AbeBooks' Reading Copy

Our friends at English PEN, an organization devoted to literary freedom, are staging an exciting event later this month when 50 modern first editions are to be auctioned. However, these are no ordinary first editions. All the books have been annotated, usually at length and in great detail, by their authors specially for the ‘First [...]

This afternoon The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  The book was described by the committee as an “exquisitely crafted novel that carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart.” The Orphan [...]

We love the BC Book Prizes here at AbeBooks. Granted, we’re a bit biased, given that we make our headquarters in British Columbia’s capital city (Victoria). But the prizes really are something special, highlighting the best written talent this beautiful province has to offer in seven categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, regional, children’s literature, illustrated children’s [...]

Marjorie Celona – if you haven’t heard the name before, remember you heard it here first, because she is going places. The Victoria, British Columbia-born author is on a launch tour for her debut novel right now. Simply titled Y, the novel has already generated all kinds of literary buzz, earned legions of devoted fans, [...]

Congratulations to Hilary Mantel. As predicted by many, her novel Bring up the Bodies has just been announced in London’s Guildhall as the winner of this year’s £50,000 Man Booker Prize award. This also means that signed copies of Bring Up the Bodies will increase in value very quickly, so jump on it if you [...]

Congratulations to University of Victoria teacher Madeline Sonik, whose collection of personal essays, Afflictions & Departures, has won the ninth annual City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. The collection details Sonik’s childhood stage by stage, relating incidents, feelings and developments to social and current events of the time, with a deep, meaningful understanding and insight [...]

After mobile telecommunications brand Orange announced over the summer that it would no longer be sponsoring the fiction prize they have supported for 17 years, the future of the prize looked questionable. With sponsorship budgets already dedicated elsewhere, organizers were unable to secure a stable funding option in time for the 2013 prize, so happily, [...]

The shortlist has been announced for this year’s Man Booker Prize. The judges went from a list of 145 novels down to just 12 titles for the longlist, down to these six finalists. Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil Swimming Home by Deborah Levy Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel The Lighthouse by Alison Moore Umbrella [...]

The longlist has been announced for this year’s Man Booker Prize. The judges managed to whittle a list of 145 novels down to just 12 titles for the longlist (a task I find simultaneously enviable and overwhelming to contemplate). There was much triumph of new and fresh this year, with four debut novelists making the [...]

Anna Funder’s debut novel All That I Am is the 2012 winner of the Miles Franklin Award. Presented annually since 1957, it is Australia’s most coveted literary prize, recognising excellence in big names and fresh faces alike. And to those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s an excellent starting point to delve into a [...]