I’m in a bit of a quandary at the moment. I can’t help but be a bit suspicious of the beautiful sunshine we’ve been having – and cynical about how long it’s likely to last. Do I pack the winter coats and scarfs away? Or will Mother Nature wait until the day I do so […]
So, roughly a month to go until Kate and Will’s big day, a.k.a. THE DAY THAT LONDON STOOD STILL™ and for lack of anything else to write about, journalists around the country are unpicking every teeny-weeny detail that is available about the nuptials. For instance, Kate has commissioned three wedding dresses to throw people off […]
Susanna Kearsley’s acclaimed novel Sophia’s Secret has won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Historical Fiction novel for 2010 beating Philippa Gregory’s The Red Queen.
The London Book Fair is now behind us. With three full days of back-to-back meetings, the frantic grabbing at cups of coffee, the wading through the crowds and the racing to seminars, the exhaustion by the end of the day… it is, effectively, the publishing equivalent of a marathon. Except the women wear heels and […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Friday 8th April, 6.00pm – 8:00pm WATERSTONE’S, EDINBURGH Join Femmes Fatales Alanna Knight, Alex Gray and Lin Anderson for an intimate evening of crime reading. These prominent Scottish Crime Writers will be reading some of their back list, answer any questions from the audience and sign their books at Waterstone’s, 83 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Award-winning veteran crime writer HRF Keating passed away on Sunday 27 March 2011 leaving a legacy of over 50 novels including his long-running and much-adored Inspector Ghote series set in India.
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]