JK Rowling and Bill Bryson top the charts, while film tie-ins give Paula Hawkins and Jojo Moyes a second bite of the cherry – but this unpredictable year has also seen a welcome revival of humorous writingIt was a year when the No 1 book was a play script. When hyper-prolific James Patterson, dubbed the “library king” as Britain’s long-reigning most-borrowed author, could manage no higher than 60th place. When the anonymous, insanely difficult GCHQ Puzzle Book was 43rd, and so beat super-sellers like Patterson and Ian Rankin, not to mention all those much-hyped hygge books.The all-year sales rankings for 2016 are full of such surprises, as befits an unpredictable year, but also contain much that is comfortingly recognisable, such as the ghosts of Christmas charts past at the top. With Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, JK Rowling reclaims the No 1 spot that used to be reserved for her in the noughties, and her versatility is underlined by four other entries in various genres (12, 28, 64, 95). Bill Bryson reprised the round-Britain trip behind his mid-90s hit, Notes from a Small Island, in The Road to Little Dribbling (13) and the result is the list’s highest placed non-fiction title. Mary Berry (17), easily this year’s leading conventional cookery writer, was penning bestselling festive gifts long before either of them emerged. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
Pottermore, the digital company for J K Rowling’s Wizarding World, saw revenues rise 3.2% and profits increase 23.2% in the 12 months to 31st March 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-13 12:26:57 UTC ]
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We used to love these books, but he told me he doesn't want me to support J.K. Rowling now in any way. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-12-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint racked up a million followers in just over four hours. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2020-11-17 16:59:20 UTC ]
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Actor has announced he will be exiting the Harry Potter prequel series after losing his libel case over allegations of assault towards ex-wife Amber HeardJohnny Depp is set to exit the Fantastic Beasts franchise after being asked to resign by Warner Bros.The actor announced the decision in a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-06 16:53:04 UTC ]
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Ella discovered Diagon Alley inside her wardrobe during a game of hide-and-seek on her birthday. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2020-11-04 00:03:40 UTC ]
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Actor Matthew McConaughey has the #1 book in the country with ‘Greenlights.’ Plus books on baking and escapist photography help ease the lockdown blues, and a new edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ pops up. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloombury is to publish the first major work by 27-year-old economist Grace Blakeley, after winning a 10-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-27 18:38:16 UTC ]
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After shaky start in lockdown, Bloomsbury sales soar as people pick books over box setsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Harry Potter publisher, Bloomsbury, has reported its most profitable first half in more than a decade, after a nation tiring of box sets fuelled... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-10-27 12:22:12 UTC ]
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It smelled like Clinton’s emails redux. Last Wednesday, the Murdoch-owned New York Post published a bizarre story, sliming Joe Biden and his son Hunter, that it said was based on files (including, yes, emails) from a laptop that a man who may or may not have been Hunter left in a Delaware... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-10-19 12:20:19 UTC ]
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SUSANNA CLARKE FIRST BURST on the scene with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in 2004 on a wave of publicity partly fueled by comparisons with Harry Potter. However, while both stories are set in England and concern magic, the similarities end there: Jonathan Strange presents a complex, dark,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-10-18 17:00:59 UTC ]
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Puffin has acquired the first children’s non-fiction title from writer, broadcaster, documentary maker and activist Afua Hirsch. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-08 06:48:52 UTC ]
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IN THE LATE 1990s and early 2000s, millennials in the United States were tweens and teens, and the Harry Potter phenomenon hit hard. There was nothing so comforting in the face of overseas wars and 9/11 as a bit of Blairite neoliberalism from abroad: the British school novel wrapped up with a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-09-19 15:00:45 UTC ]
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The long-rumored Harry Potter open-world game finally has a release date. Hogwarts Legacy will come out sometime in 2021. Sony shared a lengthy cinematic trailer during its PlayStation 5 showcase detailing what you’ll do the game. You’ll play as a wi... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-09-16 20:27:10 UTC ]
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With books delayed by the pandemic reaching shops alongside other titles aimed at the Christmas market, the trade has seen sales boomBooksellers up and down the UK are reporting a boom in sales since readers returned to bookshops after the lockdown, with the first avalanche of Christmas titles... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-09-11 12:40:19 UTC ]
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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she is returning an award from a human rights group linked to the Kennedy family after the president of the organization criticized her comments about transgender issues. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-08-28 20:34:31 UTC ]
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A poster supporting the Harry Potter author, paid for by an anti-trans activist, was removed from an Edinburgh train station for being too political. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-07-31 17:57:33 UTC ]
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This week Dave Miller, who hosts a daily talk show on Oregon Public Broadcasting, interviewed “two very tired people”: Tuck Woodstock and Sergio Olmos, both independent journalists. Since late May, daily protests in solidarity with Black lives and against police brutality have taken place in... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-07-24 12:18:51 UTC ]
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The Day faced legal action from author after implying that her comments on gender harmed trans peopleA news website aimed at British schoolchildren has agreed to pay an unsubstantiated amount after it implied that JK Rowling’s comments on gender caused harm to trans people.The Day, which is... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-23 16:33:19 UTC ]
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Figures for last year show sales of £6.3bn, up 20% on 2015, but the Publishers Association says sector needs government support to weather coronavirusBook sales in the UK hit record levels in 2019, driven by a surge in audiobook and nonfiction titles, according to new figures released as... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 23:01:08 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury says books were a lockdown hit, with children’s division revenue up 27%The backlash against JK Rowling’s views on transgender law reform has failed to dent the popularity of the Harry Potter author’s books, with publisher Bloomsbury saying they have proved a lockdown hit, pushing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 12:29:43 UTC ]
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