BookBlast Official
@bookblast.org
Home of translation & cultural exchange, book club @hatchards piccadilly, BookBlast Diary reviews, interviews by publishing insider Georgia, Zoe & friends; podcasts; lit executor Estate Lesley Blanch 🔗linktr.ee/bookblast
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Instagram @bookblastofficial
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"The melding of fiction, memoir and history raises questions about the extent to which a novelist fuses the raw material of life with their fertile imagination."
Georgia de Chamberet @bookblast.org admires Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me
bookanista.com/memoir-social-history-and-more/
Georgia de Chamberet @bookblast.org admires Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me
bookanista.com/memoir-social-history-and-more/
Memoir, social history and more
Georgia de Chamberet finds much to admire in Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me, a dual biography of Dickens and the author’s workhouse apprentice ancestor.
bookanista.com
One for your TBR pile folks! A clever, many-layered read by award-winning novelist @nicholasblincoe.bsky.social 💙📚
Updated Post: Three Years on Fire Andrey Kurkov Review bookblast.org/blog/three-y...
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Updated Post: Three Years on Fire Andrey Kurkov Review bookblast.org/blog/three-y...
Updated Post: All the Lights Clemens Meyer Review bookblast.org/blog/all-the...
November 25, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Updated Post: All the Lights Clemens Meyer Review bookblast.org/blog/all-the...
Andrey Kurkov in conversation with Tim Judah. Three Years on Fire. Daunt Books Notting Hill 6.30pm. Sold Out. Superb
November 24, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Andrey Kurkov in conversation with Tim Judah. Three Years on Fire. Daunt Books Notting Hill 6.30pm. Sold Out. Superb
The beautiful bleakness, no exit despair & unflinchingly direct, harsh, claustrophobic East German realities illuminated by Clemens Meyer in All the Lights make for compulsive reading. Published by @andotherstories.bsky.social
bookblast.org/blog/all-the...
bookblast.org/blog/all-the...
All the Lights Clemens Meyer Review | BookBlast®
BookBlast Review by Clem Clement of the new edition out with And Other Stories of All the Lights by Clemens Meyer, translated by Katy Derbyshire. Winner of the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2008
bookblast.org
November 22, 2025 at 11:35 PM
The beautiful bleakness, no exit despair & unflinchingly direct, harsh, claustrophobic East German realities illuminated by Clemens Meyer in All the Lights make for compulsive reading. Published by @andotherstories.bsky.social
bookblast.org/blog/all-the...
bookblast.org/blog/all-the...
Three Years on Fire Andrey Kurkov Review
Andrey Kurkov is widely regarded as the most internationally visible Ukrainian writer of his generation, bridging Ukrainian, Russian-language and Western literary worlds without losing cultural specificity. He challenges Western assumptions and humanises a…
Andrey Kurkov is widely regarded as the most internationally visible Ukrainian writer of his generation, bridging Ukrainian, Russian-language and Western literary worlds without losing cultural specificity. He challenges Western assumptions and humanises a…
Three Years on Fire Andrey Kurkov Review
Andrey Kurkov is widely regarded as the most internationally visible Ukrainian writer of his generation, bridging Ukrainian, Russian-language and Western literary worlds without losing cultural specificity. He challenges Western assumptions and humanises a country that is usually framed through headlines and news bulletins. He has sustained a blend of storytelling mastery, ethical integrity and acute journalistic observation over three decades.
bookblast.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Three Years on Fire Andrey Kurkov Review
Andrey Kurkov is widely regarded as the most internationally visible Ukrainian writer of his generation, bridging Ukrainian, Russian-language and Western literary worlds without losing cultural specificity. He challenges Western assumptions and humanises a…
Andrey Kurkov is widely regarded as the most internationally visible Ukrainian writer of his generation, bridging Ukrainian, Russian-language and Western literary worlds without losing cultural specificity. He challenges Western assumptions and humanises a…
Oh oh oh … all the lonely people connecting with chat bots …anthropomorphising … tech is driving such a wedge between us humans …. not how it was supposed to be once upon a time 😵💫
As @damonberes.com writes in @theatlantic.com, Big Tech companies are basically porting over their social media business models into generative AI.
