AbeBooks' Reading Copy

American author David Sedaris does not like China or the Chinese. He penned this essay (called Chicken Toenails anyone?) for The Guardian earlier this month. And now a fan of Chinese origin is becoming a former fan rather fast – here is Jeff Yang’s essay in the San Francisco Chronicle. I’ll let you decide where [...]

Our latest feature on AbeBooks is about the English illustrator Ronald Searle, whose artistic career began as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II. He endured horrific conditions and yet produced remarkable sketches. After the War, he went on to create St. Trinian’s, home to the world’s wickedest schoolgirls, and illustrate many books, [...]

The Guardian tells me that Tête-bêche books are making a comeback thanks a couple of publishers who are both releasing books in this intriguing format. This writer is quite specific in separating Dos-à-dos from Tête-bêche but in used and rare bookselling terms it appears the two terms have merged somewhat. Here’s our feature from earlier [...]

The blog at Bon Appétit magazine asks do you have your Grandma’s first cookbook? I don’t but judging by the comments on this post a few people do. My grandmother used to jot her best (customised) recipes on down on small pieces of paper and tuck them inside the covers of a few cookery books. [...]

A selection of beautiful old vintage Penguin book covers in all the colors of the rainbow.

The Daily Telegraph carries a piece by Stephen King where the American author writes about how he drew inspiration from William Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies. The book acted as a bridge between books for kids and adult fiction for him, but I’ll let Stephen King explain. It’s a good read about reading. [...]

A classic small press operating from of a bedroom in Scotland is basking in the glow of having a novel on this year’s Booker Prize longlist, reports The Independent. Sandstone Press has only been around for nine years and has only published seven novels. Their book is The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers, [...]

Beth offers her review of Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart, which has seen lots of positive reviews and coverage earlier this year. The blurb is…. In the near future, America is crushed by a financial crisis and our patient Chinese creditors may just be ready to foreclose on the whole [...]

A lady called Diane Plumley has written at the Bookshop blog about how she discovered The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield after reading an AbeBooks feature on twins in literature. Hurrah!

The longlist for the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has just been announced. A few big names on there – Barnes, Barry, Hollinghurst. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan [...]