In a month when the entire political landscape seemed to shift hour by hour, there have been some reasons to be cheerful.
This is what cheered up J K Rowling in all the gloom and doom. And could Brexit be a
problem for Amazon?
There’s been some excellent coverage of bookshops in the press, including Faber’s
Stephen Page on the importance of bookshops. Dame
Carol Ann Duffy and a band of poets have been touring Britain’s bookshops in celebration of IBW’s 10th anniversary. WHS and Waterstones are both opening new stores in
Wimbledon. And here are
50 brilliant indies in the UK (obviously other brilliant UK bookshops are also available).
Recent stats from the
German book market show readers are buying more non-fiction and buying more books online.
Barnes & Noble will be offering beer, wine and food in an effort to boost its business after a significant drop in Nook sales dragged down its
trading figures. Is Amazon planning to
open bookstores in US malls and, if so, why?
Maciej Szpunar, advocate general to the Court of Justice of the European Union, says that
electronic books should be treated just like physical books for the purposes of lending. And there’s further evidence falling
ebook sales.
Do you agree with
Ann Patchett’s best 75 books of the last 75 years?
The
Wainwright Prize shortlist has been announced, and The
Glorious Heresies has won a second major prize. David Baddiel is among the winners of the first
Lollies Awards and
Chris Riddel has won his third Kate Greenaway Medal for his beautiful illustrations. More prizes and shortlists here:
The McIlvanney Prize 2016, the 2016 PEN
Ackerley Prize shortlist,
The McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime fiction and
Dead Good Reader Award shortlist (surely the best name ever for a book prize). And a shout out for the BA’s
Independent Bookshop Week Award winners and bookseller Nicki Thornton who won the
Chicken House Children’s Fiction Prize.
With diversity/inclusion a hot topic, here’s an interesting article on diversity in
children’s books with a handy list of the best.
Have you ever wondered exactly what
book bloggers do?
And something romantic to finish on - couples who
found love in bookshops.