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 copy of Françoise Frenkel’s No Place to Lay One’s Head that was recently found, I’m told, in Nice, in an Emmaus Companions charity jumble sale, had a curious effect on me. Perhaps because it had been printed in Switzerland in September 1945 for Geneva-based publishers Jeheber. That... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-27 09:49:55 UTC ]
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Sometimes you just have to read between the lines—the felines, that is! There’s something about books and cats that just go together. You’ve probably met your fair share of bookshop cats, but have you ever stumbled into a store looking for A Tale of Two Cities and left with two kitties? Otis and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-16 18:38:25 UTC ]
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An indie bookshop which was the official bookseller of the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival has been replaced by organisers in favour of Waterstones. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 03:02:58 UTC ]
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Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson’s Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light (Bluebird) reigned over the UK Official Top 50 for a fourth week in total, with 51,842 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan’s TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-14 01:31:35 UTC ]
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The new online bookstore intended to benefit indies is nearly ready to go, and will launch January 28. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Coven, an English language bookshop and café in Paris, has fulfilled its crowdfunding goal of around £21,000 to open a store dedicated to "intersectional feminism, engaged literature and ethical hospitality". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-08 16:28:22 UTC ]
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Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson’s Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light (Bluebird) has maintained its UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a second week running and a third week in total, selling 58,614 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-07 12:47:17 UTC ]
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Wakefield indie Rickaro Books will close its bricks and mortar bookshop in March and move its focus to its website selling rare and antique books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-07 01:28:46 UTC ]
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Mary Webber O'Malley of Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Ill., recommends 'The Roxy Letters' by Mary Pauline Lowry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The independent family-run Kennys Bookshop & Art Gallery in Galway, Ireland, is celebrating 80 years in business this year after attributing its success to "innovation and experience". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 04:40:44 UTC ]
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With print books selling 191.6 million units for £1.66bn, 2019 became the print market’s fifth consecutive year of growth and its best since 2010 in value terms, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 20:35:48 UTC ]
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A crowdfunding campaign to create a “feminist safe haven” bookshop in Paris has only a week left to raise the remaining £7,000 needed to secure premises, after securing two-thirds of its financial target. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 16:26:28 UTC ]
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Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson’s Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light (Bluebird) has re-claimed the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, with 44,024 copies sold through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market, as the print market posts 2.4% growth in value for 2019 and a 0.4% bump in volume year on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-30 18:15:33 UTC ]
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A Kickstarter is under way to create a 'feminist safe haven' bookshop in Paris called COVEN to offer English language books, a café and range of events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-20 11:14:17 UTC ]
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When it was announced that the legendary bookshop Le Pont Traversé would definitely close down on the 31st of December in Paris, many French TV stations put in phone calls and tried to convince Josée Comte-Béalu to do a filmed interview. She refused every single one of them. “They are like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-20 09:48:10 UTC ]
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A new independent bookshop has opened in Barnsley, run by a mother and son team who became fed up watching the big chains leave their town. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-19 02:33:27 UTC ]
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George R R Martin has opened an independent bookshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-17 08:15:25 UTC ]
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The Times Literary Supplement has opened a new online shop selling books, prints of its covers and illustrations alongside branded merchandise. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-16 03:59:25 UTC ]
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Earlier today, the employees of the New York City-based indie bookshop McNally Jackson voted to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum says, “We’re proud to welcome the workers of McNally Jackson into our union. Tonight, they showed that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-13 20:10:34 UTC ]
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In “A Bookshop in Berlin,” Françoise Frenkel describes a life devoted to French literature and her escape from the Nazis across occupied France. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-12-12 16:02:39 UTC ]
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