Congratulations to Han Kang, who is this year's Nobel Prize laureate for the Literature category! We all probably know her from her International Booker Prize winning The Vegetarian, and thankfully since then quite a few of her other works have been translated into English as well. The Nobel Prize jury lauded [...]
By Sophie. AAAaaand the Bookbits are back, after my vacation last month. ^^ - Let's start off with a great interview by Booker Prize shortlisted Rachel Kushner which immediately made me want to read Creation Lake. - If you like to discover new writing talent, check out these 10 Promising New [...]
By Sophie. One of the perks of being a bookseller is that sometimes you get invited to things like the Amsterdam Book Event, hosted by Van Ditmar Books. This year Bruna and Tiemen from the Amsterdam team and Naomi, Júlia, and myself from the The Hague/Leidschendam team were the lucky ones. [...]
Writtten by Sophie. I am currently in Olympics heaven! They are always the highlight of every 4th summer for me. Hope you are enjoying all the amazing feats of sportmanship as well! And a note: no Bookbits next month, as I'll be on vacation. Longlists! The Booker Dozen has been announced, [...]
Written by Sophie. Ursula K. Le Guin, 2016, picture by William Anthony. If you've ever seen my Staff Choice list, or any of my recent Top 5s, you'll know I'm a huge Ursula K. Le Guin stan. There's just something about her fantasy and her social science fiction stories [...]
By Sophie. Hey there folks! I hope you're enjoying the summer as much as I am, now that it's finally here. :-) First off, awards. The Women's Prize for Fiction was handed out to Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshanathan. This year also saw the inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, which [...]
R.I.P. Alice Munro, who died on May 13th. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. For Independent Bookstore Day in the US (sadly no longer celebrated here on account of King's Day/Memorial Day/Liberation Day all happening then too), the president of children's book publisher Nosy Crow decided to visit [...]
After a year and a half of autumn, the sun and the warmth are beginning to show their faces, and I, for one, couldn't be happier! For me, summer is the ultimate reading time: the sunlight, the long days, the birdsong - it all whispers "find a shady spot, wiggle your [...]
The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family - the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors - hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace. But that god cannot be contained forever.
R.I.P. Paul Auster, who died on 30 April of complications from lung cancer. NPR is one of the many sites with an obituary, and The Guardian gathered tributes by fellow authors. Awards! The Pulitzer Prizes were awarded last night, and the honorees are: Nightwatch (Fiction), Primary Trust (Drama), No Right to [...]
