AbeBooks' Reading Copy

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 [...]

In an August, 2012 blog post titled “Top ten books parents think children should read“, The Telegraph discussed a survey conducted by the University of Worcester in which 2000 adults were queried as to what books they felt most important to pass on to future generations to read. The #1, most-often mentioned title was Charles [...]

Are you looking for ideas for the best literary halloween costumes? Book-themed costumes can be classy and clever and great for a theme, but hard to come up with. Costumes from books also often seem to require a lot of detail to be recognizable. If you’re looking for ideas for bookish costumes for this halloween, [...]

Happy 75th birthday to the Governor General’s Awards, which began in 1937 as literary awards only. Contemporarily, the title is an umbrella for a collection of annual awards recognizing and rewarding excellence in a variety of artistic and academic categories. Back in 1937, the first Governor General’s Literary Award came into being under Lord Tweedsmuir [...]

We thought we’d help put a little spring in your step this Friday morning, with these 11 dance books from times gone by – Charleston, Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango or even Black Bottom your way through your day today. Cha-cha-cha! (Some of these appear to be sheet music – be sure to read the description before [...]

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 [...]

Brenna Martin, an 18-year-old living in Kenly, North Carolina, just graduated from high school. Upon graduation, her father Bryan Martin gave her a gift: a copy of the Dr. Seuss classic Oh, The Places You’ll Go!. For those unfamiliar with the book, it is entirely characteristic of Seuss in terms of rhyme and scansion and [...]

One of my colleagues called me over to show off his new coasters. Made by outofprintclothing.com, it’s a set of 8 water-resistant, gorgeous coasters of classic book covers. The set includes Catch-22, Invisible Man, On the Road, Lolita, Brave New World, Pride & Prejudice, Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles. I’m not sure [...]

May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada, and the CBC has a selection of excellent Asian-Canadian novels, compiled by CBC producer and Asian-Canadian history enthusiast Adrian Ma. His list includes a few I’ve read and many I haven’t, and one of my favourite books of all time, The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy. Tales from [...]

A Salesman’s Sample Case of children’s books from 1901.