In celebrating World Book Day, thousands of children around the globe dress up in costumes. In a piece at BBC.co.uk, Dominic Casciani raises a concern that there is too much focus on the commercialised aspects of the day — costumes, plastic figurines, flamboyant parties and the like — and not enough where it should be: on books.
Dressing Up for World Book Day Read More »
The Chinese are snapping up copies of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, a title which (reportedly) took eight years to translate. The original print run of 8,000 copies were sold in less than a month, after a Beijing marketing blitz promoted the title on billboards across the city.
Finnegans Wake a Surprise Hit in China Read More »
We should say from the start, this is not passing judgment in any way on the books behind these truly awful covers captured for (digital) posterity at the Lousy Book Covers tumblr.
The mass-migration to digital books continued in 2012, as sales of printed books fell by £74 million, according to Nielsen BookScan. It was only wildfire sales of EL James’ Fifty Shades trilogy which slowed the rate of decline to 4.6% over 2011 sales of printed books.
Book Sales Rise but Revenue Down in 2012 Read More »
Consider it another front on the battle of the e-readers. An eagle-eyed Barnes & Noble customer in the US spotted a distinctly disturbing change in the text of his digital copy of Tolstoy’s classic War & Peace: several words throughout the book had been replaced, namely the words “kindle” had been replaced by “Nook”.
Tolstoy Text in Sneaky Switcheroo Read More »
The Sisters Brothers was the most popular book on LoveliestBookGroup.com in 2012, followed by We Need to Talk About Kevin and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont.
The Sisters Brothers Tops LBG.com Traffic Read More »
Sarah Waters’ wonderful 2006 tale of forbidden love in the shadows before and after Blitz Britain, The Night Watch, earned the top spot in the list of favourite titles read this year by the Loveliest Book Group, according to a December 2012 survey of current members.
A Rising Tide: Waters Reigns in 2012 Read More »
In the wake of the furore surrounding the 2011 Man Booker Prize, we were curious to see how the panel would respond: would it play safe and select well-known names? Or bravely explore new authors?
New Names in Man Booker Prize Shortlist Read More »
There’s nothing that gets a good book group discussion going than fundamental and passionate disagreement, and apparently Stylist Magazine has compiled a list of the Top 20 books that seem to get our juices going, one way or the other.
Top 20 Books to Argue About Read More »
According to reports, Apple is considering replacing the former mobile operator Orange as the key sponsor of the prestigous Orange Prize for Fiction recognising novels written by women.
Is Apple the New Orange? Read More »
