Reading Copy Book Blog

The shortlisted nominees for the 2012 Orange Prize have been announced.

I’m probably going to have to read some of Ed Smith’s books sooner rather than later. The Guardian reviews his latest book, Luck: What It Means and Why It Matters – a key element for anyone who has made a living in professional sport. One of Smith’s aims is to challenge the view popularised by [...]

Our latest Avid Reader newsletter is out. This time we address the subject of talking animals and objects, otherwise known as It narratives and anthropomorphism. This literary phenomenon covers many genres. We don’t hesitate for a second when a child’s toy or a rabbit or Dora’s backpack speaks and offers some words of wisdom. There’s [...]

Good Reads has built an infographic about Dystopian fiction – I’m sure you can guess why. Two words… Hunger…. Games.

A week ago the NY Times ran an article about cookbook ghostwriters and movie star/cookbook author Gwyneth Paltrow has reacted with anger after the writer, claimed her book, My Father’s Daughter, was ghosted by Julia Turshen.

The Daily Telegraph writes on Robert Louis Stevenson and enlightened me regarding the inspiration for Long John Silver from Treasure Island – poet and journalist WE Henley. Henley was a friend of the author, and had a wooden leg and a booming personality. He also edited an edition of Robert Burns’ poetry and wrote an [...]

It can’t be easy. Writing is usually a solitary profession and yet collaborations between authors are easy to find. It was Good Omens when Neil Gaiman worked with Terry Pratchett – a better combination of funny and weird is near impossible to find. And of course, Stephen King and Peter Straub were a Talismanic combination. [...]

Author William Gay died last week at the age of 68 and USA Today writes about his career this morning. Gay was the son of Tennessee sharecroppers, and worked as a carpenter and drywall hanger, and yet was a talented writer. He didn’t get anything published until late in life. He wrote three novels – [...]

If you are writing a love letter today for your Valentine, then please heed the advice of Hilary Mantel, Alain de Botton and Jeanette Winterson, who have each offered tips on this difficult art in the Telegraph. Recorded delivery is a no no according to Mantel. Trust the postman. Do not get her out of [...]

JD Salinger died two years ago. To date, no new writing has been revealed or released. The literary world seems frustrated, but do we have any right to be?