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The Safekeep

An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge - for readers of Patricia Highsmith, Sarah Waters and Ian McEwan's Atonement. It's 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is well and truly over. Living alone in her late mother's country home, Isabel's life is as it should be: led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel's doorstep-as a guest, there to stay for the season . . .

Lilia2025-02-12T17:28:18+01:00Tags: Book review, Book Reviews, Dutch Fiction, General Fiction, Molly Quell, Yael van der Wouden|

Witchy books for your Halloween

This year we’re spotlighting mostly witchy books during the Halloween period, and we’ve asked a couple of colleagues to come up with their choices of titles where witches are the main characters. Emma's Choices Cackle by Rachel Harrison Get yourself a cup [...]

Lilia2024-10-21T12:15:10+02:00Tags: ABC Staff Picks, Alix E. Harrow, Arthur Miller, Best of Lists, Damla, Dark Fantasy, EmmaV, Ering Sterling, Fantasy, Halloween, Heather Fawcett, Language Arts and Disciplines, Literary Criticism, Plays, Rachel Harrison, Romantasy, Sharon Lynn Fischer, Stickers, Taisia Kitaiskaia, Witches, Witchy books|

Blind Book Dates

By Sophie. One of the more popular things we sell, across all three ABCs, are our Blind Book Dates, or BBDs, as we call them. (Technically they should of course be called "Blind Date with a Book", but why use that when you can use a TLA, right?) A BBD is a [...]

Sophie2024-10-26T17:30:17+02:00Tags: ABC Amsterdam, ABC Leidschendam, ABC The Hague, BBD, Blind Book Date, Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Sophie, YA fiction|

ABC Interview: Damla

We decided to play the Q&A game with the ABC staff, and asked all sorts of bookish questions. In the coming weeks we will be posting their (sometimes cheeky!) answers here on the blog, so you can learn a little more about us. Enjoy! This time around we talk to Damla, one [...]

Lilia2024-09-23T10:39:36+02:00Tags: ABC, ABC interview, Book nooks, Damla, Haruki Murakami, Italo Calvino, V.E.Schwab|

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in sub-zero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to explore neighbouring exoplanets long suspected to harbour life.

Lilia2025-02-12T17:28:23+01:00Tags: Becky Chambers, Book review, Book Reviews, Iris, IrisW, Isabelle, Science Fiction|

Educated: A Memoir

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Lilia2025-02-12T17:28:25+01:00Tags: Book review, Book Reviews, Damla, Memoirs, Tara Westover|

Series Spotlight: The Five Packs by Cate C. Wells

By Lília It’s always a bit weird to start a book with “rejected mate” in the title, but this series is quite entertaining and much deeper than its titles suggest. Cate C. Wells has created an interesting world and lore with this series, in which wolf changelings are a reality but [...]

Lilia2024-10-09T17:47:30+02:00Tags: Cate C. Wells, Fated Mates, Five Packs series, Lília, Romantasy, Series Spotlight|

ABC Interview: Steven

We decided to play the Q&A game with the ABC staff, and asked all sorts of bookish questions. In the coming weeks we will be posting their (sometimes cheeky!) answers here on the blog, so you can learn a little more about us. Enjoy! This time around we talk to Steven, our [...]

Lilia2024-10-04T12:32:03+02:00Tags: ABC, ABC interview, Armistead Maupin, Boardgames, Brandon Sanderson, David Sedaris, Douglas Adams, Falkor, Fantasy, Gay and Happy, General Non-Fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien, Juvenile Fiction, Michael Ende, Michale Ende, Science Fiction, Steven, Steven van Lijnden|

Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature

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 [...]

Sophie2024-10-10T17:20:41+02:00Tags: Bookbits, Fiction, Nobel Prize Winner, Prize winners, Translated Fiction|

Author Spotlight: India Holton

By Naomi One day I picked up a book from a new-to-me author, with a gorgeous cover and a wacky premise. I fell in love with reading all over again. I don’t know what India Holton puts in her books (actually, I do know, and I’ll talk about it below), but [...]

Naomi2024-09-13T16:34:34+02:00Tags: India Holton, Naomi, Romantasy|

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