Today, fiction remains a go-to category of books for many people worldwide, young and old. Nothing is as thrilling as being transported through a good fiction book to another time and place and feeling the characters’ experiences as though you were there with them. This ability to push our imagination is why fiction books will probably never go out of taste. But in 2023, it’s more than that: fiction is more accessible, popular, and experimental.
A PIA blog article on reading revealed a 25% increase in book reading by Americans in the last six months of 2020 compared to the previous year, of which fiction books constituted a major category. Additionally, just as millions of people rekindle interest in reading fiction, how and what we read is changing rapidly. Here are three exciting things you should know about fiction in 2023.
Technology Has Transformed How We Read Fiction
Not too long ago, the ardent fiction reader would have been known for carrying large copies of print fiction books around and burying themselves in such books for days. With the rise of ebooks and their corresponding document apps, audiobooks created by the authors themselves, and software platforms like Amazon Kindle, it’s now possible to have more than a thousand books in one’s pocket.
Moreover, these tech developments in the reading space bring many more benefits. Besides giving you a channel to access more fiction books than you could ever read, they also help you make the most of those you read. If you’re reading a sci-fi thriller, you could highlight a section that puzzles you so you remember it later. Or, you could use the read-aloud command on a book app to listen to the book instead.
Fiction Lovers are Forming More Communities
Have you ever participated in a book club as a fiction reader? If not, don’t be surprised if you eventually join one. As fiction becomes more accessible, the number of book clubs focusing on fiction books is increasing.
A 2019 survey by Publishers Weekly showed that up to 70% of book clubs have fiction as their main category. Without question, several factors have contributed to this steady growth in fiction book club membership. The most obvious is that joining a book club is now easier than ever, as members can partake in activities virtually.
Authors Are Trying Out New Fiction Genres
The creation of new genres in fiction is a significant indication of how much the category is evolving. For many readers, this is a welcome development. The large scope of the fiction category means that there’s a widespread appeal to a diverse community of readers with varying interests. This is perhaps why, according to a Penguin Random House study conducted in 2016, fiction is the number one genre chosen by book clubs. While many authors still work to make their mark in traditional fiction genres like romance and adventure, others are taking advantage of new conditions to create their work.
Climate fiction, or cli-fi for short, is emerging as a genre in which authors specifically base their plot on the world’s climate realities and projections. There’s also lucid fiction, which is focused on the mid-point between dreams and reality. Others include “bizarro” and Twitter novels, with more to come.