I've read both Hum and Glorious Exploits. They fall into the category of "books that make NPR's (or other large publication's) long list of staff picks for 2024."
These are both books that are high quality, but that aren't "prestigious" enough to make lists for the major awards. They might make lists or win lower-level awards (Glorious Exploits won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, two awards I hadn't heard of before), and they'll probably garner a few reviews in papers like the NYT or sites like The Guardian.
Just wanted to add some info on the two I've read! I agree that they're the lifeblood of "reading culture." They're the sorts of books that avid readers love, because hundreds of them come out every year that meet a baseline level of "quality." You can *always* find a book of this type that you'll enjoy.
The only one on your list I had my eye on before I read this was Hum. What resources did you use to identify the sales numbers, and to figure out details like word-of-mouth sales of WRUS?
I've read both Hum and Glorious Exploits. They fall into the category of "books that make NPR's (or other large publication's) long list of staff picks for 2024."
These are both books that are high quality, but that aren't "prestigious" enough to make lists for the major awards. They might make lists or win lower-level awards (Glorious Exploits won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, two awards I hadn't heard of before), and they'll probably garner a few reviews in papers like the NYT or sites like The Guardian.
Just wanted to add some info on the two I've read! I agree that they're the lifeblood of "reading culture." They're the sorts of books that avid readers love, because hundreds of them come out every year that meet a baseline level of "quality." You can *always* find a book of this type that you'll enjoy.
Such great insight. Thank you for this!
Extremely informative, thanks!
The only one on your list I had my eye on before I read this was Hum. What resources did you use to identify the sales numbers, and to figure out details like word-of-mouth sales of WRUS?
Damn, this is a great post. Thank you Sean for this.
American Rapture and Glorious Exploits are two of my favourites from the past couple of years.