As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the ether on to our Kindles. There are more books sold in the summer than during any other season: the well-established publishing calendar tends to see hardbacks released in the autumn to be given as gifts at Christmas, then repackaged as paperbacks in late spring. As Donna Harrington-Lueker sets out in her history of the beach read, Books for Idle Hours, the summer publishing rush is at least a century old, and has typically aimed “airy and froth-like” books on “young ladies” (the quote is from an 1888 work on summer books by Arlo Bates). The summer fiction market is changing, though, with more and more “serious”, “literary” novels showing up where once there were only thrillers and crime novels, bonkbusters and romances. So it is that Normal People by Sally Rooney is currently piled high on the tables of WH Smith’s Travel alongside Lee Child, Jodi Picoult and Bernard Cornwell.I’m aware of how contentious and porous discussions of genre can be. Generic labels, though, are the terms that booksellers and publishers think in and for literary novels, the chances of summer success are still relatively slim. Tom Tivnan, managing editor of the Bookseller, points to Nielsen BookScan data that... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
J K Rowling's The Christmas Pig (Little, Brown) has notched up a second week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, with 31,565 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-26 07:52:25 UTC ]
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The Tudor Dynasty lives on in these outstanding historical fiction novels, including The King’s Witch. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-10-22 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Kate Mosse is launching a YouTube channel, including a book club featuring two non-fiction titles and a pair of fiction titles each month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-20 03:44:21 UTC ]
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Fiction that lazily predicts a dystopian, ecologically decimated world is doomed to fail; instead novelists must engage on a new level with the climate crisis Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-18 12:54:39 UTC ]
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Granta Magazine has opened submissions for the fifth edition of its Best of Young British Novelists list, to be released in spring 2023. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-13 08:19:00 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney has turned down a bid from an Israeli publisher to translate her most recent novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, into Hebrew, due to her stance on the conflict in Palestine. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-12 12:12:35 UTC ]
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Dave Grohl's The Storyteller (Simon & Schuster) has rocked straight into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot in its first week on sale, selling 50,367 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-12 01:06:45 UTC ]
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Richard Osman's The Man Who Died Twice (Viking) has notched up a third week running in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 38,439 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-05 18:06:50 UTC ]
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I used the term ‘sensitivity readers’ for the first time the other day, and I immediately felt angry at myself. It’s a concept (or service) that I’ve been involved in for a few years now, and yet only recently have I learned of the now well-established title of the ‘sensitivity reader’ in the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-01 05:57:17 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney has kept the top spot on Bookshop.org's Indie Champions chart for a second month, with Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-01 03:17:27 UTC ]
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Novelists Paula Hawkins, Graham Norton and Alex Wheatle are among the authors writing short, accessible titles for the Quick Reads literacy programme for 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-26 23:05:50 UTC ]
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Novelists Nadia Hashimi and Helen Benedict join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the mistakes American writers and culture made in depicting the United States’ wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and President Biden’s decision to pull US... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-23 08:49:21 UTC ]
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The Pointless presenter’s second crime novel, The Man Who Died Twice, has sold 114,202 copies in its first week on saleRichard Osman’s follow-up to The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, has become one of the fastest-selling novels since records began.Published on 16 September, The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-21 14:37:39 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney has done the double as Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) searched out the Bookstat e-book number one spot, the same week it debuted atop the Nielsen BookScan print chart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-15 10:34:29 UTC ]
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The author of The Fortune Men will now compete with five other novelists from South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US for the 2021 awardAlex Clark explores how the Booker shortlist tunes in to the worries of our ageJust one British author has made the shortlist for this year’s Booker prize: Nadifa... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-14 15:25:06 UTC ]
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In its first week on sale, Rooney’s new novel has outsold Jamie Oliver and beaten day-one sales of her previous book Normal People by 1,200% at WaterstonesSally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You has shot to the top of the UK’s book charts, selling more than 40,000 copies in just five... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-14 14:20:14 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) has debuted in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 46,065 copies in its first week on sale, making it the fastest selling Adult Fiction title since sales figures returned in March. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-14 00:26:45 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney’s latest novel Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) is already the biggest-selling hardback fiction title of 2021 at Waterstones after just three days on sale, the chain's m.d. James Daunt has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-10 14:57:27 UTC ]
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“Beautiful World, Where Are You” more than lives up to the promise of its predecessors and even exceeds the hype. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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In her third novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” the Irish author observes her unhappy young protagonists from a notable distance. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-09-10 10:00:00 UTC ]
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