This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2006.
Events March – The first full-length original novel in the Manx language, Dunveryssyn yn Tooder-Folley ("The Vampire Murders"), is published by Brian Stowell, after being serialized in the press. April 7 – Justice Peter Smith concludes in a case of February 27 in the London High Court of Justice against the publisher Random House over the bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), that the author, Dan Brown, has not breached the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh in their The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982, non-fiction). The judgment also contains a coded message on the whim of the judge. April 7–9 – First Jaipur Literature Festival held in India. Summer – Brutalism becomes the first literary movement to be launched through the social networking site Myspace. June 14 – Ciaran Creagh's play Last Call, based loosely on the hanging of the murderer Michael Manning in 1954, as witnessed by the playwright's father, is staged in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, where it is set. June–September – Elif Şafak is tried for "insulting Turkishness" in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul, published earlier in the year, but eventually acquitted. June 7 – The final portion of the library accumulated by Sir Thomas Phillipps (died 1872) is sold by Christie's in London.Christie's (2006-06-07) Sale 7233: Valuable Manuscripts and Printed Books London, King Street. Lots 18–38. Retrieved 2019-02-07. July 14 – The Times Literary Supplement reports on the discovery of a missing copy of Shelley's Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things, an 1811 pamphlet containing a 172-line poem critical of war, politics and religion; although published anonymously, the poem is thought to have contributed to the rebel poet's expulsion from the University of Oxford (which acquires the unique copy of the pamphlet in 2015). August 1 – The University of Helsinki library becomes the National Library of Finland (Kansalliskirjasto). September – Museum of Modern Literature opens in Marbach am Neckar, Schiller's birthplace in Germany. September 20 – The Writers Guild of America, West, holds a Los Angeles rally in support of the America's Next Top Model writers' strike. President Patric Verrone says: "Every piece of media with a moving image on a screen or a recorded voice must have a writer, and every writer must have a WGA contract." November 6 – WGAw files an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after Top Model producers say the next season of the show will not require writers. In response, Verrone said, "As they demanded union representation, the company decided they were expendable. This is illegal strikebreaking."
New books Fiction Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Half of a Yellow Sun Naomi Alderman – Disobedience Martin Amis – House of Meetings Margaret Atwood – Moral Disorder Muriel Barbery – The Elegance of the Hedgehog (L'Élégance du hérisson) (France, Gallimard) Brunonia Barry – The Lace Reader François Bégaudeau – Entre les murs (Between the Walls) Peter Behrens – The Law of Dreams William Boyd – Restless T. C. Boyle – Talk Talk James Chapman – Stet (January 7) Douglas Coupland – jPod Mark Z. Danielewski – Only Revolutions Patricia Duncker – Miss Webster and Chérif Dave Eggers – What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng (October 25) Agustín Fernández Mallo – Nocillo (trilogy, begins publication) Gillian Flynn – Sharp Objects Aminatta Forna – Ancestor Stones Wendy Guerra – Todos se van (Everyone's Leaving) Katharina Hacker – Die Habenichtse (The Have-Nots) Margaret Peterson Haddix – Among the Free Rawi Hage – De Niro's Game Hiro Arikawa – Library War (図書館戦争 Toshokan Sensō) Anosh Irani – The Song of Kahunsha (Canada, Doubleday) Lloyd Jones – Mister Pip Philip Kerr – The One from the Other Torsten Krol – The Dolphin People Vincent Lam – Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures Jon McGregor – So Many Ways to Begin