#james patterson
Invisible by James Patterson & David Ellis
Hello.
My name is brennanbookblog.
And it’s been two days since my last James Patterson paperback.
I don’t really think I have a problem. I mean, this is the first time I’ve even read a Patterson paperback. I just know that rampant reading of Patterson runs in my family - my Dad’s side - and I wanted to curtail the unhealthy behavior before it became an issue.
Until last weekend, I hadn’t even considered reading a Patterson. (I was reading a Booker Man Prize Finalist at this time last month for God’s sake.) There was something too best-seller-y about Patterson, something for people who wanted a cheap high. I normally don’t even consider mass market publications as options. But I was stuck in the Philadelphia airport and I finished my Shonda Rhimes book on the incoming flight; I thought this one wouldn’t hurt. I could stop myself if I wanted.
I have never really had a problem with Patterson before. I have shopped in stores that sell Patterson novels. I have been around them socially. I even have a copy of The Zoo on my shelf which I never opened.
I recognize the symptoms though, so I thought it’d be best to face this thing head on. My hands shake in anticipation of tattered Patterson novels at half price books. I “accidentally” take detours that bring me to the shelves and shelves of Patterson in the bookstore. I scrolled through his iBooks author page until the sixth reload and then realized that I had felt this feeling before. I knew what I was doing.
I exhibited this behavior with Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series - pre-ordering, marking my calendar for the next release date, for the next fix. I had been addicted to fierce heroines before. I read books overnight in Michael Grant’s Gone Series, sometimes not leaving the house for days at a time; I purchased the entire series on Amazon in the middle of the night just so I wouldn’t run dry the next day. And Jasper Fford’s Thursday Next Series - let’s face it: the signs were there.
There are a lot of scenarios that could play out with a serial killer/ cop-considered-crazy/ guarded-heart-gone-awry melting pot.
So, I know it’s gonna be hard. In a quick tally of Patterson titles, I numbered about 150. One hundred fifty. And there are stand-alones, sure, but I know that series are my weakness.
I vow here that I will not alienate my loved ones in favor of a quick read; I will not neglect my work just to cram in a few more chapters. I’m totally in control. I know my limitations. So I’ll be fine if I just read…. one ….more.
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James Patterson books are an invasive species humans brought into library shelf environments because we wanted fast-reproducing, easily-digestible food. But at the time, we didn’t know as much about their natural airport environment, which has very few available nutrients. This environment greatly favours the genericalist species like Patterson, so there’s very little bibliodiversity compared to the more specialized library or bookstore environment. This means that each species in an airport has an enormously expanded niche compared to just about anywhere else books can thrive - in their natural habitat, Patterson books may be one of only 3 or 4 species competing for available nutrients. In these low-density, low-nutrient environments, Patterson books occupy vast swathes of territory without bothering other species. This history makes it extremely easy for them to outcompete the more specialized inhabitants of the library shelf, who have often been carefully selected to fill ultraspecific subgenre niches.
Left unweeded, Patterson books will expand their territory over multiple book bays, crowding out or even straight-up eliminating space for competitors and sending contributor-author runners out to other shelves. Contained to a single, planned set of shelves and kept strictly pruned, Patterson books can contribute to a healthy ecosystem. But many curators don’t know or don’t care to do the planning and maintenance, leading to the nightmare of overcrowding and loss of circulation.
Theultimate summer books preview: The most-recommended summer reads, drawn from 28 reading lists and 437 titles.
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Sweatpants & Books | Coming Soon, New Releases | February 2017
Ten books we’re excited about that are coming out this month! The Winter Over by Matthew Iden February 1 Each winter the crew at the Shackleton South Pole Research Facility faces nine months of isolation, round-the-clock darkness, and one of the most extreme climates on the planet. For thirty-something mechanical engineer Cass Jennings, Antarctica offers an opportunity to finally escape the guilt…
The first time we went golfing, Tina Flournoy, President Clinton’s brilliant chief of staff (she’s now Vice President Kamala Harris’s chief of staff), told me, “The president will only play nine holes.” I’m like, That’s fine. It’s cool. I’m okay if he only wants to play one hole. Or we could have a putting contest on the practice green.
So we played. He drove the golf cart—and think about it, Bill Clinton has driven a car like twice in the last twenty years. He’s dangerous on the cart paths. Pedal to the metal even flying down steep hills, on the sides of hills, skirting streams and ponds, crossing a highway where real cars go real fast.
Anyway, on the fourth or fifth hole, he had a putt for birdie. It was a short putt, maybe eight feet. He left it three feet short.
Now, if you play golf, you know you just don’t leave a birdie putt short. And definitely not three feet short. And that’s why a word came out of my mouth that I never expected to say to a president. “You [the word I never expected to say to a president]!” President Clinton said, “Did you just call me a [the word I never expected to say to a president]?” I nodded. Then he said, “Well, you’re right, I am a [the word I never expected a president to say].”And that mildly blue exchange sort of set the tone for us. When nobody’s around, we’re just two human beings. That first nine we played turned into eighteen holes. He was enjoying himself. So was I.
Around the twelfth hole, Hillary called. She was off on a book tour. The president told her, “Oh, I’m out here with Jim. We’re having a great time. We’re like two high-school boys playing hooky.”He and Hillary talked for about five minutes and at the end of the call, he said, “I love you.” I don’t think a lot of people expect that Bill and Hillary are like that. Those people couldn’t be more wrong. The first time my wife, Sue, and I went out to dinner with them, we noticed that two or three times during the meal they were holding hands under the table. What can I say—I love that.
James Patterson- by James Patterson ( his autobiography)
James Patterson books are an invasive species humans brought into library shelf environments because we wanted fast-reproducing, easily-digestible food. But at the time, we didn’t know as much about their natural airport environment, which has very few available nutrients. This environment greatly favours the genericalist species like Patterson, so there’s very little bibliodiversity compared to the more specialized library or bookstore environment. This means that each species in an airport has an enormously expanded niche compared to just about anywhere else books can thrive - in their natural habitat, Patterson books may be one of only 3 or 4 species competing for available nutrients. In these low-density, low-nutrient environments, Patterson books occupy vast swathes of territory without bothering other species. This history makes it extremely easy for them to outcompete the more specialized inhabitants of the library shelf, who have often been carefully selected to fill ultraspecific subgenre niches.
Left unweeded, Patterson books will expand their territory over multiple book bays, crowding out or even straight-up eliminating space for competitors and sending contributor-author runners out to other shelves. Contained to a single, planned set of shelves and kept strictly pruned, Patterson books can contribute to a healthy ecosystem. But many curators don’t know or don’t care to do the planning and maintenance, leading to the nightmare of overcrowding and loss of circulation.
Happy Shelfie Sunday! Here’s a shot of our James Patterson shrine here at MPL. His newest novel NYPD Red 4 comes out on January 25th! It’s been added to our online catalog, so you can add a request for it now!
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Me: Hi! I was hoping you could help me find a book? It’s been really popular online and I wanted to see if you guys had it? It’s called “Daughter of Sparta”?
Book store employee: Sure! Which one?
Me: It was released this month
Book store employee: Okay but which one?
Me: It’s a retelling of a popular Greek myth?
Book store employee: Ok but which one?
Me: The authors name is Claire?
Book store employee: Ok but which one?
Me:Uh
Not James Patterson – the most prolific writer of our time, with entire bookshelves dedicated to him for every genre in every bookstore and library, who has his own imprint, and who is literally a multi-millionaire– complaining that white male writers like him are discriminated against and don’t get enough work because of racism (yes, he called it racism T_T).
