Bookselling in Denmark: Prioritizing English Over German, Nonfiction Over Novels?

Publishing Perspectives

A visit to bookstores in Copenhagen reveals a bias toward nonfiction over fiction and translations from America and the UK rather than Denmark’s neighbor, Germany. Denmark and Germany are neighbors and their languages are similar, and considering Germany’s powerhouse literary culture, I expected to see tons of German books. While the two countries share the same imported trends (eg. Jane M. Auel; Jonathan Franzen, though Freedom appeared to have arrived later in Denmark and was still at the zenith of its recent-release arc), the only contemporary German title I saw (and it was everywhere) was AxoLotl Roadkill, a flashy 2010 debut novel tainted by plagiarism. READ MORE >>

Brazilian Bestseller List May 2011 Two titles by Brazilian authors deserve some consideration, both published by Record. A riqueza do mundo is bringing Lya Luft back to the bestselling charts. Mrs. Luft has been a very successful author in Brazil, in both fiction and non-fiction. Her main bestseller was Perdas e Ganhos, a collection of memoirs and short essays published in 2003. She is represented by the Riff Agency.

Happy Fourth of July!: What Is In Your Book Bag this Holiday Weekend? Monday is the 4th of July holiday here in the United States — a weekend for cookouts, fireworks, and if you’re lucky, reading. In the spirit of #FridayReads, we’d like to know what you plan to take with you for the long weekend? Do you spend your holiday’s buried in an easy mystery, a light romance, or a great classic (if you want that, I recommend you head over to Project D, where they are working through Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov)? Let us know what’s in your book bag.

The Divergent Worlds of Book World Prague 2011 A book fair has many faces depending on whether you are a local looking to buy books, a foreigner promoting literary culture, or a “Guest of Honor” country that doesn’t really believe in literature.