It was a chance to finally get around to Tolstoy or Proust, but the charts tell a different story. Which books did we actually turn to in the lockdowns? • Let us know in the comments what you were reading Back in spring 2020, when it became clear that coronavirus wasn’t going away, book lovers spied an opportunity for a rare, government-mandated reading holiday. Here, at last, was a chance to have a go at Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Robert Macfarlane reported that he was working his way through the great Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. Ali Smith urged readers towards Boccaccio’s Decameron. Diana Evans’s thoughts turned “heavenwards” by way of Homer’s Odyssey. I downloaded 27 hours of The Brothers Karamazov audiobook in anticipation.All lovely ideas. With 20 months of hindsight, however, which books did we actually end up turning to? The bestseller lists from the three different lockdowns may not tell you the contents of Britain’s soul, but then again, the numbers do not lie. We read: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Sophie Hinchliffe’s Mrs Hinch: The Little Book of Lists. Lots of David Walliams, who topped the Lockdown 1 and Lockdown 2 charts with Slime and Code Name Bananas respectively. JK Rowling: the first three Harry Potter books steadily rose up the charts through the pandemic. Joe Wicks. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. A Pinch of Nom, plus spin-offs. Sally Rooney’s Normal People. Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-12-11 09:00:06 UTC ]
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A new crime festival is launching in Ireland next month featuring Sophie Hannah, Scandi author Arne Dahl and Graeme Macrae Burnet. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barack Obama published a Facebook post calling the White house out on its decision to rescind the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act. “To target these young people is wrong–because they have done nothing wrong,” Obama writes. “It is self-defeating–because they want to start new... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2017-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg supports the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He published a note late Wednesday, joining other business leaders in asking President Trump and Congress to protect from deportation those qualified undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2017-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print sales of Judith Kerr's The Tiger Who Came to Tea have surpassed one million sold mark ahead of its 50th anniversary next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W H Smith said it expects its financial results for the year to be in line with expectations, with a continued “strong” performance in its Travel arm with new openings in Italy. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ahead of France's program as Guest of Honor at Frankfurt in October, a Parisian editor talks about how political distractions may be slowing book sales. The post Livres Hebdo’s Fabrice Piault on Politics and France’s Reading Culture appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ahead of France's program as Guest of Honor at Frankfurt in October, the Parisian editor talks about how political distractions may be slowing book sales. The post Livre Hebdo’s Fabrice Piault on Politics and France’s Reading Culture appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A year ago, Electronic Arts kicked off its indie publishing program EA Originals by announcing an intriguing gem: Fe, created by studio Zoink from Gothenberg, Sweden. The wordless adventure game follows a woodland creature as it roams a geometric, st... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2017-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Its chief critic took a buy-out. It's consolidating like crazy. But the Gray Lady's books team is neither flailing nor failing. Here's what it is doing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus’ upmarket imprint riverrun has acquired a true crime book about “bizarre Icelandic disappearances” by a BBC producer following a three-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'We cling on to the idea that the UK is so different from all the other countries.' And change, says Bloomsbury's Richard Charkin, is a new constant. The post Richard Charkin: ‘We’ve Allowed Our Industry To Become Over-Complicated’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A cast of 350 readers will stage an 11-hour promenade performance to celebrate three-and-a-half centuries of Paradise Lost at John Milton’s cottage. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Connelly's 'The Late Show' stayed on top of the iBooks bestseller list this week, followed by Lisa Wingate's 'Before We Were Yours.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline is among publishers hoping to emulate the success of Christmas bestseller the GCHQ Puzzle Book (Michael Joseph) after commissioning writer, historian and Bletchley Park expert Sinclair McKay to write Bletchley Park Brain Teasers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This September, Taste of Home launches two new photo-packed cookbooks featuring over 1,000 recipes from across its print and digital platforms (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) and digital textbook provider Kortext have bought a reading lists management system, rebus:list, from library management supplier PTFS Europe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former prime minister tells BBC Radio 4 that learning about the Russian revolutionary was ‘like a light going on’Tony Blair has said that he “toyed with Marxism” as a young man after being inspired by a biography of Leon Trotsky that detailed “extraordinary causes and injustices”.The former... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On April Fools' Day this year, Amazon spoofed itself with an introduction to PetLexa, an animal-friendly version of its Alexa voice assistant. Now, it's actually releasing something real--audiobooks for animals. Today, Audible announced a new brand of books with Cesar Millan, a longtime dog... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Silvertail has signed Ravenhill, a "stunning" debut novel from a "brilliant new voice in crime fiction", John Steele. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Val McDermid, Anthony Horowitz and Martina Cole have been confirmed on the killer line-up for the fourth Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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