David Mitchell – Black Swan Green Alice Munro – The View from Castle Rock Amélie Nothomb – Journal d'Hirondelle Joyce Carol Oates – Black Girl/White Girl Heather O'Neill – Lullabies for Little Criminals Carolyn Parkhurst – Lost and Found Thomas Pynchon – Against the Day (November 21) Christoph Ransmayr – The Flying Mountain (Der fliegende Berg) Ron Rash – The World Made Straight James Robertson – The Testament of Gideon Mack Will Self – The Book of Dave Olga Slavnikova – 2017 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o – Wizard of the Crow (Gikuyu: Mũrogi wa Kagogo) Lynne Tillman – American Genius, A Comedy John Updike – Terrorist (June 6) Mario Vargas Llosa – The Bad Girl (Travesuras de la niña mala)
Children and young people Chris Van Allsburg – Probuditi! Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson – Peter and the Shadow Thieves (July 15) John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped PyjamasHahn 2015, p. 87 Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony (September 12, fifth in the Artemis Fowl series) John Fardell – The Flight of the Silver Turtle Jean-Luc Fromental – 365 Penguins Julia Golding – Secret of the Sirens (August 3, UK, first in the Companions Quartet) John Green – An Abundance of KatherinesHahn 2015, p. 246 Gordon Korman – Born to Rock J. Patrick Lewis (with Gary Kelley) – Black Cat Bone: The Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson D. J. MacHale – The Quillan Games (May 16) David Mitchell – Black Swan Green (April 11) Robert Muchamore Divine Madness (fifth in the CHERUB series) Man vs Beast (sixth in the CHERUB series) Jenny Nimmo – Charlie Bone and the Hidden King Garth Nix – Sir Thursday (March 1) (fourth in The Keys to the Kingdom series) Jerry Pinkney – The Little Red Hen Terry Pratchett – Wintersmith (October 1, third in the Tiffany Aching series) Philip Reeve – A Darkling PlainHahn 2015, p. 492 Lemony Snicket – The End (October 13) (13th in A Series of Unfortunate Events) Toshihiko Tsukiji and Senmu – Kämpfer (けんぷファー, November 24)
Genre fiction Fantasy Joe Abercrombie – The Blade Itself (May 4, first in First Law series) R. Scott Bakker – The Thousandfold Thought (January 20, third in Prince of Nothing trilogy) Steven Erikson – The Bonehunters (March 1, sixth in Malazan Book of the Fallen series) Terry Goodkind – Phantom (July 18, 10th in Sword of Truth series) Laurell K. Hamilton – Mistral's Kiss (December 12, fifth in Merry Gentry series) Gregory Keyes – The Blood Knight (July 11, third in The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series) Dean Koontz – Brother Odd (November 28, third in Odd Thomas series) Tanith Lee – Piratica II (second in The Piratica Series) Scott Lynch – The Lies of Locke Lamora (June 27, first in Gentleman Bastards series) Patricia A. McKillip – Solstice Wood – Ghost Blows Out the Light (March) Angie Sage – Flyte (March 1, second in Septimus Heap series) Jeff VanderMeer – Shriek: An Afterword (August 8) Rick Riordan – The Sea of Monsters
Historical Kunal Basu – Racists Bernard Cornwell The Lords of the North Sharpe's Fury Debra Dean – The Madonnas of Leningrad Charles Frazier – Thirteen Moons (October 3) Robert Harris – Imperium Michael Moorcock – The Vengeance of Rome (January 5, fourth in the Pyat Quartet) Naomi Novik – Temeraire (January 7) Andrzej Sapkowski – Lux Perpetua Sarah Waters – The Night Watch (March 23) Jack Whyte – Knights of the Black and White (August 8, first in the Templar Trilogy) Gene Wolfe – Soldier of Sidon (October 31, third book in the Soldier series)
Horror James Patterson & Peter de Jonge – Beach Road (May 1) Victor Heck – Downward Spiral (November 27) Stephen King Cell (January 24) Lisey's Story (October 24) Thomas Ligotti – Teatro Grottesco James Robert Smith and Stephen Mark Rainey (ed.) – Evermore
Humor and satire Max Barry – Company (January 17) Ben Elton – Chart Throb Bobby Henderson – The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (March 28) Maddox – The Alphabet of Manliness (June) Carl Hiaasen – Nature Girl (November 14) Vladimir Sorokin – Day of the Oprichnik
