If you're intrigued by the success of E.L. James's "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy (currently at #1, 2 and 3 in the NY Times bestseller lists), you might be interested in this Publishers Weekly article which puts the series into the context of the wider book market:

"That the mainstream media does not always correctly identify what Fifty Shades is - at least by the subgenre standards that exist within the romance community - is also a conversation that cropped up in the romance community. The story line that unfolds over the arc of the three books is a classic romance, i.e., a man (in this case s&m-loving, handsome, billionaire Christian Grey) is saved by the love of a woman (innocent undergrad Anastasia Steele). Getting more technical, though, book one in the trilogy is not a romance, since it does not have a 'happy ending,' with the couple getting together."

May Chen of Avon Romance admits that there are some in the romance community who find James's success befuddling and infuriating, as the concept of erotic romance is hardly new, but equally the industry is hopeful that James's books will bring new readers into the fold as, "a lot of people who don't read romance are reading Fifty Shades of Grey."

So, there you have it - at heart, Fifty Shades of Grey is a classic romance with an erotic twist (which E. L. James describes as "my midlife crisis, writ large...all my fantasies in there"); but this still doesn't explain why the breakout titles in a long established genre should be these books at this time. The answer to that seems to be that old unfathomable combination of right book, at the right time, enhanced by the ebook marketplace and extensive word of mouth.

In brief, this is how the series came about...

A couple of years ago, an unknown author named E. L. James posted a free x-rated version of Twilight (the popular vampire-romance series) on one or more fanfiction websites under the pseudonym "Snowqueen's Icedragon". This version, titled Master of the Universe, drew a huge response (one source says that more than 37,000 reader reviews were posted). It also received some criticism for the sexual nature of the material, which caused James to remove the book from the fanfiction site(s), rewrite it (taking out references to Twilight), and then post an extended version on her own website, fiftyshades.com.

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Wondering what books based on movies will release during Summer 2012? BookBrowse has the answer!

Late May

June

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When I was browsing in our local independent bookstore recently I happened to see a weighty edition of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women on the shelf in the children's classics section, and I grabbed it. It's on my list of parenting imperatives, of books I absolutely must read my daughters, and since Poppy is almost ten, I figure it's high time for Little Women.

That night, since Poppy and I are still deep in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, I was the one to take a first look at Little Women. What an appealing edition it is, with an introduction by Jane Smiley and lovely deckle-edge pages with a satisfying substance to them, the weight of good paper. When I took a closer look, I saw that the cover is designed to look like an embroidery sampler, with the March family house at the top corner and the title picked out in satin stitch. The design is embossed into the paper, so that the stitching almost feels like real thread under the fingers.

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If you're looking for a great read (and let's face it, aren't we always!) I'm sure you'll find something to catch your eye among these nine debut novels publishing in May, which we've selected from the more than eighty notable May books we've previewed (members can view the full list here).

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda May 8, 2012 Published by St Martin's Press Young Adults 304 pages Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can't run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn't hurt him and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It's the only way to stay alive in a world of night - a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood. Full description & reviews

Overseas by Beatriz Williams May 10, 2012 Published by Putnam 464 pages Set against the tumultuous backdrop of World War I and the glittering lights of today's New York financial world, Overseas offers an irresistible combination of romance, history, and imaginative storytelling, with a touch of time travel thrown in. Full description & reviews

The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen May 15, 2012 Published by William Morrow 496 pages With the rich detail of Cold Mountain, the strong female bonds of The Help, and the untold history of The Warmth of Other Suns, comes a powerful debut novel about the secrets a woman keeps, and those she will risk everything to tell. Full description & reviews

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In the past couple of months, the young have enjoyed Dr Seuss' The Lorax; teens have piled into The Hunger Games; now it's the turn of the rest of us - the chronologically challenged but still young at heart - to elbow our way into a seat to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which opens in USA movie theaters on May 4.

Based on: Deborah Moggach's 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, which has recently been retitled and republished as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the movie has already taken other countries by storm, including the UK where my friends and family report sell-out performances, even at the usually quiet mid-afternoon showings.

If you've missed the build up for this movie, in essence it's a feel good "rom-com" in which a group of retired Brits decide to outsource their retirement to Bangalore in India, where a little money goes a long way, where the climate is better, and where a former British hotel converted into a run-down retirement home can create a little island of Old England in the midst of a throbbing Indian city.

My friends tell me not to expect great depth or complex plot, but instead to sink into a warm and welcoming two hours with some of our best loved actors including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy.

Think Love Actually with more wrinkles. I can't wait!

Davina - BookBrowse Editor

On Monday April 23, to celebrate World Book Night, tens of thousands of volunteers across the USA and UK will give away books - a million copies in the UK and half a million in the USA.

If you're not familiar with World Book Night here's a quick overview:

World Book Night is inspired by the Catalonian Day of the Book. Catalonia (an autonomous region in the north of Spain) has long celebrated April 23 as The Day of the Rose, because it is the day they celebrate their patron saint, Sant Jordi (St George), whose symbol is a rose. Then, back in 1923, an enterprising bookseller started to promote the holiday as The Day of the Book, because it was on that day in 1616 that William Shakespeare and Miguel Cervantes (author of Don Quixote among other classics) both died. Actually, pedantically speaking, while they are both recorded as dying on the same date, due to differences in the calendars (Spain adopted the Julian calendar way ahead of Britain) they actually died a few days apart - but let's not be picky! Garcilaso de la Vega is also recorded as dying on that day so sometimes is included in references to The Day of the Book.

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I fell in love with vampires in the 1980's when I read Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. The language, the romanticism, the concept of an entire vampire society who lived for centuries and were cursed with having to kill to live was enthralling. The sexiness of Rice's vampires also made them irresistible. What red-blooded American fan of paranormal romance doesn't fantasize about being ravished by Lestat?

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I began reviewing for BookBrowse at almost the exact moment that I began writing my book, The Mark Inside. There's no question that growing my own book affected how I read others' finished ones. I found myself immediately, instantly, irrevocably generous. I don't mean that I liked everything I read. Far from it. I mean that I found myself unwilling to dismiss anything without at least trying to understand why the author had designed it that way. In other words, everything suddenly seemed deeply intentional and well-meant, if not always well-executed.

As soon as I handed my manuscript over to the publisher and began the long wait until publication, I began to dread the reviews. I knew that the first negative comment had the potential to send me into the depths of misery, even if I knew it was unfair. Sometimes the rational mind can dismiss a barb but the emotional mind cannot. How could I arm myself against the sharp words of reviewers and critics?

The solution to the problem was office supplies. As it so often is.

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April brings a wealth of great new books. Below are half a dozen debuts that look particularly intriguing selected from the more than sixty notable books that members can view on our preview page.

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash Thriller, 320 pages Publishes: April 17 William Morrow A stunning debut reminiscent of the beloved novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town. Full description & reviews

Carly's Voice : Breaking Through Autism by Arthur Fleischmann Memoir, 400 pages Published March 27 St Martin's "For anyone who's ever fallen in love with their child, misjudged a person, had their heart broken and then restored, Carly's Voice is for you. Wise beyond her years, Carly takes us inside her world - a young girl with severe autism who cannot speak, but has more to say than anyone I've ever met. This book is exquisitely written with courage, honesty, and, most of all, love. I've never read anything like it." - Monica Holloway, author of Cowboy & Wills and Driving with Dead People. Full description & reviews

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A book exchange isn't a new idea but a couple of British expats are taking things to a new level with monthly book swaps at Le Carmen, a cocktail bar in Paris which was once a popular haunt of Georges Bizet and is named after his most famous opera.

One of the co-founders is Rosa Rankin-Gee. Just 24 years old and a couple years out of university, where she studied modern languages, Rosa has already been named one of the 75 Brilliant Young Brits of 2010 by Esquire magzine and won the 2011 Paris Literary Prize for her novella The Last Kings of Sark. The other is photographer and writer Jethro Turner. Jethro and Rosa are also part of a small team who have recently launched A Tale of Three Cities, which claims to be "the first printed arts journal to join up the points of Europe's golden triangle: London, Paris and Berlin." The first issue was published in a hand-numbered, limited edition run in October 2011. You won't find it online as it is firmly and consciously a print only magazine.

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