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 days in quarantine would all blend together if it weren’t for Tuesday, which is the day new books hit the (now metaphorical) shelves. Here are a few of the titles dropping today. You can get them from your local indie and/or Bookshop (which, by the way, has now raised over one million... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-28 13:57:38 UTC ]
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The independent bookstore e-commerce site Bookshop.org has seen a 2,000% increase in sales in the last month and has become a lifeline for many stores that have been temporarily closed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet despite its apparent success, the site has skeptics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors' Club has launched new digital initiative LitFest Online in response to the cancellation of festivals and bookshop events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-22 02:33:41 UTC ]
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David Walliams' Slime (HarperCollins Children's) has leapfrogged Mrs Hinch's The Little Book of Lists (Michael Joseph) at the top of the UK Official Top 50 through Nielsen BookScan's TCM, for the comedian-turned-author's 57th week atop the chart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-14 13:04:11 UTC ]
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I don’t know who needs to hear this, but today is Tuesday. The only way I know that today is Tuesday is because all these new books are coming out today! So get excited, stay inside, order any of these titles from Bookshop if you’re so inclined, and maybe #BuyGiftCards to support your local... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-07 14:00:24 UTC ]
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Last week, six new adult fiction titles were among NPD BookScan's top 50 print bestsellers. Three weeks ago, 15 new releases made the top 50 list. The situation was similar for new adult nonfiction titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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We’ve already brought your attention to the ways you can help bookstores (and bookstore workers) during the coronavirus pandemic, and here’s another one: a collective of recently laid-off booksellers has started an online storefront at Bookshop.org (in case you missed it, Bookshop is the new... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-25 15:14:23 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light (Fourth Estate) has held the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a third week running, selling 30,280 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-23 20:03:58 UTC ]
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The impact of the coronavirus has seen the Booksellers Association issue a rallying cry to the trade, as many publishers enforce home working to safeguard staff. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-19 23:39:55 UTC ]
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Bookshop.org, an alternative to Amazon that shares proceeds from book sales with independent bookstores, will give more money to those stores in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on small businesses. Bookshop announced today that it would increase bookstore partners’ affiliate... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-18 15:09:12 UTC ]
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Toby Ferris traveled across Europe to see all of the Dutch Renaissance painter’s surviving work. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-11 18:07:05 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light (Fourth Estate) has held the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top spot for a second week, the same week the eagerly awaited title sold 95,141 copies across all print editions through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-10 16:43:19 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Children’s Books has landed two young fiction titles from Philippa Gregory, build on the fairytale world of The Princess Rules. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 09:19:23 UTC ]
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Indie bookshops are cashing in on a pre-order boom for Hilary Mantel’s new book and are hosting everything from midnight openings to silent discos this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 15:13:26 UTC ]
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Ruth Jones will be embarking on a UK tour to celebrate the publication of her new novel Us Three in a collaboration between Fane and Transworld. The tour, combining a Fane-produced theatre tour with bookshop events organised by Transworld, will comprise seven dates across the UK. It begins at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-28 11:07:04 UTC ]
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Button & Bear children’s bookshop in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has been forced to close today (Wednesday 25th February) owing to rising floodwaters. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-25 14:31:43 UTC ]
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Bookshop Santa Cruz in California and Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona, have partnered in a drive to register Arizona voters and persuade them to vote Democrat in this year's presidential election. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Could a bespoke book subscription service break you out of your reading rut or encourage you to explore new genres?Heywood Hill bookshop has stood on the same spot since 1936. It inhabits a Georgian townhouse at 10 Curzon Street in Mayfair, London, a blue plaque outside commemorating its most... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A pair of Prosecco-drinking burglars have been sentenced after police caught the two men knocking back alcohol during a break-in at Gay's the Word bookshop. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-13 04:34:38 UTC ]
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Just a month into 2020 and my wishlist is already straining under the weight of all the new titles I’m looking forward to being published. Maybe it’s working in a bookshop or the concentrated effort I’ve been making to retreat into a fantasy-bubble when I’m at home, but I’ve found myself excited... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-03 09:50:09 UTC ]
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