Book Reviews Photo by Dominik Scythe / Unsplash A new book by a Nobel laureate and Booker award-winning author always brings with it a sense of trepidation. Will the new novel live up to the already established high expectations? Klara and the Sun (Knopf, 2021) is particularly tricky because it revisits questions about life in posthuman futures, explored partly in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005). However, Ishiguro’s new novel and its nonhuman narrator, Klara, weave a spell on the reader from the opening pages that continues to be all-absorbing. We forget that the narrator is a robot and remain involved in the vicissitudes of her life, till the final pages when she is waiting for an end to her powers by the slow decline of her electronic circuitry. As we are immersed in the trajectory of Klara’s life, Ishiguro invites us to explore the question of what it is that constitutes us as human. To what extent can machines approximate the qualities of a human, and is there anything unique in the human mind in a world where artificial intelligence is increasingly powerful? The novel begins with Klara being displayed in the window of a store selling AI “friends” to children. Klara is very observant and records her perceptions in her memories for future use. She forms an instantaneous bond with Josie when she comes in to check out AI friends and then waits for many weeks for Josie to come back and take her home as promised.... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-03-01 21:50:34 UTC ]
The Victoria & Albert Museum is closing its dedicated bookshop and making 103 roles redundant across its retail and visitor experience teams as the Covid-19 crisis hits its finances. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-05 09:58:53 UTC ]
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Love in Colour by Bolu BabalolaEvery story in this collection of love stories by Bolu Babalola has been adapted from ancient folklore from all around the world. Babalola chooses to centre women in these stories, giving the women unique and passionate perspectives on love. While the original... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-10-01 09:59:00 UTC ]
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Independent press Little Toller is to open a bookshop in the Dorset town of Beaminster next month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-24 21:34:39 UTC ]
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In the early summer of 1994, I walked into Alice’s Bookshop in North Carlton; a small shop in an old terrace on a straight boulevard that runs north out of Melbourne, Victoria. Being so close to the venerable sandstone of Melbourne University, there’s an old-fashioned gravity about the place.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-24 08:48:13 UTC ]
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It's no secret that most authors are introverts. That doesn't mean that we don't enjoy bookshop events and literary festivals. Who doesn't love talking about their books or their writing process? But afterwards, we are spent, drained of energy, and need to recharge. Writing is a solitary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 01:39:18 UTC ]
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Booksellers have generally reacted enthusiastically to news that the US indie-focused retail site Bookshop.org is launching in the UK this November, although some remain cautious. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-13 19:17:12 UTC ]
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The shortlist for the first Sceptre Bookshop Award shortlist has been revealed, featuring independent retailers across the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-09 22:30:21 UTC ]
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The London Review Bookshop has partnered with the MUBI streaming service for the broadcast of eight films to be accompanied by fortnightly conversations with writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-01 17:23:15 UTC ]
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Ross Bradshaw responds to an editorial on the boom in publishing We were interested to read that “Bookshops in big city centres … are wary of taking risks” (Editorial, 23 August), and that this autumn’s harvest includes books by Ant and Dec, Jilly Cooper and Arsène Wenger, which have the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-26 16:44:13 UTC ]
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Many publishers are enjoying record sales – but not all. We must take care that those with the biggest names and deepest pockets are not the only beneficiariesAs the weather turns and the days shorten, as trees bend low with fruit and blackberries darken the hedges, bookshops are bracing for a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-23 17:25:02 UTC ]
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E-commerce firm Monwell has launched the Mail Bookshop with Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 17:01:04 UTC ]
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More than half of Tate's London bookshop staff are facing redundancy, with several roles in its books team and publishing operation also at risk, The Bookseller has learned. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-16 14:07:35 UTC ]
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Seeing unexpected pairings of readers and books quickly dispels the idea of who reads what• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldI have a party trick. If you name three books you like and two you hate, I can write you a reading list of 10 books you will love.I’ve gained this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-08-15 10:00:40 UTC ]
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Vertebrate Publishing has scooped Never Leave the Dog Behind, a celebration of mountain adventures with four-legged friends by award-winning author Helen Mort. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-14 03:06:11 UTC ]
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Hodder Faith, in partnership with mini-chain St Andrew’s Bookshop, will launch a national church book club this autumn, to be known as The Big Church Read. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-12 13:00:50 UTC ]
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Bookshop has helped many independents weather the pandemic, but some booksellers say the ABA is not being transparent about its financial relationship with the online retailer and worry that Bookshop poses new competition. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Interviews Richard van Leeuwen is a senior lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Amsterdam. This year, he won the 2020 Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Arabic Culture in Other Languages category for his book The Thousand and One Nights and... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-08-10 20:32:46 UTC ]
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The Zoom call was going well. I liked the technology on show, and I felt bookshops could definitely benefit from using it. It provided a way of alerting the bookshop - ahead of a visit - when someone with a disability (or who needed additional help) would be arriving at the shop. Staff would be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-09 12:28:32 UTC ]
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Waterstones has announced the permanent closure of its bookshop in the Centre MK Shopping Centre, Milton Keynes, over “excessive” rent demanded from its landlord. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-04 18:17:36 UTC ]
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Around 35% of regular bookshop customers are unsure about returning to bricks and mortar premises now lockdown has eased, according to a survey by Nielsen. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-17 09:56:49 UTC ]
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