A charming French novel about an old-school publisher trying to get to grips with the digital ageAt more than one point in this novel I found myself asking: could this be any more French? Early on we meet a character described thus: “She used to be incredibly good-looking and now at thirtysomething she is creditably handsome.” Sorry? What the narrator, an ageing male publisher, looks like, or how creditably or uncreditably good-looking he is, we don’t find out. Another woman leaves the room “in a wiggle of buttock” – I dropped my annotating pencil when I read that line. “Artichokes require a degree of elegance” – there’s another drop of essence of Gallic for you.But there is more to Dear Reader, and what kept me going was that one of the subjects exercising our narrator is the issue of electronic readers – Kindles or, as our hero Robert Dubois has it, the “dear reader” of the title. This book is an elegy for a dying world: that of the printed book and, that death’s darker corollary, the reader who is still interested in, or has the attention span for, the long-form narrative. (I always thought these things were arranged better in France, with no Net Book Agreement and tax breaks for bookshops, but apparently not.) In the world of Dear Reader, there has been a general collapse of cultural understanding: the interns point out to Dubois the remarkable coincidence that the publishing house they have landed in has the same name as him. Meanwhile, Dubois cannot quite get to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The New York Public Library made four banned books available nationwide on SimplyE, its free-reader app. The titles include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Catcher in the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-04-13 23:48:05 UTC ]
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Last month, our reviewers fell for emotional memoirs, deeply researched historical fiction and a new Maisie Dobbs installment. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-02 10:00:12 UTC ]
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The release of a new Dav Pilkey title and the approach of Easter last year combined to sink unit sales of print books 19.8% last week compared to the week ended March 27, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Why do authors always ask for readers to leave reviews? Do reviews really help sell their books? Bottom line: yes. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-03-30 10:35:00 UTC ]
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The impact of an earlier Easter and a kerfuffle surrounding Dr. Seuss titles that sold many books last year proved impossible to overcome last week, when unit sales of print books were down 12.8% compared to the week ended March 20, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell 8.3% in the week ended Mar. 12, 2022, from the comparable week in 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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PW spoke with Danielle Borasky, v-p of NoveList, about the vision behind Learn with NoveList and why it’s the essential platform for today’s library staff. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A year ago, sales of Dr. Seuss titles were soaring following the decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to stop publishing some older Seuss titles. With no such controversy this year, unit sales of print books fell 16.2% last week from a year ago. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The New York Times today announced that Pamela Paul, who has headed the paper’s Books section and hosted the Book Review podcast since 2013, will be moving to Times Opinion as part of the paper’s expansion of its columnist ranks. Paul—the author of The Starter Marriage, Pornified, and My Life... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-03-07 17:47:57 UTC ]
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Of the many February books we reviewed, these are the titles our critics liked best. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-02-27 12:00:33 UTC ]
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With every category except adult nonfiction reporting gains, unit sales of print books rose 4.3% in the week ended Feb. 19, 2022, over the comparable week in 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-25 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books rose 4.3% last week over the week ended February 20, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The weekly increase was the best compared to 2021 so far this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-25 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books rose 2.8% in the week ended Feb. 12, 2022, compared to the similar in 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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With the adult nonfiction category posting a 10.2% decline in sales, total unit sales of print books fell 3.9% last week compared to the week ended February 6, 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell 1.6% last week compared to the week ended January 30, 2021, and ended January down 5.6% compared to last January at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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After increasing 8% in 2020 and 9% in 2021, it is unlikely that unit sales of print books will grow again in 2022, Kristen McLean, executive director and industry analyst for NPD/BookScan Books. She noted the importance of several other trends, including the influence of BookTok and the growth... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Dirda listed 66 books that give him a deep sense of contentment and well-being. Commenters had their own ideas. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Books owned by The Snow Goose author up for sale this week include Ian Fleming first editions inscribed for his former colleagueA first edition of Diamonds Are Forever, in which Ian Fleming thanks his friend and fellow author Paul Gallico for “spread[ing] his wings over my first-born [Casino... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-01-26 10:27:30 UTC ]
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Weak nonfiction sales dragged down total unit sales of print books last week, with total sales dropping 3% compared to the week ended January 16, 2021, at outlets that report to BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Record sales show that even the ability to carry thousands of books in one portable electronic device is not enoughIn 2009, when Amazon’s Kindle ebook was launched in the UK, it seemed impossible to imagine that a dozen years later booksellers would be reporting a record year of sales of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-01-15 17:00:27 UTC ]
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