Once again, they’re betting we will trade our attention and data for the promise of connection.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Once again, they’re betting we will trade our attention and data for the promise of connection.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
November 18, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Oh oh oh … all the lonely people connecting with chat bots …anthropomorphising … tech is driving such a wedge between us humans …. not how it was supposed to be once upon a time 😵💫
Our Top 5 Books of the Month From Around the World
Greetings readers! Here are Our Top 5 Books of the Month from around the world to keep your mind sharp, your perspective fresh and to remind us all why cultural literacy matters more than ever. The Ogre’s Daughter, Catherine Bardon Tr. Tina Kover…
Greetings readers! Here are Our Top 5 Books of the Month from around the world to keep your mind sharp, your perspective fresh and to remind us all why cultural literacy matters more than ever. The Ogre’s Daughter, Catherine Bardon Tr. Tina Kover…
Our Top 5 Books of the Month From Around the World
Greetings readers! Here are Our Top 5 Books of the Month from around the world to keep your mind sharp, your perspective fresh and to remind us all why cultural literacy matters more than ever. The Ogre’s Daughter, Catherine Bardon Tr. Tina Kover (Europa Editions) Flor de Oro was born in 1915 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. Her father rose from small-time gangster to dictator and ruthlessly ruled the country for three decades until his assassination in 1961.
bookblast.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Our Top 5 Books of the Month From Around the World
Greetings readers! Here are Our Top 5 Books of the Month from around the world to keep your mind sharp, your perspective fresh and to remind us all why cultural literacy matters more than ever. The Ogre’s Daughter, Catherine Bardon Tr. Tina Kover…
Greetings readers! Here are Our Top 5 Books of the Month from around the world to keep your mind sharp, your perspective fresh and to remind us all why cultural literacy matters more than ever. The Ogre’s Daughter, Catherine Bardon Tr. Tina Kover…
One to read for sure 📚👏
We're super excited to share that we've started a new Substack publication, where we'll dive deeper into ideas for a better future, how we can make it a reality, and more.
We've launched with a piece on the Overton Window and the need to push for radical change ⬇️
We've launched with a piece on the Overton Window and the need to push for radical change ⬇️
The Earthly | earthlyeducation | Substack
Earthly aims to drive systemic change on the climate and ecological crisis through building awareness and mobilising communities into tangible action. Click to read The Earthly, by earthlyeducation, a...
theearthly.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:54 PM
One to read for sure 📚👏
Political leadership today in many, albeit not all, countries & continents?!🤔😵💫🥹
November 15, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Political leadership today in many, albeit not all, countries & continents?!🤔😵💫🥹
Murder most foul! 🤬😭🙏
November 13, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Murder most foul! 🤬😭🙏
Could be fun?! 😉🙃
Toot Toooot! Thought Bubble Festival will take place from 10-16 November 2025 across Leeds and the whole of Yorkshire!
Our HUGE Comic Convention will be on 15 & 16 November 2025 at Harrogate Convention Centre!
Comic Convention tickets are on sale right now: thoughtbubblefestival.com/tickets
Our HUGE Comic Convention will be on 15 & 16 November 2025 at Harrogate Convention Centre!
Comic Convention tickets are on sale right now: thoughtbubblefestival.com/tickets
November 13, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Could be fun?! 😉🙃
Join us at our book club Mon 8 Dec 6pm Hatchards Piccadilly to discuss
dark, disturbing yet hilarious tale: The National Telepathy by Roque Larraquy - director of Argentina’s first undergraduate degree in creative writing - out with @charcopress Tr. Frank Wynne
tinyurl.com/3369zs7s
dark, disturbing yet hilarious tale: The National Telepathy by Roque Larraquy - director of Argentina’s first undergraduate degree in creative writing - out with @charcopress Tr. Frank Wynne
tinyurl.com/3369zs7s
BookBlast Translation Book Club with Georgia, Hatchards Piccadilly
Join Georgia de Chamberet to discuss "The National Telepathy" by Roque Larraquy, translated by Frank Wynne.
tinyurl.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Join us at our book club Mon 8 Dec 6pm Hatchards Piccadilly to discuss
dark, disturbing yet hilarious tale: The National Telepathy by Roque Larraquy - director of Argentina’s first undergraduate degree in creative writing - out with @charcopress Tr. Frank Wynne
tinyurl.com/3369zs7s
dark, disturbing yet hilarious tale: The National Telepathy by Roque Larraquy - director of Argentina’s first undergraduate degree in creative writing - out with @charcopress Tr. Frank Wynne
tinyurl.com/3369zs7s
Et voila ladies & gentlemen, this year’s winner… 🥳👏
‘We had never read anything quite like it. It is, in many ways, a dark book but it is a joy to read’
We're delighted to announce Flesh by David Szalay as the winner of the #BookerPrize2025.
We're delighted to announce Flesh by David Szalay as the winner of the #BookerPrize2025.
November 10, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Et voila ladies & gentlemen, this year’s winner… 🥳👏
Sounds wonderfully surreal, must read! 💙📚
Oh my gosh!!! 🪼💙🪼💙🪼💙!!!
We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize 2025 is
Jeffrey Zuckerman's translation of Jellyfish Have No Ears (MacLehose) by Adèle Rosenfeld.
Many congratulations to to all the short- and longlisted translators!
Jeffrey Zuckerman's translation of Jellyfish Have No Ears (MacLehose) by Adèle Rosenfeld.
Many congratulations to to all the short- and longlisted translators!
