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It seems Wangaratta booklovers were searching for a read that hits closer to home, with local authors, stories and people the top trend for 2023, according to local bookstore, Edgar’s Books and News.
“It’s been a lot of local,” said communications team leader Belinda Harrison. “Local stories, local people, local connections and just good stories. Crime was big as well as was a lot of military history and history in general. Military history is usually pretty big but the local connection with books such as Back to Bangka by Georgina
Banks and Make Tankers Ten – The History of the Wangaratta Fire Brigades Group added another layer of appeal as they’re very entrenched in the community.
“Other popular ones which aren’t local have been Questions 7 by Richard Flanagan, Trent Dalton’s recent work Lola in the Mirror, and sporting biographies. Manga, Japanese graphic novels, were also huge; we’re the only place in North East Victoria who sells this genre and it’s a great option for kids who don’t necessarily want to
read much, but parents don’t want them just reading comics or staring at a screen. We have both adult and children’s titles and both proved popular last year.”
Ms Harrison said children’s books increased in sales last year, especially with the recent release of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series reboot.
“There was an increase in people buying books in general and certainly that’s what people have been gifting for Christmas,” she said. “Kids books have still been really strong with lots of parents and grandparents coming in.”
Another local aspect the Wangaratta community has been enjoying have been the 10 author events held by Edgar’s in 2023.
“Some didn’t see a huge turnout due to timing with things like flooding, but our event in August; the Wangaratta Arts Council Literary Lunch with author Chris Hammer was really well attended,” Ms Harrison said. “The event we held for Back to Bangka went well with that local connection and Unheard Voices by Dawn Mouldon did a
mini tour through Probus clubs and St John’s and out at Milawa, which saw around 140 people attend.
“The feedback for all events was great; people love to hear these authors speak about their work and think it’s great they want to come to our area as well. Lots of authors couldn’t do talks like this during COVID, when a number of their books came out, so they’re really appreciative of the opportunity too.”
Edgar’s Books and News Top 10 in 2023:
1. The Indi Way (Voices for Indi) – local community and politics
2. Unheard Voices (Dawn Mauldon) – local story and family (Milawa/
Bobinawarrah)
3. Broken Bay (Margaret Hickey) – local author’s 3rd book
4. Make Tankers Ten (Wangaratta Fire Brigade) – local community
story
5. The Voice to Parliament (Thomas Mayo & Kerry O’Brien) –
national politics
6. The Story Continues (Dustin Martin) – AFL star
7. Back to Bangka (Georgina Banks) – story of Cheshunt and other
nurses killed at Bangka Island, WWII and the search for the truth of
what happened
8. The Amazing Sam Kerr (James Knight) – soccer star
9. Fearless (Jelena Dokic) – tennis star and family violence survivor
10. Home on the Farm (Priddy Books) – board book for kids