February 2, 2012

2011′s most social books

Since Subtext is all about sharing and discussing books, we thought it would be appropriate for us to put a ‘social’ spin on the classic end-of-year books list. The 2011′s Most Social shelf represents the twenty books that people couldn’t stop talking about this year. Although quantifying ‘buzz’ is always an imprecise science, we found that PeopleBrowsr‘s social analytics tools allowed us to measure the number of mentions for a particular title on Twitter, Facebook and blogs in an impressively reproducible manner. The final rankings provide an interesting look at what sorts of books got us talking last year. Join the discussion in Subtext by visiting the 2011′s Most Social shelf (located in the Featured Shelves section of EXPLORE) where you can check out free previews of all the books that made the list.

20. The Wise Man’s Fears – Patrick Rothfuss

The second novel of the Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy was delayed for three years and had built up a significant amount of hype by the time it was finally released last March.

19. Smokin Seventeen – Janet Evanovich

The prolific author of the Stephanie Plum series actually published two novels in 2011 but Smokin Seventeen turned out to be the favorite with mystery fans.

18. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

The Nobel-winning economist’s theory of behavior and the two different modes of human thought was one of the hottest intellectual topics of the year.

17. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother – Amy Chua

Amy Chua’s manifesto on Chinese versus Western parenting practices was a lightning rod for debate in 2011.

16. Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern

The first novel from fantasy author Erin Morgenstern was the only fiction debut that managed to crack our top twenty list.

15. Snuff – Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett has less of a following in the US than he does overseas but in the UK his fan base is rabid and the newest Discworld novel was one of the fastest selling books in history.

14. Son of Neptune – Rick Riordan

The second book in Riordan’s fantasy series based on Greek mythology was a huge hit with the young adult crowd.

13. The Help – Kathryn Stockett

The motion picture adaptation of this 2009 novel put Kathryn Stockett’s book back into the spotlight.

12. 11/22/1963 – Stephen King

Stephen King’s novel about a time traveler trying to stop the Kennedy assassination has more in common with historical fiction than the type of paranormal horror story King is normally associated with and this break from formula helped the author score one of his biggest hits in decades.

11. Dance with Dragons – George R.R. Martin

Thanks to the mainstream success of HBO’s TV adaptation of GOT, Martin’s sprawling fantasy series continued to win over new fans in 2011.

10. Heaven is for Real – Lynn Vincent

This Christian title became a sleeper hit in 2011 mainly thanks to word-of-mouth publicity.

9. The Litigator – John Grisham

With 25 fiction titles under his belt, the release of a new Grisham legal thriller still gets people talking.

8. Dead Reckoning – Charlaine Harris

The 11th book in the blockbuster Sookie Stackhouse series (inspiration for the HBO show True Blood) proved that vampire fiction is still a fan favorite in 2011.

7. Inheritance – Chris Paolini

Despite claims that his work is derivative of other speculative fiction classics, the final installment of the Inheritance Cycle was a major hit with young adult readers.

6. Ascend – Amanda Hocking

Amanda Hocking helped make self-publishing a major conversation topic of 2011.

5. Bossypants – Tina Fey

The SNL star and 30 Rock producer effortlessly made the transition to author with the publication of her autobiographic comedy.

4. 1Q84 – Haruki Murakami

Murakami’s opus was the most talked about literary fiction title of the year.

3. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

The last installment of the hugely popular Hunger Games series enjoyed a boost in mentions thanks to anticipation for the upcoming Hunger Games motion picture.

2. A Stolen Life – Jaycee Dugard

Jaycee Dugard’s memoir about growing up in captivity was one of the most captivating stories of the year and coincided with the high-profile trial and sentencing of her captors in June.

1. Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson

Three of the five most talked about books of the year were biographical or autobiographical nonfiction, with Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs taking the top position as people reflected on the life and legacy of the iconic CEO.

-Nathan

January 25, 2012

“Welcome to the new Subtext”

We’re releasing a major update of Subtext in a few hours, and I didn’t want the moment to pass without sharing my thoughts on why it’s important.

The update represents a major step forward for us: The user experience is simpler with a straighter path to books and friends and delivers what we like to call easy fun—that intangible feeling you get when an app responds quickly to your touch and offers lots of opportunities for discovery.

But I’m way prouder of what the update represents. It points to what you should expect from Subtext moving forward: a lot of exploration and experimentation until we know we’ve cracked it.

So with that, please spend time in our newest release and send your feedback to me at rachel@subtext.com.

See you in the pages of a book!

-Rachel, Founder

October 25, 2011

“Can we make reading more fun and rewarding?”

We started Subtext asking ourselves this question and have tested our ideas against it for months. After reading with Subtext, I feel comfortable changing the question slightly. I’m now ask myself, “How fun and rewarding can we make reading?”

Simply put, reading together is better. Let me share my own experiences with you.

I am not a big literary fiction guy. So when I started Freedom, I’ll admit I didn’t get it. It seemed like an ordinary story about unlikable people. Then midway through the book a friend left a note linked to the line “Use thy freedom well.” She explained this was the book’s central theme and asked, “How have you used your freedom?” Suddenly the book opened up to me and challenged me to think about my choices. Months later, I am still thinking about Freedom thanks to Julie’s well-placed note.

Next up came something in my wheelhouse, The Big Short. Michael Lewis is one of my favorite writers, but I didn’t get his explanation of a credit default swap. It seemed like a product of Las Vegas, not Wall Street. Thanks to my friend Jay, I got an answer that made sense to me. Months later my investment in the book paid dividends when an old college friend joined the conversation. We all had so much fun going back and forth in The Big Short that we jumped into Moneyball together.

Bringing it home, my son Max and I just read Tom Sawyer in Subtext. Twain’s genius is capturing language and place, but his language and place are far from where we live today. All of Max’s friends hated the book, but together we broke through Twain’s style and dove into his coming-of-age story. When Tom dances around trying to impress Becky, we had our first father-son exchange about girls right in the pages of the book.

The next book I’m going to read is a biography about a man who has had a big impact on my life. He helped me learn to program; he inspired me to model my last company after Pixar; and his platform is the foundation for building Subtext. I plan to read his biography with Max and talk with my son about passion, inspiration and other life lessons. I invite all of you to join Max and me in the pages of Steve Jobs’ biography.

We can read together, exchange ideas and stories, and learn from each other.

-Andrew Goldman, Founder and CEO