Mystery and crime Gilbert Adair – The Act of Roger Murgatroyd Robert Baer – Blow the House Down a novel (May 30) Mary Higgins Clark – Two Little Girls in Blue Ranj Dhaliwal – Daaku (October 6) Michael Connelly – Echo Park (October 9) Patricia Cornwell At Risk (May 23, first in the At Risk series) Book of the Dead (October 24, 15th in Kay Scarpetta series) Clive Cussler – Treasure of Khan (December 5) Jeffery Deaver The Cold Moon (May 30, seventh in the Lincoln Rhyme series) More Twisted (December 16) Nelson DeMille – Wild Fire (November 6) Thomas Harris – Hannibal Rising (December 5, fourth in Hannibal Lecter series) Tony Hillerman – The Shape Shifter (November 1, 12th in Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee series) Dean Koontz – The Husband (May 30) Stieg Larsson (died 2004) – The Girl Who Played with Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden) Val McDermid – The Grave Tattoo (February 6) James Patterson Cross (November 14, 12th in Alex Cross series) Judge and Jury (July 31) James Patterson & Maxine Paetro – The 5th Horseman (February 13) Michael Slade – Kamikaze (November 7) Thomas Sullivan – The Water Wolf (October 3) Andrew Vachss – Mask Market Samantha Weinberg – Secret Servant: The Moneypenny Diaries Jack Whyte – The Eagle (December 26, ninth in Camulod Chronicles series)
Romance Karen Marie Moning – Darkfever (October 31) Stephenie Meyer – New Moon Nicholas Sparks – Dear John (October 30) Danielle Steel – H. R. H. (October 31)
Sci-fi Aaron Allston – Betrayal (May 30, first in Legacy of the Force series) Elizabeth Bear – Carnival (November 28) Troy Denning – Tempest (November 28) David Louis Edelman – Infoquake (July 5, first in Jump 225 trilogy) Drew Karpyshyn – Path of Destruction: a Novel of the New Republic (September 26) Paul Levinson – The Plot to Save Socrates (February 6) Cormac McCarthy – The Road (September 26) Yvonne Navarro – Ultraviolet (March 1) Tim Powers – Three Days to Never (August 1) J. D. Robb – Born in Death (November 7, 23rd in In Death series) Masamune Shirow – Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human Error Processor Charles Stross – Glasshouse (June 27) Karen Traviss Bloodlines (August 29, second in Legacy of the Force series) Triple Zero (second in Star Wars: Republic Commando series) Peter Watts – Blindsight (October 3) Stephen Woodworth – From Black Rooms (October 31, fourth in Violet series) Timothy Zahn – Outbound Flight (January 31)
Drama Salvatore Antonio – In Gabriel's Kitchen Jacob M. Appel – Arborophilia Tanya Barfield – Blue Door Howard Brenton – In Extremis Gregory Burke – Black Watch John Cariani – Almost Maine Nilo Cruz – Beauty of the Father Brian Friel – Faith Healer Richard Greenberg – A Naked Girl on the Appian Way Rinne Groff – What Then Lisa Kron – Well Neil LaBute – Fat Pig David Lindsay-Abaire – Rabbit Hole Itamar Moses – Bach at Leipzig Joël Pommerat – Cet enfant Nina Raine – Rabbit Adam Rapp – Red Light Winter
Poetry
Non-fiction Debby Applegate – The Most Famous Man in America Enrique Desmond Arias – Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro Karen Armstrong – Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time Philip Ball – The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science Alison Bechdel – Fun Home Jimmy Carter – Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid Christopher Catherwood – A Brief History of the Middle East Rajiv Chandrasekaran – Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme – My Life in France Richard Dawkins – The God Delusion Daniel Dennett – Breaking the Spell Alain de Botton – The Architecture of Happiness Nora Ephron – I Feel Bad About My Neck Wayne Federman with Marshall Terrill and Pete Maravich – Maravich Al Gore – An Inconvenient Truth Glenn Greenwald – How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok John Grisham – The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town Nicky Hager – The Hollow Men Sam Harris – Letter to a Christian Nation Tsuyoshi Hasegawa (長谷川毅) – Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan