Archive for the ‘UK’ Category

New Website Celebrates Robert Louis Stevenson

Friday, November 13th, 2009

robert-louis-stevensonRobert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh but according to experts, the sad reality is that his work has never been fully appreciated in his homeland and a lot of his work hasn’t ever even been seen in Scotland. A new website launched in Edinburgh today hopes to rectify that.

The site features a large collection of Stevenson’s written work including letters and works previously unseen as well as photographs and other personal paraphernalia drawn from collections around the world.

Stevenson is best known for the novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but the experts behind the site hope to introduce the world to the author’s larger body of work which encompasses poetry, travel writing, children’s stories, literary essays, and even historical novels.

I know I could learn a lot more about Robert Louis Stevenson. If I was well-versed  I would have thought to include him in my Movember Literary Moustaches list!

Adrian Mole is Back! Sue Townsend Interview

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue TownsendFor those of us who have followed Adrian Mole from his angst as a 13 3/4-year-old,  the publication of Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years is exciting news.

Now 39 1/4, Adrian, still married to Daisy,  is diagnosed with prostate cancer (note, the typo in the title is intentional and that is the book’s title ). Apparently despite the typical Adrian Mole topical humour, there is a darker-side to the story than Adrian fans are used to.  Happily though, Pandora is said to make the expected dramatic entrances that she is known for as do Adrian’s parents.

And in true Adrian Mole fashion, during his radiation and chemotherapy,  Adrian dwells upon the fraught love-life of the hospital nurse.

No matter what, the thought of Adrian Mole makes me chuckle to myself and chant, also to myself fortunately for those around me, We shall, we shall wear red socks!

Read an interview with Adrian Mole author,  Sue Townsend in The Guardian.

Remembrance Sunday Poem a Rip Off?

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Andrew MotionMilitary historian Ben Shepard has accused Britain’ s former Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion of ripping off his work for a Remembrance Sunday poem.

According to Shephard, Motion used 17 passages from A War of Nerves in the poem, An Equal Voice which was printed in Sunday’s edition of The Guardian.

Says Shephard, “There is a word for this. It begins with ‘p’ and it isn’t poetry.”

“Ridiculous,” counters Motion who explicitly states in his poem’s introduction that lines from Shephard’s book were used.A War of Nerves by Ben Shephard

Motion states the poem is a compilation in the tradition of “found poetry” that dates back to Shakespeare and that the accounts are drawn from a variety of sources. To this Shephard responds, “the ‘voices from a variety of sources’ were not ‘found’ by Motion, but by myself.”

Readers want less reality in their books

Friday, November 6th, 2009

According to The Bookseller (via Beattie’s Book Blog) there’s been a massive slump in non-fiction hardback sales…

Could it be that everyone wants a little less reality after a year of battling recession? Or perhaps everyone finally got over the myriad of crappy celebrity memoirs that were being pumped out? Or maybe its a reality TV backlash?

Retailers are concerned about the performance of hardback non-fiction books in the run-up to Christmas, despite hardback fiction books “muscling” in to replace some of the lost revenue. Sales of this year’s top 10 non-fiction books in October were down 52% year on year, while sales of hardback fiction titles have soared by 90%.

Terry Pratchett live in London

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

The next Guardian Book Club is Monday December 14th @ Hall One, Kings Place, London with the one and only Terry Pratchett.

Tickets are £9.50 online/£11.50 from the box office.

He will be discussing his new book Unseen Academicals, the 37th Discworld novel.

Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Attention Londoner’s - This weekend (November 6 and 7th) over 75 dealers from around the UK and abroad will congragate at the Chelsea Old Town Hall (King’s Road, London SW3 5EE) for two days of rare books, prints, maps, photographs, ephemera, letters and manuscripts.

Tickets are £5 at the door, but if you head to the Chelsea Boook Fair website you can print off a ticket to give you free entry to the fair. Fair Hours are Friday 2-7pm and Saturday 11am-5pm.

As a special attraction this year, the fair will also stage an exhibition on behalf of the London Library celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of the 11th century Persian poem, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

The Library’s collection was donated by Edward Heron-Allen, a London solicitor who himself produced a prose translation of the Rubaiyat. Representative samples from the Heron-Allen collection, including the earliest editions (and even some of the strangest), will also be on show.

AbeBooks October bestsellers

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Once again we would like to share our top 10 bestsellers for the past month on AbeBooks.com and AbeBooks.co.uk

the-girl-who-kicked-the-hornets-nestAbeBooks.com Top 10 bestsellers for October 2009
1. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
2. A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson
3. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
4. Crafting and Executing Strategy by Arthur Thompson
5. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
6. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest by Stieg Larsson
9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
10. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

wolf-hallAbeBooks Top 10 bestselling signed books for October 2009
1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2. Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus
3. The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
4. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
6. Last Night in Twisted River by Irving John
7. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
8. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
9. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
10. Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon

Worcestershire Sauce - The Lea & Perrins Secret is Out! (Sort of)

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce recipe

The label on a bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce lists vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions and garlic as key ingredients but the true secret is hidden under the guise  of  “spices” and “flavouring”. For 170 years, the specific contents of the popular sauce has been a closely guarded secret. That is until now.

