Pages & Proofs

There’s nothing like a Pulitzer Prize to boost book sales. Following the Pulitzer announcements on April 18th, winning titles skyrocketed to the top of the bestsellers’ list. Number 2 on our list of bestselling signed books is Custer’s Trials, the Pulitzer Prize winner in the History category. Fiction winner The Sympathizer appears at number six, […]

Located in Webster, New York, AbeBooks bookseller Yesterday’s Muse offers a everything from American and military history books, to literature and finely illustrated editions. Owner Jonathan Smalter is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), the association that represents the nation’s finest booksellers. He is a 2011 graduate of the Colorado Antiquarian Book […]

March saw the passing of prolific American writer Pat Conroy (1945-2016), author of The Prince of Tides and Beach Music, and author Jim Harrison (1937-2016) who was known for his poetry, essays, and reviews. Harrison’s last collection of stories, The Ancient Minstrel, was published on March 1st. Both authors leave a legacy of beloved books behind, […]

Another month has come and gone, which means it’s time to look at AbeBooks’ bestselling signed books! January’s biggest signed sellers are a mixture of brand new books (My Name is Lucy Barton), award winners (A Brief History of Seven Killings), page-turners (Rogue Lawyer) and books on the big screen (Room). 1. M Train by Patti […]

1. Beatlebone by Kevin Barry 2. Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson 3. Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham 4. Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving 5. M Train by Patti Smith 6. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 7. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem 8. The Witches: Salem, 1692 by […]

The judges have announced the 2015 shortlist for the Man Booker Prize and the list is full of interesting choices. The judges commented on the different writing styles, the literary backgrounds of the writers and the cultural heritage. The list includes both new and well known, established authors including Tom McCarthy and Anne Tyler. The […]

It sounds like the stuff of nightmares, like it must be invented by a tortured imagination. But Locked-in Syndrome is a real affliction, a rare neurological disorder. It is characterized by total paralysis of muscles throughout the body, excepting the muscles that allow for eye movement. South African man Martin Pistorius – whose 2012 book […]

And now, for something completely different….when’s the last time you had a good dose of weird? The Weird Book Room has been updated again and has more titles than ever. It’s an uplifting experience to visit the WBR and frolic about in the weirdness. The Weird Book of the Week this time around is Do-It-Yourself […]

Literary Canada is a happy place right now.  Alice Munro, a Canadian legend of literature, has the Nobel Prize for Literature tucked in her back pocket along with a chunk of Krona. The 82-year-old, famous for writing short stories, is the13th woman to receive the prize and first real Canadian (because Saul Bellow doesn’t count […]

When I was in Atlanta, Georgia in October, our friends took us for dinner at Pizzeria Vesuvius (damn fine pizza). When I went to the bathroom towards the back of the restaurant, I saw there was a bookcase against one wall – which then swung open, and a guy emerged. Behind the bookshelf was a […]