In the age of Corbyn, is the time right for another Road to Wigan Pier?

It’s no surprise that the Left Book Club is being relaunched now, with the imprimatur of the Labour leader and Ken Livingstone. It began in the anxious 1930s, a decade that has all too many parallels with the current oneAiming to “set the agenda for a new age of political debate”, the Left Book Club was re-launched this week at a meeting at the Conway Hall in London. The Left Book Club last published a book in 1948. Jeremy Corbyn had yet to be born. Nevertheless the Labour leader has generously endorsed the revival as “a terrific and timely idea” that will give “intellectual ballast to the wave of political change sweeping Britain and beyond, encouraging informed and compassionate debate”. He added that he had a large collection of Left Book Club titles, some bought new by his parents and others that he acquired second hand. I speculate that the memory of these books in their plain red or orange covers – their flash upon his inward eye – must have provided Corbyn with a rare pleasurable moment in the past few weeks: the thought of them on his shelves having same kind of heart-filling effect that the daffodils had on Wordsworth.My own collection isn’t so large. In fact, it runs to just one book, Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier, and I didn’t inherit it. I bought it 20 or 30 years ago because I liked the idea of having such a fine book in its cheap and original form – seeing the words and photographs as its first readers must have seen them. Published in 1937, the year after... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Valemon The Bear: Myth in the Age of the Anthropocene With Martin Shaw

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-03-27 08:52:16 UTC ]
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Is Controlled Digital Lending on Borrowed Time?

At a long-awaited hearing last week, a federal judge sounded skeptical of the Internet Archive’s program to scan and lend library books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Eric Brown, science fiction author and Guardian critic, dies aged 62

Writers, publishers and agents pay tribute to a warm, generous figure, author of more than 50 books ranging from SFF to crime to children’s literatureEric Brown, a prolific, award-winning author who published more than 50 novels, children’s books and short story collections, and who was the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-23 13:58:10 UTC ]
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A Culinary Road Trip: Spotlight on Taste of Home

Taste of Home offers up hundreds of recipes for cooks of every stripe and tantalizing dishes for every gathering. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The 75th Frankfurter Buchmesse: A Time Line

The world's largest international book publishing trade show opens its 75th iteration with 'Chronicles' of its past right up to this year. The post The 75th Frankfurter Buchmesse: A Time Line appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-15 14:07:57 UTC ]
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Rachel Howzell Hall, George Saunders, James Hannaham among L.A. Times Book Prize finalists

The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes recognize works in 12 categories, with winners to be announced at USC in person on April 21. James Ellroy will receive a lifetime achievement prize. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-22 15:00:07 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Kids falls back to an all-time low

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Kids tablet offers a more eye-friendly reading experience than the regular Kindle Kids, but that features comes at a premium price. Right now, though, they're on sale with the biggest discounts we've seen yet, letting you grab one for just $105 or $55 (34 percent) off... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-02-22 11:58:13 UTC ]
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Announcing The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award shortlist

The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award is given annually to the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish author of 35 or under. Here at the British Council, we're proud to work with the Prize to support the selected writers early in their... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2023-02-13 14:40:41 UTC ]
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At times, 'Knock at the Cabin' made the book's author want to 'run out of the theater'

While Paul Tremblay is a fan of M. Night Shyamalan's take on his novel 'The Cabin at the End of the World,' he's still chewing over the film's 'way darker' ending. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-08 14:00:18 UTC ]
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What Do 10 Years of the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller Lists Say About YA?

The New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list celebrated its 10th anniversary in December 2022. Here's a look at what it shows. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-02-06 11:36:00 UTC ]
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5 times Pamela Anderson's memoir left us wanting more — a lot more

The former 'Baywatch' star opens up in a new memoir, 'Love, Pamela' — to an extent. Here are five excerpts that left us with more questions than answers. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-01-30 14:00:21 UTC ]
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How to watch Tracy Kidder discuss "Rough Sleepers" at the L.A. Times Book Club

Tracy Kidder joins the L.A. Times Book Club to discuss "Rough Sleepers," about a doctor's mission to bring healing to homeless people. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-01-26 22:03:03 UTC ]
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Open Road Expanded Publishing Partnerships in 2022

Challenges publishers face in generating discovery for their titles helped Open Road Integrated Media attract a growing number of companies to its various services in 2022, Open Road CEO David Steinberger wrote in a letter to company employees this week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Raban, travel writer and novelist, dies aged 80

The British author, who lived in the US, blended memoir and travelogue in books that were often inspired by the seaJonathan Raban, the British travel writer, critic and novelist known for his candid accounts of travelling the world in books such as Passage to Juneau and Coasting, has died aged... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-01-18 08:53:25 UTC ]
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Digital Book World: Startups Are Entering 'A New Age'

DBW's final day looked at a recent study of publishing industry startups and found that innovation takes all forms, from wildly successful ideas that took time to take off, like Audible, to cutting edge innovations, like blockchain book retailing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Book World: Startups Are Entering 'A New Age'

DBW's final day looked at a recent study of publishing industry startups and found that innovation takes all forms, from wildly successful ideas that took time to take off, like Audible, to cutting edge innovations, like blockchain book retailing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Boris Johnson to publish ‘memoir like no other’ of his time as PM

The book, which so far has no title or publication date, was announced by publisher William Collins, who did not reveal how much Johnson will be paidA memoir by former prime minister Boris Johnson, covering his years as leader, will be published by HarperCollins, it has been announced.The book,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-01-16 16:38:43 UTC ]
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Open Road Launches Activation 2.0

After launching a frontlist marketing service in July that built on Open Road's Ignition program the promotes backlist e-book titles, the company has unveiled its second iteration. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Scribe is on sale for the first time, plus the rest of the week's best tech deals

When we weren't distracted by all the cool stuff at CES, we found some pretty great deals on tech that you can buy right now. Amazon's just-released Kindle Scribe, with both reading and writing capabilities, saw its first-ever discount and Razer discounted many of their 2022 Blade 15 gaming... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-01-06 19:05:41 UTC ]
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The Worst Book Titles of All Time

Let's talk about great book titles. But in order to find out what makes a good book title, let's first explore the worst book titles. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-01-03 11:36:00 UTC ]
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