November 10, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Sounds wonderfully surreal, must read! 💙📚
Intriguing….🤔👍
'If you think you’ve heard this kind of story before, think again.’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘Breathtaking, immensely beautiful and impossible to stop reading.’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the Calculation of Volume III is nearly here! Publishing 18 November 📚
www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...
‘Breathtaking, immensely beautiful and impossible to stop reading.’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the Calculation of Volume III is nearly here! Publishing 18 November 📚
www.faber.co.uk/product/9780...
November 10, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Intriguing….🤔👍
Machine translation can be useful for mundane or technical texts, but it falls short when applied to creative works & literature. The results are monotonous, with one-dimensional characters, awkward or repetitive word choices and inaccuracies galore 😫😵💫
When I was translating Arqueles Vela's Señorita Etc. (famed as the first avantgarde stories from Latin America) there were so many times where the use of the word by Vela was uhhh quite far from "the first definition you find in the dictionary" which is what machine translation always does
Amazon has launched a new AI-driven translation service, Kindle Translate, for Kindle Direct Publishing authors 👇 #BookSky
November 7, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Machine translation can be useful for mundane or technical texts, but it falls short when applied to creative works & literature. The results are monotonous, with one-dimensional characters, awkward or repetitive word choices and inaccuracies galore 😫😵💫
Important that disillusioned writers of good fiction remember this! Much as writing a good novel is the hardest thing to achieve.
Self-publishing history. Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities in his periodical. Melville, Hardy, and Twain all subsidized early works, paying publishers to issue them. And Leonard and Virginia Woolf started Hogarth Press to publish Virginia's fiction that was too innovative for mainstream houses.
November 7, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Important that disillusioned writers of good fiction remember this! Much as writing a good novel is the hardest thing to achieve.
A pleasure 😉
Thanks so much! xxxx
November 6, 2025 at 10:37 PM
A pleasure 😉
One for your TBR pile folks! A clever, many-layered read by award-winning novelist @nicholasblincoe.bsky.social 💙📚
"The melding of fiction, memoir and history raises questions about the extent to which a novelist fuses the raw material of life with their fertile imagination."
Georgia de Chamberet @bookblast.org admires Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me
bookanista.com/memoir-social-history-and-more/
Georgia de Chamberet @bookblast.org admires Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me
bookanista.com/memoir-social-history-and-more/
Memoir, social history and more
Georgia de Chamberet finds much to admire in Nicholas Blincoe’s Oliver Twist & Me, a dual biography of Dickens and the author’s workhouse apprentice ancestor.
bookanista.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
One for your TBR pile folks! A clever, many-layered read by award-winning novelist @nicholasblincoe.bsky.social 💙📚
We’re discussing Oliver Norek’s The Winter Warriors at our book club on Monday at 6pm @hatchards.bsky.social Piccadilly. Got your tickets yet? Come & share your thoughts about this very fine writer with good company over a glass of wine! Tickets > linktr.ee/bookblast
November 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
We’re discussing Oliver Norek’s The Winter Warriors at our book club on Monday at 6pm @hatchards.bsky.social Piccadilly. Got your tickets yet? Come & share your thoughts about this very fine writer with good company over a glass of wine! Tickets > linktr.ee/bookblast
Another one for the TBR pile 👍
Paperback, with new preface, available TODAY
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725302...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725302...
November 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Another one for the TBR pile 👍
November 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Hahhhh 🙃
The first instalment of our subscriber-only collaboration with the FT is live today. Our @caiwei.bsky.social speaks with John Thornhill about who is winning the AI race: China or Silicon Valley www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/03/1...
The State of AI: Is China about to win the race?
In this conversation, the FT’s John Thornhill and MIT Technology Review’s Caiwei Chen consider the battle between Silicon Valley and Beijing for technological supremacy.
www.technologyreview.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Hahhhh 🙃
Sick of the usual genre fiction? Looking for something a little different? Come say hello and explore today!
tinyurl.com/9tp66esa
tinyurl.com/9tp66esa
The 100 Best Novels in Translation Boyd Tonkin Review | BookBlast®
Book Blast review. The 100 Best Novels in Translation edited by Boyd Tonkin, literary editor of The Independent newspaper from 1996 to 2013
tinyurl.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Sick of the usual genre fiction? Looking for something a little different? Come say hello and explore today!
tinyurl.com/9tp66esa
tinyurl.com/9tp66esa
Romania’s new ‘just-opened’ Orthodox Cathedral rather trumps (*lol*) the ballroom being built on the trashed remains of the White House East wing inspired by the Winter Palace ballroom in St Petersburg 😱
November 1, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Romania’s new ‘just-opened’ Orthodox Cathedral rather trumps (*lol*) the ballroom being built on the trashed remains of the White House East wing inspired by the Winter Palace ballroom in St Petersburg 😱