Blog
Kings & Rogues at Shakespeare’s Globe
18 May, 2010
With a promising summer on the cards, this may be the year to throw caution to the wind and risk seeing an outdoor performance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. This year’s focus is on Kings and Rogues, kicking off with my favourite, Macbeth, running now until 27th June, and starring Elliot Cowan (pictured). Click here to view […]
One of life’s great little discoveries
17 May, 2010
Now, I’ve never been one to forget a friend’s / mum’s / significant pet’s birthday… yeah right… but I’m now all set for any future near-miss date disasters because I have now discovered Cupcake Bouquet. Yes – that’s a bouquet of cupcakes. And if I’m any kind of guide, I’d swap a bunch of flowers for one of […]
Want to read and relax?
13 May, 2010
Searching for the perfect gift for someone who has everything? What about a ‘Reading Spa’? At independent publisher Mr B’s Emporium you can be treated to just that – a pampering treatment including: Coffee/tea & cake 45 minutes book-chat with Mr B discussing your likes and dislikes, being shown the best of what’s new & special […]
Wednesday Cover Story: How hard can designing a book cover be?
12 May, 2010
Many of you may have asked yourselves the above question, and perhaps felt inspired to take a shot at it. And this is exactly what Penguin proposed readers do when they offered up a chance to have people design their own covers to a Penguin Classic. The results have been posted here – some better […]
At the launch of the new Saf Restaurant
11 May, 2010
I recently attended the launch of the new Saf Restaurant in High Street Kensington – serving only natural vegan raw foods. The original Saf restaurant in London is in Shoreditch, but this new branch can be found on the top floor of Wholefoods in the area of the Food Hall previously taken up by the ‘home’ store […]
Daddy gadget classes…
10 May, 2010
Ha! Here’s a news story that caught my eye the other day. I can appreciate that preparing for impending fatherhood must be a daunting business. There’s your hormonal partner for one and the joys of anticipation when it comes to nappy changing for another. But I hadn’t quite realized that parents were feeling quite so clueless about […]
Americans go crazy for the iPad
6 May, 2010
While I was on holiday at the beginning of April, I happened to be in New York over the Easter weekend. It was lovely! The weather was balmy to my winter-numbed skin, the blossom in Central Park was beautiful (see pic) and there was a buzz in the air. That buzz though may have had […]
Wednesday Cover Story: The Hidden Dance
5 May, 2010
We’ve had so many compliments about our paperback cover to The Hidden Dance, by Susan Wooldridge that I had to highlight it here for this week’s cover story. We love the image so much we chose it as the cover to our new catalogue too. Are you as enamoured by it as we and others […]
Letters of Note
30 April, 2010
Blogging is an ephemeral business: if we have second thoughts about a blog there’s always the option of erasing it from the online world. Which makes me wonder whether this is the reason we are becoming more fascinated with the letters of yester year? Were people more decisive or opinionated when the missive was a […]
Wednesday Cover Story: The Boys in the Trees
28 April, 2010
I was on Dovegreyreader‘s book review blog the other day, and was scrolling down the list of books she has featured under her 2010 reads when one cover caught my eye – even as a thumbnail. It was The Boys in the Trees, by Mary Swan. Those daubs of red stood out against that emerald […]
Happy Freedom Day!
27 April, 2010
Today is Freedom Day – South Africa’s National Holiday. So, tonight I’m inviting a few of my South African friends over for dinner to celebrate – really just an excuse to impress them and cook up some recipes from our new release The South African Illustrated Cookbook, by Lehla Eldridge. On tonight’s menu: Darling Evita’s […]
The Fair, Flowers, and Fanahan…
26 April, 2010
While hardly reeling from the London Book Fair (half my meetings were with overseas agents and publishers who didn’t make it due to ‘volcanic action’), I’m actually quite glad to be in the office again. I have been sorting through the various catalogues, flyers and whatnot I’d picked up at the fair, when I came […]
Volcanoes, The Digital Future, and good ideas
22 April, 2010
The last day of the London Book Fair is always the quieter of the three days, but as I walked through the hall at Earl’s Court it was obvious that the travel mayhem caused by Iceland’s volcano had hit the fair more than I had expected. There were empty stands – still unpacked where foreign […]
Wednesday Cover Story: The Hungry Ghosts
21 April, 2010
On the platform of the northbound Northern Line at Waterloo (where I spend a minimum of a minute every morning heading into the office) there is a poster for The Hungry Ghosts, by Anne Berry (basically the book cover blown up to poster proportions). I have spent the last few weeks admiring this image, so […]
Election Debate
20 April, 2010
Did you watch it? It seems that a fair number of us apparently apathetic voters around the country did tune in for the first leaders debate on Thursday night. It was definitely subjected to a ‘water-cooler’ moment here at the A&B office, as well as at the offices of my husband. OK, so some of […]
Interactive e-books!
19 April, 2010
Interactive e-books here we come! Released just a week ago, the Alice app for iPad by Atomic Antelope has caused quite a stir. See this sneak preview on YouTube: Using the old artwork from Lewis Carroll’s original, it’s a very attractive looking application. Shaking the screen allows you to interact with the illustrations; my personal […]
Ready for the London Book Fair
16 April, 2010
The London Book Fair is upon us – kicking off this Monday for three days. Unlike the editorial and sales/rights team who will be busy with back-to-back meetings with literary agents, rights managers, foreign publishers etc., I get an easy ride at this event. I’ll just popping along on Wednesday, attending the Publisher’s Publicity Circle […]
Wednesday Cover Story: 1 book, 2 covers
14 April, 2010
I saw a woman reading Hilary Mantel‘s new book Wolf Hall on the tube this morning which has prompted me to bring up the subject of books released with two covers. This particular woman was reading the version with the black cover, but it is also published in white. Our Publishing Director, Susie (who is […]
Discovering more free apps
13 April, 2010
As a relatively new iPhone user, I’m still discovering plenty that my new gadget has to offer. A browse through the app store the other day revealed plenty of freebies… From the useful: The National Trust app – suggestions for days out around the UK, might very well use this come summer time. To the […]
Summer sales begin…
12 April, 2010
If your living room needs a new sofa, or you can not live through another summer without an ice-crusher, I have good news for you. There is no need to fight through the crowds and chaos at Ikea, because right now there’s a sale on at Habitat. My favourite find is this lovely glass jug. […]
Richard Jay Parker v Paulho Coelho…
9 April, 2010
What a result! Richard Jay Parker has been shortlisted for the Author Blog Awards, in light of his popular microblogging on Twitter @bookwalter! If you didn’t know this already – read our News. If you did know this already – well, it would be remiss of me to not mention it here too – it […]
Subscribe to our newsletter
You will be the first to hear about new books, old favourites, author events and exclusive promotions.
Please click here to read our privacy policy: https://www.allisonandbusby.com/privacy-policy/.