Bestsellers: Popular fiction since 1900

This book charts the publishing industry and bestselling fiction from 1900, featuring a comprehensive list of all bestselling fiction titles in the UK. This third edition includes a new introduction which features additional information on current trends in reading including the rise of Black, Asian and LGBTQIA+ publishing;the continuing importance of certain genres and up to date trends in publishing, bookselling, library borrowing and literacy. There are sections on writing for children, on the importance of audiobooks and book clubs, self- published bestsellers as well as many new entries to the present day including bestselling authors such as David Walliams, Peter James, George R R Martin and far less well known authors whose books s sell in their thousands. This is the essential guide to best-selling books, authors, genres, publishing and bookselling since 1900, providing a unique insight into more than a century of entertainment, and opening a window into the reading habits and social life of the British from the death of Queen Victoria to the Coronavirus Pandemic. © Clive Bloom 2002, 2008, 2021. All rights reserved.

Influence of the first wave of COVID-19 on asthma inhaler prescriptions.

In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were major concerns regarding the huge demand for asthma inhalers. Using the primary-care medical records for 614,700 asthma patients between January and June 2020, we found that there was a substantial increase in inhalers solely in March 2020. Patients significantly associated with receiving higher inhaled corticosteroid prescriptions were younger, of higher socioeconomic status, and had milder asthma.

Assessing factors associated with COVID19 risk in asthma

RATIONALE Several factors may be associated with the apparent reduced risk of severe COVID-19 disease in asthma patients. These include a proposed protective effect from inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) or from a type-2 immune airway response. Large UK population cohorts have found conflicting results, but each had missing information on asthma phenotype, including exacerbation history or markers of type-2 inflammation. Protective factors may be determined by comparing the outcomes of asthma patients to other patients using ICS or patients that have similar inflammation. This will be done using a national primary care database linked to secondary care data and Public Health England (PHE) COVID-19 data. METHODS From a primary care database covering around 15% of the UK population, we drew three cohorts of adults (>17 years) with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or allergic rhinitis, and a general population cohort matched by age, gender and primary care practice. COVID-19 infection was defined using three sources: primary care records (confirmed and suspected cases), hospital admissions or PHE data from their surveillance system. Preliminary analysis calculated the proportion of patients diagnosed as suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in primary care between 1st February and 22nd June 2020. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between risk factors and COVID-19. RESULTS We identified 729,045 patients with asthma, 280,892 with COPD, 137,312 with allergic rhinitis and 1,138,018 in the general population cohort. 2.2% of the asthma cohort, 3.5% the COPD cohort, 2.4% of the allergic rhinitis cohort and 1.1% of the general population, were identified as having either suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in primary care (approximately a quarter were confirmed). In the asthma cohort, the following were found to be independently significantly associated with having suspected/confirmed COVID-19;older age, being male, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, sleep apnoea, bronchiectasis, COPD, ILD, chronic renal failure, cerebrovascular disease, dementia and liver disease (all p<0.0001). A history of past or current smoking and a high eosinophil count were not significantly associated. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary findings suggest patients with asthma are more likely to consult primary care about COVID-19 than a matched general population, but less likely than COPD patients, and that type-2 inflammation may not be associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 consultation with a primary care physician. Analysis comparing to the other cohorts and the general population, and using data from secondary care and PHE, is ongoing.