written by Lynn ABC’s co-founder Mitch Crossfield and most of our male staff in the early years were gay. That’s because Amsterdam was open, as opposed to Belgium and Spain, where homosexuality was still forbidden, so Mitch was able to hire gay booksellers from Amsterdam’s teeming population. Bookseller Harry displayed several [...]
written by Maria We’ve all heard of wine and food pairings. But how about books and tunes? Listening to music while reading is one of my favorite pastimes; it really amplifies the immersion, especially when a scene is exciting and the music fits it perfectly. If all you want to do [...]
The Circus Infinite is Khan Wong’s debut novel. Published in March 2022, it has a complicated intergalactic setting that includes different species and heritages. The main character has a unique ability, and after being extensively studied, he decides to run away to the “pleasure moon,” where he encounters a circus. [...]
The ABC was once again selling books and other merchandise at Elfia. Elfia is an outdoor event/market where people from all around the Netherlands attend in beautiful costumes to browse the goods, drink mead (honey wine), and dance to folk music. The event was held in April at the Castle de [...]
It’s that time of the year again: the winners of the prestigious Pulitzer awards for achievements in literature were recently announced! Let’s take a look. Fiction The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in The History of a Very Famous Family [...]
written by Lília Annie M.G. Schmidt is best known for her children’s book was born on May 20th, and in the Netherlands, this day is celebrated with many activities in schools and libraries. The celebration might be in Dutch, but we think she deserves a space here too since some of [...]
As we celebrate 50 years of ABC, we’ve asked some people that have been working with us as publishing house representatives to share their insights into the funny world that is publishing and bookselling. Today we have Account Sales Manager Pauline Konink, who has been working at Random House UK [...]
We recently celebrated our 50th anniversary with ABC on a lovely sunny Saturday. It was a day filled with an extra 10% discount on all stock, hidden Golden bookmarks to win amazing prizes, live music, seventies-inspired cake, and not to forget a lot of champagne. The festivities don't end here though, [...]
Stubbornly independent: The American Book Center celebrates 50 years of bookselling! In 1972, Sam Boltansky and Mitch Crossfield opened up a bargain bookstore next to Madame Tussaud’s in Amsterdam, selling remainder books and magazines that came from America. Lynn Buller, a fellow American, joined them while on vacation from her home in Minnesota [...]
Interview: A Story On the EBM machine Hi María! Thank you for taking the time to chat about yourself and our famous EBM Betty. Before we jump into who Betty is, I think our readers would also love to get to know you better. Could you tell me something about yourself? [...]
