Novel releases expected to sell well in 2017

Several titles released during the Beijing Book Fair from Jan 12-14 are expected to become super best-sellers in China this year.

Xi Jinping: Wit and Vision (Military Volume)

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press

President Xi Jinping recently charmed the Davos World Economic Forum with his keynote speech.

"Whether you like it or not, the global economy is the big ocean that you cannot escape from," he said.

Many of his quotations have become popular sayings.

This led to the publication of the first volume of his selected remarks with analysis in 2014.

It sold 500,000 copies and was reprinted 12 times. It was also translated into English and Korean.

Professors from the People's Liberation Army's National Defense University edited the book to ensure accuracy and authoritativeness. Chief editor Liu Zhihui says: "Xi's language is witty and charming, with comparisons, metaphors and references to Chinese classics. They're easy to comprehend and memorize."

Liu says the book contains 62 quotes, each with a short analysis.

"We try to dig out the spiritual significance of each entry, while adding more military background for lay readers," Liu says.

Niu Niu: A Father's Notes (20th Anniversary Version)

Changjiang Literature and Arts Press

Two decades ago, a book by a Nietzsche scholar touched the nation - so much so, that readers flocked to meet him at the release of its 20th-anniversary edition during the Beijing book fair.

Zhou Guoping, a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, learned his daughter wouldn't live long soon after she was born.

She survived 562 days. Zhou struggled to recover.

He recorded his thoughts in a collection of essays.

"Those things that come natural to us - falling in love, getting married or becoming a parent - seem ordinary and trivial. But they're actually the core of life and are precious moments," Zhou says.

The publisher has sold over 500,000 copies, and others have sold more. The new edition features 112 sketches from surgeon-turned-artist Wei Erqiao.

Qin

Zhonghua Book Company

Swedish Sinologist Cecilia Lindqvist studied the guqin (Chinese zither) under master Wang Di in China in the early 1960s.

The 85-year-old explains the ancient instrument's structure, techniques and literary references with vivid storytelling.

The Chinese version contains two CDs, featuring 21 representative guqin songs played by masters.

Qing Niao: A Collection of Stories

Yilin Press

After reading French historian Fernand Braudel in 1994, literary critic Li Jingze wrote a collection of stories about foreigners who've visited China, many of whom left their mark on history.

The rights to a French-language version were sold to a French publisher.

A decade and three French translators later, Li has reconfigured the book into a first-person time-travel fantasy novel.

Li seeks to reveal hidden history by looking at the forgotten faces of those who contributed to East-West relations in the past.

"It's a book about curiosity - curiosity about willpower, differences, misunderstandings and illusions," he says.

Wang Cheng Ru Hai (Sea of People in the Capital City)

People's Literature Publishing House

Smog sets the backdrop and serves as the forefront of Xu Zechen's new novel.

The author explains that he examines smog in a figurative sense. He not only tackles the physical problem of his home city but also writes about how urbanites are afflicted by "spiritual smog".

Characters include ordinary folks - a deliveryman, nanny, student, child and playwright.