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 ]
There’s plenty of talent among minority ethnic writers in the UK, but their books rarely make it to the shelves – and that’s shamefulUntil this week, I thought that at least we could be consoled by fiction. That we still had the borderless joys of stories to fend off the dark forces of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Walliams has clocked up his best-ever weekly volume with The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) for a second week running. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The release of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playscript, published by Little, Brown, has helped Hachette UK to grow its sales by 30.1% in the third quarter, according to results issued by its parent company Lagardere. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Walliams has put the brakes on The Girl on the Train’s 12-week run at the top of the chart, with The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) striking the Official UK Top 50 number one spot with a resounding chime, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chicken House m.d. Barry Cunningham, the man who acquired the manuscript for J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the late 1990s, is selling his unique edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard at Sotheby’s. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent is the only novel on the six-book shortlist, up against JK Rowling’s play script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and a long-lost Beatrix Potter storySarah Perry’s novel The Essex Serpent might have missed out on the big literary prizes this year, but her... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Harry Potter script and a Beatrix Potter story are among the titles up for Waterstones Book of the Year 2016. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A one-off edition of a Harry Potter spin-off book, handwritten by JK Rowling, is being sold by its owner. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have the #1 book in the country with ‘The Magnolia Story.’ Plus new books turn up the brightness on the Twin Peaks and Outlander TV series, the holiday season comes early to our bestseller lists, and much more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dull Margaret, a darkly humorous tale illustrated by the artist DIX, is tipped to be a hot property at the Frankfurt book fairThe actor Jim Broadbent is making his first foray into fiction with a graphic novel inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 16th-century painting of a “strong, intense... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fiction and picture books are likely to take the lion’s share of sales over the Christmas period, although this year’s YA and teen offering is not as strong, according to a number of children’s booksellers. Florentyna Martin, children’s buyer at Waterstones, said younger fiction is particularly... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The crime novel, about a shooting in a Stockholm school, has been dominating the bestseller lists in its home country all summer and has sold in 23 territories to date. Its editor thinks it has benefited from critical praise and unusually strong publisher support. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has given US-based Scholastic Corp a huge boost, as the company has today posted a first quarter revenue increase of 48%. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' helped add almost $70 million to Scholastic’s trade division in the quarter ended August 31, and drove a 104% jump in revenue in the company’s children’s book publishing and distribution group. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber has acquired Conversations with Friends, a "startling" and "intimate" debut novel from Sally Rooney, after a seven-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling and Jack Thorne’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has held on to the number one spot for a sixth week—by the tips of its fingers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“War and Peace” star Tom Burke is to play Cormoran Strike in the BBC’s upcoming adaptations of JK Rowling’s adult crime novels written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has racked up five weeks as the Official UK Top 50 number one—but the gap is closing. According to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market, the playscript sold 36,485 copies for £455,824, just 7,503 units above runner-up The Girl on the Train... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has snatched the Official Top 50 number one for a fourth week, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paula Hawkins is back on top of the iBooks bestseller list with 'The Girl on the Train,' pushing J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2' down into the #2 slot. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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