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Alan Bradley interview

Richard Davies — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:38:41 +0000

I don’t read many mysteries. Perhaps five in my entire life and one of them was The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, which I read at the end of January. Alan is a 70-year-old Canadian in possession of a six-book deal stretching across three countries. A late bloomer perhaps? Sweetness is his first novel concerning Flavia de Luce – an 11-year-old sleuth attempting to solve a stamp-related murder. It won an award before it was even published. Reviews are very positive and I enjoyed the book, which is super readable. AbeBooks interviewed Alan this week and you can read more about how he has taken the mystery scene by storm.

I loved this story about his childhood reading habits….

“It was grade nine and I was in English class. The teacher asked us how many books we had read over the summer, starting with one book and then two to 10 books. By the end, I was the only child who hadn’t raised their hand. I was asked how many books I had read and I said: ‘Ninety.’

“I had read one book a day more or less over the summer. I would go the library every week and come back with seven books. The teacher was stricken by what I had said, thought I was lying, and pointed to the door. I went to the principal’s office.”

AbeBooks on Twitter

Richard Davies — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:02:49 +0000

I spent the morning getting signed up on Twitter. As AbeBooks’ resident technophobe (yes, I know I work for an internet company but still….), I have been putting off this day for a long, long time. People have been telling me about Twitter for eons and I’ve smiled politely and quickly changed the subject. Then Shauna at BookFinder went on and I’m not going to let her beat me, especially as I’m supposed to be Abe’s PR person.

My first impression – blimey, people make contact/tweet very quickly. There are some very welcoming folks on there. Lots of publishers too. Lots of book folks. A few authors. I feel I have a lot to learn but I know we heard about John Updike’s death earlier this week through Twitter and that was 15 minutes before Associated Press posted the news. I know Neil Gaiman was twittering about winning the Newbery Award for children’s literature.

There have been several major newspaper articles about Twitter in recent times and I’m sure it’s going to become bigger and bigger, and expand beyond the early adopting tech community.

My next question is how much time should I devote to Twittering?

God, I hope I don’t become addicted. (Find AbeBooks on Twitter here.)

AbeBooks interviews Jen Hadfield

Richard Davies — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:06:24 +0000

Check out our interview with Jen Hadfield, who won the TS Eliot Prize for poetry earlier this month. Life has been whirl for this 30-year-old poet since winning the award in front of a packed house in London. Now she’s back in Shetland and adjusting to life as Britain’s brightest young poet.

Win 25 PG Wodehouse novels

Richard Davies — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:16:38 +0000

Check out our new PG Wodehouse competition on AbeBooks.co.uk for our customers in the UK. Twenty five Wodehouse novels are up for grabs. The books come from the Everyman Wodehouse Collection – the largest collection of P.G. Wodehouse’s works in print. Jeeves, Wooster, Psmith, Mr Mulliner and Lord Emsworth, they are all there.

The dust jackets are amazing – all designed by Andrzej Klimowski, who has an incredible eye for colour. All the books are hardbacks and the competition prize is worth £275. Entering is easy but we do want entrants to tell us the funniest book they have ever read.

If you want to learn more about this great comic author, read our latest Legend of Literature profile.

Book a ride on the Bookride blog

Richard Davies — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:18:14 +0000

The AbeBooks.co.uk Rare Book Room currently features an interview with Nigel Burwood from Any Amount of Books on Charing Cross Road in the heart of London. Any Amount of Books are not just one of London’s finest secondhand bookshops but they are also behind the excellent Bookride blog. Just a couple of days ago, I became completely engrossed in the Bookride blog because it examines a particular collectible book, describes current pricing and what the future holds – more specifically will there be demand and will prices go up or down. The blog is like a secret insight into the business mind of a used bookseller.

Collectible E Nesbit

Richard Davies — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:56:20 +0000

Meanwhile in the Rare Book Room on AbeBooks.co.uk, we have a feature from Rare Book Review magazine about E Nesbit. As a child I never read The Railway Children but I loved The Phoenix and the Carpet.

Collecting photobooks

Richard Davies — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:51:09 +0000

Check out the latest feature in the AbeBooks.com ‘Rare Book Room – collecting modern photobooks written by Scott Brown, editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine. Lots of great recommendations.

Book Club News: Pride and Prejudice

hboulding — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:21:53 +0000

The AbeBooks’ Avid Reader book club is currently reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. We’re having a lively conversation on the AbeBooks’ community forums. It’s a great work of English literature and there’s so much to discuss. New-comers are always welcome.