range from antiques to hyper-niche slang compendiums, including a catalog of slang from San Quentin Prison.

What does it mean for a book to go out of print? Well, it used to be straightforward, but in this day and age of e-books and print on demand, it’s anything but. Agent Kate McKean explains.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

  1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  2. Choppy Water by Stuart Woods
  3. The Midwife Murders by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo
  4. A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke
  5. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

  1. Live Free or Die by Sean Hannity
  2. Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump
  3. Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand
  4. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
  5. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Young adult hardcover:

  1. Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  3. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
  4. Hawk by James Patterson
  5. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Middle grade hardcover:

  1. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure by Jeff Kinney
  2. Wonder by R.J Palacio
  3. The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
  4. Little Leaders by Vashti Harrison
  5. Refugee by Alan Gratz

This week on the blog

Don’t forget that you can nominate your first page and query for a free critique on the blog:

  • Nominate Your First Page for a Critique on the Blog
  • Nominate Your Query for a Critique on the Blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

  • Writing as a series of lenses
  • Be very careful with dreams and hallucinations in novels
  • Crystalize the quest (query critique)

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

  • Follow me on Twitter
  • Follow my page on Facebook
  • Join the Facebook Group
  • Check out the Bransforums

Comment! of! the! week! goes to Ken Hughes, with more advice on dreams and hallucinations in novels:

At their worst, dreams are fluff for their own sake and damage our ability to trust anything else.

At their best, your cautions are essential. Besides being clear when the dream ends, it’s usually worthwhile to show at the start that it’s a dream. (I like *Risky Business* beginning with “The dream is always the same” — although ALL movies are an iffy model for dreams in books because the screen is too eager to find a visual form for things.)

Most of all, I agree about giving dreams a purpose. They’re normally outside of usual cause and effect: “just a dream” means it had no consequences except maybe showing that the dreamer was worried. So a proper use for a dream would be to deliver a specific, strong insight into the dreamer, or some compelling mystical clue. Like any other scene, a dream should *change* something to us.

And finally, whales are my favorite animals and I would encourage everyone to read this devastating article about what humanity is doing them.

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes (NEW!), my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Photo: The new Downtown Brooklyn skyline. Photo by me. Follow me on Instagram!

Filed Under: This Week in Books

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

My blog has everything you need to know to write, edit, and publish a book. Can’t find what you need or want personalized help? Reach out.

Learn more about me

Need Editing?

I'm available for consultations, edits, query critiques, brainstorming, and more.
Learn more!

My Books

How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

Forums

Need help with your query? Want to talk books? Check out the Nathan Bransford Forums
Footer Logo
Nathan Bransford

Helping authors achieve their dreams

  • Editing Services
  • My Books
  • About Me
  • Blog Directory
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Logo Facebook Logo Instagram Logo
As an Amazon and Bookshop Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon and Bookshop links are usually affiliate links.