What We're Reading – October 2019

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most of whom identify as female, living in London. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them through my reading and seeing how their lives are linked or overlap in different ways. What I found particularly interesting about this book is how each character responds in their own way to the universal questions of self and identity, particularly the tensions between personal, public and political gender discourse and the effect it has on the relationships the characters have with others. This feels like a very important book, and a must-read if you’re interested in what’s happening in UK fiction today.Rachel Stevens, Director LiteratureCommon People - An Anthology of Working-class Writers (ed Kit de Waal). An exceptional collection of essays, poems, memoir and short stories celebrating working-class life, culture and literature. There are many highlights, but I especially recommend Lisa McInnery’s essay ‘Working Class: An Escape Manual’, which considers how working-class writers and artists are co-opted into other identities when they achieve success. Debut author Adam Sharp’s ‘Play’, a memoir of his relationship with a substance-addicted father, is poignant and deftly handled - he’s a writer to... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "What We're Reading – October 2019"


La Belle Sauvage crowned Waterstones Book of the Year

Philip Pullman’s first instalment of the Book of Dust has been crowned the Waterstones Book of the Year for 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage tops Waterstones Book of the Year list

Philip Pullman's return to the world of His Dark Materials is a hit with bookshop staff. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2017-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unearthed Raymond Chandler Story Rebukes U.S. Health Care System

Raymond Chandler, the crime novelist, in 1946. One of his short stories, “It’s All Right — He Only Died,” was recently discovered and published by Strand Magazine, a literary quarterly. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2017-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: Origin reclaims number one spot

Dan Brown’s Origin reclaimed the Weekly E-Book Ranking number one from Philip Pullman’s first title from The Book of Dust series, La Belle Sauvage, giving the title its third weekly digital pole. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: La Belle Sauvage becomes first children's number one

Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage is the first Children’s title in Weekly E-Book Ranking history to go to number one. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pullman dusts off second week in the charts top spot

Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage (PRH/David Fickling) has pulled off a second week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 45,015 copies for £546,248. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pullman claims first number one with La Belle Sauvage

Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage (Penguin and David Fickling), the first title in his His Dark Materials “equel” The Book of Dust, has crashed into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hundreds turn out for Book of Dust midnight events

Hundreds of fans turned out to the midnight events held around the country to celebrate the publication of the first in Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust trilogy. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Critics give La Belle Sauvage thumbs up

Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage (PRH Children's/David Fickling Books) has been "worth the wait" and is "full of wonder" according to reviews. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman is 'rich and fully realised'

The Bookseller's acting children's editor Caroline Carpenter and children's news reporter Heloise Wood give their thoughts on Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Book of Dust, Volume 1

You should not use the word love lightly. Love, about a person, means that every inch of them delights you, even the parts that also cause you pain or terror. It means you care about their flourishing; their way of seeing is dear to you; you want to stroke their hair and serve them cocoa; their... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pullman reveals ill health delayed La Belle Sauvage

Philip Pullman has revealed ill health delayed his writing of the much-anticipated La Belle Sauvage, released today (Thursday 19th October). He also said The Book of Dust trilogy was “darker” than His Dark Materials because he feels “more cynical and closer to despair” than he did 22 years ago. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Philip Pullman on indie booksellers, graphic novels, festival pay and more

As well as writing, Philip Pullman has been outspoken on a number of issues affecting fellow authors over the years. Here, we take a look at some of his best quotes. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Grimm Meets Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

Every era has its own fairy tales—fables that teach children what a princess looks like, and what monsters they should fear. According to the short stories in Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado’s exhilarating debut collection, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction, our... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion inks flurry of deals

Orion has acquired "a hilarious and heartwarming" début by Caroline Hulse at auction and a collection of short stories from Man Booker shortlistee Emily Fridlund. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book of Dust accidentally published early in Netherlands

Philip Pullman’s eagerly awaited La Belle Sauvage has reportedly reached Dutch readers a few weeks early after a publisher’s mix-up. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Clare's Shadowhunter short stories to Walker

Walker Books will publish a new collection of short stories from American YA author Cassandra Clare featuring characters from the bestselling Shadowhunter world. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Super Thursday: with 500 new books out today, what should you read?

New books from Mary Berry, Dan Brown and Dawn French are out, as part of the mass launch that marks the start of the Christmas season – and there’s another 250 on the way. Here are 10 titles in the running for No 1More than 500 glossy new hardbacks are set to arrive on the shelves of the UK’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Midnight openings planned across the country for Pullman

The book trade is gearing up for one the biggest releases of the year for Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage with midnight openings, a “magical” event on the eve of publication and activity in several countries around the world. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Mac signs Faber Academy graduate's thriller

Pan Macmillan has bought two novels by debut author and Faber Academy graduate Trisha Sakhlecha, the first of which is a dark domestic psychological thriller about a disintegrating marriage.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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