by Sophie Congratulations to Samantha Harvey, who won this year's Booker Prize for Orbital! Chair of this year's judging panel, Edmund de Waal, had this to say about the book: "[...] Sometimes you encounter a book and cannot work out how this miraculous event has happened. As judges we were determined to [...]
by Sophie A special day today: it's my daughter's birthday! (If you thought I was going to talk about the U.S. Elections, see below.) - First up: ABC's co-director Martijn was a guest on the Bookshop Podcast! Listen here to hear what he has to say about working in the best [...]
by Sophie Aaand 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 Fiction [...]
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, always [...]
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 went [...]
by Sophie 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 [...]
by Sophie 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 [...]
by Sophie I hope everyone who celebrates had a lovely Easter and Holi, and a wonderful Eid al-Fitr to come next week to all who celebrate that! What do South Africa's former first couple, Black inexpression, and Uyghur poets have in common? Books about or by them were all National Book [...]
by Sophie Let's start with bookish events in the country: Natali Simmonds hosts a resilience in writing workshop at ABC Amsterdam on 8 March, our Book Chats book club meets in Amsterdam on 22 March to discuss Scorched Grace, Emily Hund presents her book The Influencer Industry at the John [...]
by Sophie Let's start off with some award winners: this year's Newbery Medal (for best US children's book, basically) was won by Dave Eggers for The Eyes and the Impossible (illustrated by Shawn Harris). The Caldecott Medal (for best illustrations of a children's book) was awarded to Vashti Harrison for Big. [...]
