Man Booker prize judge Colin Thubron has complained this week that star endorsements bully readers into admiring books, but it’s long been standard practiceSetting cats among pigeons has long been an unofficial part of the contract for judges of the Booker prize. Remember Chris Mullin’s insistence on “zip–along” novels, or, way back in 1992, AN Wilson’s condemnation of the prize itself as “essentially trivial”? This year’s flurry of fur and feathers was provoked by a tirade from Colin Thubron on celebrity endorsements. Some blurbs, said the veteran travel writer, “almost blackmail” readers into feeling that “you’re either intellectually or morally incompetent if you don’t love this book or you’ve failed if you haven’t understood it”. Some people, he felt, “seem to earn their living … saying: ‘This is the most profound book of our generation.’”Starting our Iris Murdoch bookclub with this '69 @PenguinUKBooks edition - you don't find blurbs like this any more! pic.twitter.com/P2XUvgtKAM Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#booker prize
#colin thubron
#celebrity endorsements
#ve failed
This week: a brilliant espionage novel, and a look at the emotional turmoil veterans endure upon returning home from war. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Jeff VanderMeer's <em>Southern Reach</em> trilogy wraps up exquisitely, completing a journey from mystery to horror to understanding to, indeed, acceptance. The post WIRED Book Club: An Entire Trilogy in a Month? Boom. appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jeff vandermeer
Mobile ebook start-up Ether Books is to be sold after its founders decided that it needed fresh investment to develop the service out of beta. It is now looking to sell the business to a publisher or other book industry company. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Bloomsbury lands a bin Laden book, Blood Journals series author Tessa Gratton sells a standalone YA, Dawn Davis nabs one by a Tony winner, and more in this week's notable book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book deals
Publisher David Campbell celebrated the 25th anniversary of the revival of hardback imprint Everyman's Library at Spencer House in St James Place, in the presence of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#quarter century
#25th anniversary
#royal highness
YA author Kathryn Evans has won the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award for her début novel, More of Me (Usborne). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book award
Here's televised proof that a visit to Baltimore's Geppi’s Entertainment Museum can fulfill a comic-book fan’s dearest fantasy: Sunday’s Season 6 premiere of the AMC show “Comic Book Men,” spotlighting the continuing adventures of writer-director-comic geek Kevin Smith and the staff at his Jay... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
On a blustery fall day, members of the children's book community gathered for BookFest at Bank Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bank street
'The Magnolia Story' by Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV's 'Fixer Upper,' sold more than 121,000 print copies in its first week on sale, according to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fixer upper
#magnolia story
#joanna gaines
#nielsen bookscan
HarperThorsons has acquired Eat Well Every Day, the second book from Alice Liveing, the "powerhouse" behind the Instagram account, Clean Eating Alice. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#acquired eat
#alice liveing
#instagram account
Hitting shelves next week are a picture book tribute to the creator of Peter Rabbit, a middle grade novel featuring two pranksters, and a YA novel centering on the romance of two teens from different worlds. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ya books
#hitting shelves
#peter rabbit
#middle grade
Donal Ryan, Sebastian Barry, Eimear McBride and Emma Donoghue are all shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#donal ryan
#sebastian barry
#eimear mcbride
#emma donoghue
Canongate has acquired its fourth book by Simon Garfield, titled In Miniature, describing it as a "big book of small things". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fourth book
#big book
#small things
Radio star Jay-Jay Harvey has cancelled the next two weeks of her book tour after walking out on her show live on air. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2016-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#radio show
#book tour
Egmont has signed a three-book children’s fiction deal with TV presenter and former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#three-book children
#fiction deal
#tv presenter
A memoir by the grandson of Henri Matisse, Judah Smith’s new book, and a search for the “real” Pope Francis are among some of the big books coming from religion and spirituality publishers in November. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#judah smith
#spirituality publishers
Figures show that game-playing vloggers’ print debut sold more than 26,000 copies in its first three days on sale last weekA week after the starting gun was fired on the race to the top of the Christmas book charts, YouTube superstars the Sidemen have emerged in front of the likes of Jamie... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jamie oliver
#guy martin
#bookseller magazine
#christmas hits
#alan bennett
#alan partridge
#super thursday
Daunt Books Publishing has acquired Elliot Ackerman’s "timely" new novel Dark at the Crossing – a "gripping" contemporary love story set on the Turkish/Syrian border. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#daunt books
Todd Burpo moves from Thomas Nelson to FaithWords with his follow-up to ‘Heaven is For Real,’ Katie Davis Majors lands at Multnomah, Eerdmans nabs a PBS documentary tie-in, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#thomas nelson
4th Estate has bought the first book by BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Mishal Husain, described as "the ultimate handbook for women". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#mishal husain
#4th estate
#ultimate handbook