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 ]
GT Karber’s book of challenges beats Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die and Guinness World Records to top spotThe murder mystery puzzle book Murdle by US writer GT Karber has climbed the UK bestsellers chart to become this year’s Christmas No 1 book, beating Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-12-20 14:30:03 UTC ]
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'Publishers Weekly' is proud to recognize Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, and Charley Rejsek, CEO of BookPeople in Austin, as our 2023 People of the Year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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A founder of the St. Mark’s Bookshop in the East Village, he prided himself on stocking titles that were not “too popular” and stayed in business for four decades. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-23 01:12:36 UTC ]
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To celebrate the launch of the new Guardian Long Read magazine this week, join the Long Read editor David Wolf in discussion with regular contributors Sophie Elmhirst and Samanth Subramanian• The Guardian Long Read magazine is available to order now• The best stories take time. The Guardian Long... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-11-15 05:00:09 UTC ]
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12 Books for Tolerance and Understanding (2023), by The Editors of WLT Lit Lists [email protected] Tue, 11/14/2023 - 14:07 For years, a prognostication by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe appeared on the masthead page of World Literature Today: “These... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-11-14 20:07:42 UTC ]
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I first heard of Willa Cather as a teenage bookseller in North Denver, at a new, used, rare, and antiquarian bookshop that had once been a mechanic’s garage. At the bookstore, there was an entire section of Cather’s famous works, which I had labeled meticulously with colored markers on scraps of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-14 10:00:45 UTC ]
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Sarah Anderson, who founded the Travel Bookshop in London before becoming a writer and painter, discusses the value of quiet in 'The Lost Art of Silence' (Shambhala, Dec.). Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City doubles down on supporting Drag Story Hours following a bomb threat, and is preparing to launch a new venture, Mosaics Community Bookstore and Venue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The SA Book Awards program bases its shortlist on the bestseller date of Nielsen BookScan in a program now 23 years old. The post Winners in the South Africa Book Awards: Voted for by Booksellers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-10-05 17:18:44 UTC ]
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Lydia Davis’ new collection Our Strangers, is available now from Bookshop Editions, so we asked her a few questions about her writing, reading, and more. How do you tackle writer’s block? I don’t really have writer’s block anymore. When I first started out, I certainly did just sit there... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-02 09:00:46 UTC ]
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After a long run with weekly sales ahead of 2022, unit sales of adult fiction titles were down 0.2% in the year-to-date after sales fell last week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The co-owner of San Francisco's Bookshop West Portal and founder of onetime Bay Area bookselling staple A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, died on September 6. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow overtook titles by David Walliams and Colleen Hoover to become the UK’s number one bestseller. The author, booksellers and fans reflect on how it became a literary phenomenonTomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’s distinctive cover, with its image of Hokusai’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-11 10:00:35 UTC ]
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Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto, Patrick deWitt’s The Librarianist, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * Fiction 1. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 09:07:50 UTC ]
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In 2009, two bookshops a week were closing in the UK and the days of physical books seemed numbered. Now, indie stores are booming. What explains the turnaround – and can it be sustained?When Sarah Mullen was asked to set up a children’s book festival in a leafy suburb of Birmingham in 2012, she... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-27 09:00:32 UTC ]
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Jerusalem's Educational Bookshop has focused on Palestinian literature and nonfiction since its first location opened in 1984. The post Jerusalem’s Educational Bookshop at 39 Years: ‘The Palestinian Point of View’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-07-11 18:34:49 UTC ]
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Harry Potter publisher says in challenging economic times books are seen as cheap form of entertainmentBloomsbury Publishing, the home of Harry Potter, has revealed a rise in annual sales as it said people were turning to books as a cheap form of entertainment as finances were squeezed.Sales of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-31 13:38:54 UTC ]
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From family sagas that span decades to memoirs about chasing the American dream, these 6 AAPI must-reads hit bookshop shelves this May. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-18 13:00:16 UTC ]
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At Edmonds Bookshop in the historic town center of Edmonds, Wash., Michelle Bear refers to herself not as the owner but as “the most recent and honored caretaker.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Internet is abuzz over a forthcoming nonfiction book, a 544-page memoir (including 40 full-color photographs) slated to be published by Flatiron on July 9th. Why? Because The Internet thinks it was probably written by Taylor Swift. It all started when the owner of indie bookshop Good... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-08 16:47:07 UTC ]
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