What did you notice this week?
‘There was a lot of fuss about the interview with the primary school teacher de Volkskrant. The teacher manages to get the children in her class back under the spell of reading. That made a lot of difference. This teacher is very tough. She also looks in the mirror. If you want your child to learn to eat with a knife and fork, you should of course not eat your food with your hands. It is sad that she had to buy books for the class with her own money. We need these types of individuals.’
The top ten does not contain recent stunners such as Inez Weski, Gabriel García Márquez or Salman Rushdie.
‘Weski’s book sold quite well, it will probably still be in the top ten. Máquez is not running like that at the moment, but I think that will change. It’s better to be a diesel these days and keep going for a long time. There is a lot of non-fiction in the top ten. That remains a trend. Fiction is clearly having a more difficult time.’
Two poetry prizes were awarded last week. Is there anything noticeable about that?
‘No, that didn’t affect our sales. While our poetry cupboard is running quite well. But do you know how many prizes are awarded? Not that that’s a bad thing, they have a function. There are just so many. We are mainly busy with the Libris shortlist. We do notice that this has an influence on sales.’
You tip The savior by Mathijs Deen. Why?
‘Deen has written a lot of non-fiction. This book is his third so-called Wadden thriller. There are as many different types of thrillers as there are types of novels. And Deen’s are very subtle, although plot-driven, but they are always about dilemmas and current themes. For example, saving people at sea. Deen subtly makes a link with the problems in the Mediterranean. And he does that in a literary way.’
Top ten best-selling books at the Jacques Baas bookstore in Driebergen:
1. Rutger Bregman: Moral ambition; The Correspondent
2. Tom-Jan Meeus: Clarity; Kudos
3. Paul Lynch: Song of the Prophet; Prometheus
4. Nicci French: Voices in the Dark; Ambo Anthos
5. Jan Brokken: The Discovery of Holland; Atlas Contact
6. Eva Vriend: Anna’s Island; Atlas Contact
7. Sacha Bronwasser: Listen; Atlas Contact
8. Mark Stokmans: Mirror Days; Ambo Anthos
9. Ann Napolitano: You are beautiful; Luitingh-Sijthoff
10. Huib Modderkolk: You really don’t want to know this; Stage
The Volkskrant Book Council consists of: Bookstore Maximus, Rotterdam; Bookstore Jacques Baas, Driebergen; Dekker vd Vegt booksellers, Nijmegen; Children’s bookstore de Toverlantern, Leeuwarden; Bookstore Malpertuis, Genk (Belgium); Mayflower Bookshop, Leiden; Bookstore Broekhuis, Almelo; Van der Meulen’s Bookstore, Alkmaar.