A former employee of Lea & Perrins Brian Keogh, found a valuable treasure in a trash bin outside the sauce company - neatly written notes dating from the mid 19th century,  in two leather-bound folios, detailing the original Worcestershire Sauce recipe.  When Keogh died three years ago, his daughter came across the notes amongst his possessions and is now working with the Worcester Museum to have the notebooks displayed.

According to these notes, the tangy flavour could also come from cloves, soy sauce, lemons, pickles and peppers. The way the sauce is mixed and made  however, remains unknown as do the quantities the noted recipe was intended to make.

Whatever the exact ingredients, ratios, or  blending methods the sauce was, and is, a rip-roaring success. In a 2007 poll, Worcestshire Sauce was named the number one British ingredient to have the greatest impact on the food industry.  Even English chef and restauranteur Marco Pierre White says that the sauce is what enables his to create the ‘the most delicious sauce in the world to serve with beef’.lea-perrins-cookbook

See what delicious delights you too can create with the supreme Worcestershire Sauce with the help of the The Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce Cookbook !

Alfred Wainwright’s Lake District Guide Books - 5-year-old Conquers the Peaks

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Sail ChapmanGetting my 5-year-old niece to walk a block can at times be a challenge. But to Sail Chapman, a block would be a baby step. This five-year-old boy is the youngest person to climb all 214 peaks listed in Alfred Wainwright’s Lake District guide books.

After reading an article about the previous record holder who, at the age of five years and 11 months,  had completed all the climbs in Wainwright’s guides, Sail’s parents realized that he had trekked most of them at just 4 years old.

Sail’s accomplishment was documented by his family through  photographs and logs and  is now being verified by the Ramblers Association.

The hikes are a great opportunity for the family to talk and spend time together but when asked what he likes best,  Sail says, “My favourite thing about it is the sandwiches.”

Oh to be five again!Wainwright Pictorial Guides Box Set: 50th Anniversary Edition (Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells)

Alfred Wainwright’s seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells originally published between 1955 and 1966, is made up of reproductions of the British fellwalker’s handwritten manuscript and is considered the standard reference to the 214 fells of the Lake District.   In 2006, a 50th Anniversary Edition Box Set of the guides was released. What a great gift idea for avid hikers!

Top 20 most beloved children’s characters

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

The Guardian has posted a list of the 20 most beloved characters in children’s literature as voted on by children aged 5-12 in the UK. There’s a few I don’t recognize (because I’m Canadian, I’m supposing), and there are a couple for which complete media saturation can be blamed *cough*Hannah Montana*cough* but I was pleasantly surprised to see that children are still reading, and enjoying, some classic characters that I loved as a child.

1. Harry Potter
2. Horrid Henry
3. Tracy Beaker
4. Biff, Chip and Kipper (school reading scheme characters)
5. Hannah Montana
6. Doctor Who
7. Ben 10
8. Winnie the Pooh
9. Captain Underpants
10. Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
11= Cinderella
11= Gruffalo
11= Peter Pan
11= Charlie and Lola
15. Matilda
16= Alex Rider
16= Fantastic Mr Fox
16= Spiderman
19. Thomas The Tank Engine
20. BFG

Forgotten classics

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

The BBC is taking a look at forgotten classics in literature on Radio Four’s Open Book program. They are interviewing 10 British and Irish authors, asking each to suggest the work which they feel is the most under appriciated. After each author has given their pitch the public will be asked to vote on the book they feel is the best example of a forgotten classic. The book which recieves the most votes will be dramatised by Radio Four for our collective listening pleasure.

Forgotten classic books nominees:
William Boyd chose The Polyglots by William Gerhardie
Susan Hill chose The Rector’s Daughter by F M Mayor
Hari Kunzru chose A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
Ruth Rendell chose Many Dimensions by Charles Williams
Colm Toibin chose Esther Waters by George Moore
Beryl Bainbridge chose The Quest for Corvo by A J A Symons
Howard Jacobson chose Rasselas by Samuel Johnson
Val McDermid chose Carol by Patricia Highsmith
Michael Morpurgo chose The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
Joanna Trollope chose Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope

Family Bookshelves Under Threat

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Reading as a family

The UK reading charity Booktrust has just released the results of its survey of over 3,000  children and parents.  While the results show that reading has become more popular with children,  one in 20 families have less than 10 books and only one in three parents read to their children each day. This is particularly sad since 96% of the children said they enjoyed reading and books.

