by Ben Blatt
The Host—Stephenie Meyer
Cross Country—James Patterson
The Lucky One—Nicholas Sparks
Fearless Fourteen—Janet Evanovich
The Christmas Sweater—Glenn Beck
Scarpetta—Patricia Cornwell
Your Heart Belongs to Me—Dean Koontz
The Lost Symbol—Dan Brown
The Associate—John Grisham
I, Alex Cross—James Patterson
The Last Song—Nicholas Sparks
Ford County—John Grisham
Finger Lickin’ Fifteen—Janet Evanovich
Under the Dome—Stephen King
Pirate Latitudes—Michael Crichton
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest—Stieg Larsson
The Confession—John Grisham
The Help—Kathryn Stockett
Safe Haven—Nicholas Sparks
Dead or Alive—Tom Clancy with Grant Blackwood
Sizzling Sixteen—Janet Evanovich
Cross Fire—James Patterson
Freedom—Jonathan Franzen
Port Mortuary—Patricia Cornwell
Full Dark, No Stars—Stephen King
The Litigators—John Grisham
11/22/63—Stephen King
The Best of Me—Nicholas Sparks
Smokin’ Seventeen—Janet Evanovich
A Dance with Dragons—George R. R. Martin
Explosive Eighteen—Janet Evanovich
Kill Alex Cross—James Patterson
Micro—Michael Crichton
Dead Reckoning—Charlaine Harris
Locked On—Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney
Fifty Shades of Grey—E L James
The Hunger Games—Suzanne Collins
Fifty Shades Darker—E L James
Fifty Shades Freed—E L James
Catching Fire—Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay—Suzanne Collins
The Mark of Athena—Rick Riordan
Gone Girl—Gillian Flynn
Inferno—Dan Brown
The House of Hades—Rick Riordan
Divergent—Veronica Roth
Sycamore Row—John Grisham
Allegiant—Veronica Roth
Doctor Sleep—Stephen King
The Fault in Our Stars—John Green
Breakout Debut Novels—Introduced Chapter 8
A book was included in the sample if: (1) It was an author’s first novel, (2) it was published between 1980 and 2014, and (3) it was a finalist for or winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The National Book Award, or the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Birdy—William Wharton
Housekeeping—Marilynne Robinson
Leaving the Land—Douglas Unger
Jernigan—David Gates
Tinkers—Paul Harding
Vanished—Mary McGarry Morris
The Joy Luck Club—Amy Tan
Wartime Lies—Louis Begley
Dreaming in Cuban—Cristina Garcia
Cold Mountain—Charles Frazier
That Night—Alice McDermott
Three Junes—Julia Glass
Madeleine Is Sleeping—Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Then We Came to the End—Joshua Ferris
Telex from Cuba—Rachel Kushner
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia—Joan Chase
Stones for Ibarra—Harriet Doerr
Love Medicine—Louise Erdrich
Three Farmers on Their Way to the Dance—Richard Powers
Typical American—Gish Jen
The Prince of West End Avenue—Alan Isler
White Teeth—Zadie Smith
Brick Lane—Monica Ali
In the Country of Men—Hisham Matar
The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart—M. Glenn Taylor
Hardy Boys—Introduced Chapter 9
The charts and statistics for the cliffhanger section in Chapter 9 came from the first seven books in the Hardy Boys series. In 1959 the series was revised, and all editions I used included these 1959 revisions.
The Tower Treasure
The House on the Cliff
The Secret of the Old Mill
The Missing Chums
Hunting for Hidden Gold
The Shore Road Mystery
The Secret of the Caves
Nancy Drew—Introduced Chapter 9
The charts and statistics for the cliffhanger section in Chapter 9 came from the first seven books in the Nancy Drew series. In 1959 the series was revised, and all editions I used included these 1959 revisions.
The Secret of the Old Clock
The Hidden Staircase
The Bungalow Mystery
The Mystery of Lilac Inn
The Secret of Shadow Ranch
The Secret of Red Gate Farm
The Clue in the Diary
* * *
I. Not all of Sinclair Lewis’s novels exist in digital form. The 19 listed here were used. Four Lewis novels are missing: Mantrap, The Man Who Knew Coolidge, Ann Vickers, and Harri.
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ISBN 978-1-5011-0538-8
ISBN 978-1-5011-0540-1 (ebook)