From tales of alienation to comforting novels set in bookshops, Japanese authors have written nearly half of this year’s bestselling translated novels in the UK. What’s their secret?• Read an an exclusive Q&A with Haruki MurakamiAnyone who has been in a bookshop in the last few years will have noticed that Japanese fiction is experiencing an extraordinary boom. In 2022, figures from Nielsen BookScan showed that Japanese fiction represented 25% of all translated fiction sales in the UK. The dominance is even more striking this year: figures obtained by the Guardian show that, of the top 40 translated fiction titles for 2024 so far, 43% are Japanese, with Asako Yuzuki’s satirical, socially conscious crime novel Butter topping the list. Butter also won the breakthrough author award at this year’s Books Are My Bag readers awards, which are curated by booksellers and voted for by the public.The popularity of modern Japanese fiction is not a new phenomenon in the UK, of course. In the 1990s, two writers broke through and became cult hits in this country. Haruki Murakami, a worldwide literary phenomenon, took off in Britain when Harvill Press published The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle in 1998. Scott Pack, who ran Waterstones’ buying team in the early 2000s, is a big Murakami fan and remembers giving him “lots of attention. Whatever books of his came out, we got massively behind.” This week, Murakami publishes his 15th novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls, about a man who travels... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-11-23 09:00:37 UTC ]
The Swiss-themed town of Midway is now home to Folklore Bookshop. Co-owned by children’s author Lindsey Leavitt, Audrey Lind, and Alison Russell, Folklore welcomed customers on October 5 and held a grand opening October 26. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-12-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers chose true-crime inspired Butter by Asako Yuzuki as book of the year, while Ross Montgomery’s fun adventure I Am Rebel took the children’s prizeA novel about a serial killer and a children’s book about a dog are the books of 2024, according to Waterstones booksellers.Butter by Asako... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-11-28 06:01:34 UTC ]
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From tales of alienation to comforting novels set in bookshops, Japanese authors have written nearly half of this year’s bestselling translated novels in the UK. What’s their secret?• Read an an exclusive Q&A with Haruki MurakamiAnyone who has been in a bookshop in the last few years will... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-11-23 09:00:37 UTC ]
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On the afternoon of 18 March 2018 my family and I visited Book Soup in West Hollywood, CA. We had arrived in town earlier that day, having driven down from the Bay Area, and walked to the bookshop from our hotel. My wife and daughter, who was almost three at the time, went to the … The post On... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2024-10-24 17:05:10 UTC ]
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Former prime minister’s heavily promoted book, Unleashed, just hung on to No 1 bestseller spot in UKSales of Boris Johnson’s memoir, Unleashed, have slumped by 62% in its second week since publication.The heavily marketed tome, promoted in a prolonged media round by the former prime minister in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-10-24 14:17:36 UTC ]
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A total of 46 books—23 fiction titles and 23 nonfiction titles—have made the longlist for the American Library Association’s 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, the association’s adult book award. The six-title shortlist will be announced on November 12. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In the Central Eastside Industrial District of Portland, Ore., Patrick Leonard has opened Postcard Bookshop, a store featuring global literature and culture, children’s titles, and sidelines including journals and games for people on the move. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake, and Richard Powers’ Playground all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) 14 Rave • 7... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-09-27 08:59:28 UTC ]
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A party supported by pals who made it through rush hour rain was appropriate for an anthology celebrating female friendshipNervous as I am of organising parties, I could hardly have launched a book about friendship without throwing one. And so it was that last Tuesday night, I found myself in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 15:00:31 UTC ]
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Jo Hamya’s The Hypocrite, Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky, Yoko Ogawa’s Mina’s Matchbox all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya (Pantheon) 6 Rave • 8 Positive “Glides... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-30 08:56:43 UTC ]
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Bookshop gets into used books, guessing the 2024 NBA Long List for Fiction, and a couple of real bummer stories in today's book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-08-28 21:45:13 UTC ]
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From fairy porn to romantasy via the Omegaverse, publishing is sexier than ever. The reason? A big shift in gen Z and millennial attitudes to respectability and shame ...I spent a fortnight reading nothing but smut and I don’t need to give you a reason. But since there is one, here it is:... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-08-06 04:00:33 UTC ]
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Founded in 2013, Letters Bookshop in Durham, N.C., is transforming from a privately owned business to a community-supported cooperative, selling shares for $116, in an aim to sustain the store in amid a challenging retail environment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Kevin Barry’s The Heart in Winter, Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-07-31 12:18:55 UTC ]
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I love it when a text centers the dynamics of conversation. In my own life, talking to others gets me out of my head, and introduces me to possibilities I would never have dreamed of alone. I think of a quote by the activist Valerie Kaur, which my local bookshop has printed on some of […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-06-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Adam Higginbotham’s Challenger, Daniel Handler’s And Then? and Then? What Else?, and Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-05-31 08:57:50 UTC ]
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Bookshop and arts centre run by Salmon Poetry is saved from closure after raising more than €60,000 from 700 individualsA bookshop and arts centre run by a prominent Irish poetry publisher has been saved from closure after a GoFundMe campaign raised more than €60,000 – enough to buy new premises... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-13 15:18:10 UTC ]
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5 Questions for Ethel Rohan, by Michelle Johnson Interviews [email protected] Tue, 04/16/2024 - 08:28 Ethel Rohan’s second novel, Sing, I, was published by TriQuarterly Books on April 15. The novel’s heroine, Ester Prynn, works in a convenience... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-16 13:28:17 UTC ]
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During the summer of 1896, a poster of a redheaded woman riding a bicycle appeared in bookshop windows and newsstands in cities across the United States. Sporting a fashionable outfit, the cyclist gazes blankly beyond the viewer, seeming to exert little effort. Though her body occupies most of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-03 08:55:47 UTC ]
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