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 ]
Another Story Bookshop is focused on social justice and diversity, continuing the mission its founder established over 30 years ago. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-11-09 10:00:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Who doesn’t love an independent bookshop? Think of the Shop Around the Corner in You’ve Got Mail! Think of the Travel Book Co. in Notting Hill! Embryo Concepts in Funny Face! Black Books from the British sitcom of the same name! Think of the real brick-and-mortar bookshop in your own community.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-08 19:34:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson's Pinch of Nom (Bluebird) has sold one million copies to date, with last week's 7,067 copies sold pushing it into seven figures through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-05 13:55:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Valérie Lévy-Soussan, founder of Audiolib, has tracked France’s audiobook market from CDs in the early 2000s to streaming and download formats. The post From Frankfurt’s First Audio Summit: Valérie Lévy-Soussan of France’s Audiolib appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-10-31 05:30:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Independent bookshop Telling Tales has moved aboard a purpose-built canal boat to roam through London's canals and beyond. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-30 00:02:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The soon-to-launch platform aims to give booksellers an edge against the e-tail giant. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Almost 6,000 copies of Girl, Woman, Other sold in the week after Evaristo’s win alongside Margaret AtwoodBernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other more than doubled its lifetime sales in the week following its Booker prize win, with joint winner The Testaments by Margaret Atwood also flying off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-22 16:25:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The only store in Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, to exclusively sell new books will open on 26th October. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-21 06:24:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The head of Otava Publishing, one of Finland’s largest books beasts as well as an owner of its biggest bookshop chain, says the domestic market has been ‘bipolar’—but reckons new formats present a massive opportunity for brave publishers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-18 03:01:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth (Penguin/David Fickling) has maintained its number one spot in the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top 20 for a second week, while the current UK Official Top 50 number one through Nielsen BookScan's TCM, Bill Bryson's The Body (Transworld), also held... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-15 17:51:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth (Penguin/David Fickling) has soared 15 places to top the Amazon Charts Most-Sold: Fiction chart, in the same week it sold 54,301 copies in hardback through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 20:59:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Ahead of Bookshop Day, bookshop owner Sarah Dennis highlights what makes independent bookshops special. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-04 03:15:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Retailers are gearing up for a bumper Super Thursday ahead of this Saturday's Bookshop Day 2019 when events will be taking place up and down the country. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-03 08:58:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
ONE DAY IN a Los Angeles bookshop in the mid-1970s, a thick City Lights softcover with a stark black-and-white spine magnetized a suburban adolescent’s eyeballs. “BUKOWSKI” the cover read at the top in big block letters, and at the bottom, in smaller letters: “Erections, Ejaculations,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-01 17:00:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments (Vintage) has spent a third week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 23,078 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-01 11:27:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Jeffrey Archer, Marian Keyes and Stacey Halls were among the authors at this year's Bertrams Christmas conference which saw Abingdon indie Mostly Books win bookshop of the year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-30 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Independent bookseller Topping & Co will open a new bookshop in central Edinburgh this weekend. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-25 21:51:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World” is a scathing critique of her country’s cultural hypocrisy. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-25 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Booker Prize has reassured readers the £50,000 literary award has “not yet been decided” – after a bookshop mistakenly branded copies of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments with a “winner” sticker. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-17 10:52:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this