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Wednesday Cover Story: Modernising the classics with the new Penguin Essentials
13 April, 2011
On Monday, Georgina (our Editorial Administrator) flagged up the fact she was loving the covers to the new reprints of the Penguin Essentials. Then yesterday at the London Book Fair, Joe Pickering, publicist at Penguin, mentioned them in passing (nicely done, Joe) in the seminar Tweet Success about social media. (Yes, this one of the […]
Time for some fiction quizzes…
12 April, 2011
I’m sure by now everyone has had a go at the BBC’s book list challenge. If you are suitably impressed by your score and want another challenge, try this quiz by The Guardian, put together in honour of the Grand National last weekend: Horses in Fiction quiz. Apart from Animal Farm and Black Beauty, I […]
Things to remember for the LBF
11 April, 2011
Last week went by in a blur of catalogue printing, poster printing and filling and hauling about various boxes of goodies destined for our stand at the London Book Fair – which kicks off today. And here are a few personal tips based on a few years of experience… Prepare for the unexpected: does Eyjafjallajökull […]
The Kennedys – why all the fuss?
8 April, 2011
Last night The History Channel screened the first episode of the apparently controversial four-part drama The Kennedys (with Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear playing the presedential couple). I don’t have The History Channel so will have to wait until it comes to BBC2 later this spring, but I am definitely interested in watching it. This […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Book Ten)
7 April, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Book Ten Summer, 1812. As the French army advances like an unstoppable steam roller across Russia, it is clear that Napoleon means business. At least that is clear to any reasonable creature, but not, inevitably, to that cantankerous old troublemaker Prince Bolkonski, who refuses to […]
Wednesday Cover Story: The 19th Century Poster Look
6 April, 2011
I’ve just come across the book Bloody Winter, by Andrew Pepper, due out next week. It’s the latest Pyke Mystery and I’m loving the series look which hints at a 19th century poster rather than a book cover – where the text takes centre stage rather than an image. And I particularly like the use […]
My vote for one of the best book blogs
5 April, 2011
There are millions of book blogs and websites out there, full of reviews both devastatingly crushing and over the top exalting. And, in the same way that I marvel at a well-written restaurant review, I take my hat off to those who manage to think up an original way of praising or criticizing a book […]
Lost for words
4 April, 2011
When it’s early on a Monday morning I’m often at a loss for words, until I get a cup of tea usually. Not so the good people at OED who are continually adding to their compendium and giving new words and phrases recognition. And among the latest batch to get the official Oxford English Dictionary […]
The long wait for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
1 April, 2011
Since 9am this morning we have been impatiently waiting for the delivery of the finished copies of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. If you have yet to hear about this book, I must gush and tell you that this debut has been a worldwide word-of-mouth sensation… After approximately two […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Book Nine)
31 March, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Book Nine It is Book Nine, and we have reached, in this summary exercise, the halfway point of War and Peace. It is also now, and will till the end remain, 1812: a pivotal year for European history, and, it transpires, this novel. For henceforward […]
Wednesday Cover Story: The Revival of Inspector Ghote
30 March, 2011
This week we mourn the loss of revered crime writer HRF (Harry) Keating (read more in News…), best known for his inimitable Inspector Ghote series, set in India and comprising an impressive list of 24 titles. Although the series ended in 2000 (after 22 books), readers saw the return of Ghote in 2008 when we […]
Destined for literary greatness…
29 March, 2011
Later on this year we are reissuing Absolute Beginners, one of Colin MacInnes’s cult classic London Novels. Reading his biography, which mentions his mother Angela Thirkell I got to thinking about how small writing circles must have been. Thirkell, herself a writer, was a first cousin to Rudyard Kipling and her godfather was JM Barrie. […]
A Reading Census
28 March, 2011
The other night I dutifully sat down and read through our census forms. Frankly I thought there would be more questions, and more in-depth questions at that. So to fill this woeful lack of insight (or should that be nosiness?) by the Census people, I’ve decided to compile an A&B Reading Census and had a […]
Spotted anything sinister in the Cotswolds lately?
25 March, 2011
I spent this past weekend in glorious Cotswold country. Quaint little villages, stunning scenery, wholesome pub food, and antique shops galore. But I knew I shouldn’t allow myself to get too swept up in the idyllic landscape. It’s Rebecca Tope country after all. And if you’ve read her highly addictive Cotswold mystery series you’ll know […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Book Eight)
24 March, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Book Eight We finished Book Seven with Sonya blissfully enraptured with a fiancé by her side, and Natasha desperately pining for a fiancé many miles away, having a whale of a time in the Swiss Alps. But in Book Eight it soon transpires that Natasha, […]
Wednesday Cover Story: The changing face of DI Charlie Priest…
23 March, 2011
The series design for the D I Charlie Priest crime novels by Stuart Pawson have undergone various changes over the years. First we had the rather dark look… Then we had the bottom-half-white look… Then we played with a monochrome design…. And now we’ve gone with a more eye-catching urban style… What do you think […]
Wannabe a writer? Be a Figmentling.
22 March, 2011
Talk about the internet and inevitably the words “there is just so much out there” will crop up in conversation. It’s a fact – trawling the web can be truly overwhelming…which is why I particularly love the last page in Easy Living magazine where they select websites that have caught their eye that particular month, […]
The perfect compromise…?
21 March, 2011
It struck me last week that the last four books I had read had been digital editions. They were downloaded to my iPhone either through Kobo’s app, a handy PDF reader that has meant I’ve read some upcoming A&B titles before they’ve gone to print, and finally through my new discovery of the Overdrive Media […]
Who do you write like?
18 March, 2011
Nothing like a bit of self-analysis to distract one from replying to very important emails. This little gem made itself known to me on Twitter (source of many time-wasting titbits). Simply insert your latest blog, chapter of your unfinished book or whatever sample of writing you have to hand, and discover which famous author’s style […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Book Seven)
17 March, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Book Seven If Tolstoy had ever written a brochure for the Russian tourist board, book seven would surely be it. Called home to help sort out his family’s dire financial problems (don’t be deceived by their owning several houses, thousands of serfs and, thanks to […]
Wednesday Cover Story: From advertising to publishing
16 March, 2011
Horror of horrors, I had to endure the journey home last week with no book to read, and there’s only so many times I can play solitare on my phone, you know. To add to my chagrin, the cover to the book being read by the woman opposite me was familiar in a niggling way […]
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