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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Little, Brown Book Group UK is launching a new imprint focusing on commercial crime, suspense and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazons Kindle Fire tablet is reportedly launching in the UK in January. Know Your... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Although the staff at Melville House originally envisioned David Graebers new book as a short work on the economy, it just kept growing until Debt: The First 5,000 Years, a now 550-page comprehensive work on the impact of financial issues on people, was eventually published this past summer.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stoking the excitement, or the anger, of sports fans can be highly effective. Just ask FSG, which has a sleeper hit on its hands after reaching out to Michigan Wolverine football fans for its book about former head coach, Rich Rodriguez. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Notes in the margins of ebooks could be the next platform for social interaction. At least that's what Amsterdam-based Openmargin is hoping. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The top three fiction titles in Germany were all debuts in October, led by In Times of Fading Light, which recently won the 2011 German Book Prize and is set for publication in the U.S. by Graywolf Press in fall 2013. Umberto Ecos newest book, The Prague Cemetery, which debuted at #3, is newly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Notes in the margins of ebooks could be the next platform for social interaction. At least that's what Amsterdam-based *openmargin is hoping. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 04/11/2011 - 10:53 William Heinemann has acquired a debut crime novel, the first in a series to feature civilian investigator Catherine Berlin, written by Annie Hauxwell. Publisher Jason Arthur bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 03/11/2011 - 15:23 Harvill Secker has appointed Alison Hennessey as its senior crime editor. She will begin in the newly created role in January 2012 and joins from Vintage where she was editor and digital media executive since 2010. She will be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 01/11/2011 - 09:30 Harvill Secker has acquired a Swedish crime trilogy by television scriptwriter Alexander Soderberg. Publishing director Liz Foley bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in the series, The Andalucian Friend,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booked Up, the government-funded programme that gives a free book to Year 7 pupils, has found... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yale University Press will be nosing around authors' bookshelves with the publication of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 13:09 Paul Kimmage is the surprise inclusion in this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year shortlist, after he was left out of the longlist. His book Engage (Simon & Schuster), a biography of England Under 21 rugby player... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new social reading app called Subtext today launches on the iPad with a selection of books laden with annotations from authors and researchers. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 25/10/2011 - 07:30 Octopus will publish the next tie-in title to ITV1 show "The Biggest Loser" next year, the third in the brand to be released by the Hachette publisher. Publishing director Stephanie Jackson made the deal for UK and Irish... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 08:05 The Government emphasis on reading for pleasure could be behind an uplift in sales to school libraries, claims bookseller Marilyn Brocklehurst of the Norfolk Children's Book Centre. She said: "The pronouncements by the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 21/10/2011 - 12:08 Chatto & Windus has acquired a new book by "Domestic Goddess" Nigella Lawson, whipping up rights in Nigellissima: Italian Express. Publishing director Clara Farmer bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 21/10/2011 - 08:33 The News of the World phone hacking scandal has hit the book industry, with the revelation that private material relating to individuals within the trade has been discovered by police during "Operation Weeting". Both agent... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 15:50 Illustrated publisher New Holland has undergone its third round of redundancies in four years, with nearly half the companys UK staff leaving the publisher, including its managing director. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 14:51 Kobo has launched a tablet rival to the Kindle Fire, which it is launching in the US and Canada priced at $199. The surprise device is called the Kobo Vox eReader, and ships on 28th October, two weeks ahead of Amazon's Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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