More results from Booktrust’s press release:

• More dads reading with their children than in previous years: 40% increase since September 2008.
• 60% of children like to share a book with their parents/carers as it shows that they like to spend time with them.
• Households with girls have ten more children’s books than those with boys. One in every 20 family homes in
Britain today has fewer than ten books.
• Children enjoying reading more: 96% of all children surveyed say that they enjoy reading, peaking at 99% among
seven year olds and falling to 89% of 12 year olds (overall, this represents a year on year increase of 5%).
• 56% of all parents and carers (and almost half of all parents of 4-5 year olds [48%]) say their child spends more
time facing a screen, playing computer games and watching DVDs rather than reading.
• Parents and carers of boys are twice as likely not to read with them compared to those who have girls.
• Technology, home entertainment and work (through emails and home working) are impacting on book time.
While flexible working is supposed to enable a positive work-life balance, children are increasingly losing out.
• Bookshelves under threat in a third of British homes: one in three parents and carers (34%) say shelves are
increasingly being filled up with DVDs and computer games, especially in homes with older children (this is the
case in 41% of homes of 11-12 year olds).
• The UK’s all time favourite fictional character according to over 1,300 children is Harry Potter, followed by Horrid
Henry and Tracy Beaker. Action heroes Captain Underpants and Ben 10 relegate children’s classic Cinderella and
Peter Pan out of the top 10. Roald Dahl’s characters including Matilda, Charlie (from Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory) and the Fantastic Mr Fox make multiple entries in the top 20 all time favourite characters.

See the full results.

In an effort to encourage more reading, two free books programmes - Booktime and Booked Up - are giving away 2 million free books to schoolchildren across Britain.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - The Book and The Movie

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

The Lovely Bones by Alice SeboldI’ve just finished reading Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones and must say, in all sincerity, it is one of the best books I have ever read. I’ll confess I was reluctant to read it at first - it had been on the bestseller lists and I feared that it was just another book that achieved greatness by hype.

But I was wrong. The book deserved to be a bestseller -  in its own right.

Somehow, Sebold manages to capture the pain and angst of a family experiencing a horrific loss - the murder of their daughter, sister, friend. You can understand the actions of the individuals which could, offhandedly seem irrational, irresponsible or even hurtful. But because you feel their pain, you can understand why they do the things they do.

The sadness is tempered by the fact that Susie, the victim, narrates the story. It’s not that the sadness isn’t there - it most certainly is - but somehow, her presence is comforting. Perhaps it’s this that people suffering such a loss are looking for and that Sebold has skillfully captured.    And no matter what your beliefs are about death and what happens thereafter, there is nothing offensive or off-putting about Sebold’s tale and you can actually view what happens from many different angles.

Having read the book, I fear the movie which is due out in December. Could a film adaptation really do this book justice? Fortunately, the movie was put into the very capable hands of director, Peter Jackson which leads me to believe, okay hope, that this will be the best adaptation that there could be.

But that doesn’t mean that I’ll like it. The characters were so real to me,  I know that the actors will not match what was in my mind. And viewing the trailer confirms that. Susie doesn’t look like “my” Susie, even Holiday the dog doesn’t match. Also, as I feared, the movie seems to have to spell out some of the details that you simply pick up when reading the novel and looks perhaps to focus more on the hunt for the killer than the story does.

Saying that, I probably will watch the movie - I have a couple of months to psyche myself into it and to have the book pale in my memory. I do strongly recommend that the book be read prior to seeing the movie so that you fully “get” what Sebold was portraying and not the “Hollywood” interpretation.

It has also just been announced that The Lovely Bones has been chosen for this year’s Royal Film Performance. The Royal gala is a charitable event with all money raised going to  The Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), which helps families connected to the film and TV industry who are experiencing financial struggles.

But I say it again - read The Lovely Bones now before seeing the movie in December.

Mr Rochester Most Romantic Literary Character

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Jane Eyre with Mr. RochesterHe may be moody and not that handsome but Mr. Rochester from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was named the most romantic literary character in a Mills & Boon poll. I guess most people can overlook the insane wife locked up in a room thing.

Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice fame, often a favourite, took third place while Bernard Cornwell’s character Richard Sharpe trumped him at second position.

The results of the survey were announced earlier today at the Cheltenham Literary festival. Apparently guests were served pink champagne by scantily-clad waiters. Interesting . . .

Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall wins Man Booker Prize

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

The 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction had been awarded to the odds on favourite Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall, a historical novel about the life of King Henry VIII’s advisor Thomas Cromwell.

Along with the prestige of winning the Man Booker Prize, Mantel will also receive a nice fat £50,000 cheque and of course a massive spike in book sales. Upon accepting the award she was quoted saying “I can tell you at this moment I am happily flying through the air,” and if previous Booker sales are any indication she won’t be flying economy.

The book has been selling well for several weeks, pushing prices of signed Wolf Hall copies to over $300, it seems that even if they we’re not placing bets with the bookies people were wagering that Mantel would bring home the prize.