Category: Literature

Sadly one of the few remaining book chains in the UK has gone into receivership, and it seems we’ll shortly be seeing the end of Borders. I’m immensely saddened by this. Few things make me as happy as wandering into a bookshop for a bit of a mooch around. I’m lucky. I work in the…

A new Oxford Street Waterstone’s opening soon. I love a good bookshop. I’m addicted to them. Yes – I certainly use Amazon a great deal, but browsing is something that simply can’t be replicated online. If you go to Amazon – despite the store’s best efforts, it’s hard to replicate the browsing feeling you get…

No – I’m not talking about next week’s adaption of The Diary of Anne Frank, but books and their authors on TV. There’s an interesting little discussion over at The Guardian about whether or not the Richard & Judy effect will continue with their new selection of titles now that they’re hidden away on Watch…

I love bookshops. No really. I absolutely love them. Working in central London is great because there are a multitude of them, they open late, there are chains and specialists, and if I find myself with some time on my hands, then they’re the obvious place to go. I like to visit at least every…

A fascinating piece from Saturday’s Guardian explains how going forward, Picador will be publishing nearly all their literary fiction straight to paperback with an expected £7.99 price point. A limited number of guaranteed sellers will retain their hardback status, and some titles will get published in both formats – one aimed at collectors/fans. To my…

Did you know that Christmas is coming? I was so annoyed when I saw my first Christmas advert on the 20th October. I can really do without sleigh bells before the clocks go back. Anyway, the Christmas season is well upon us now, and the celebrity books are rolling out left, right and centre. On…

Robert McCrum in today’s Observer has written about why It’s time to ditch the prize guys – arguing that it’s time for the Booker Prize to be radically reformed from the ground up. Except, it’s really not very clear why exactly he feels it needs this change. Certainly the Booker no longer gets the TV…

I love Amazon. They contribute literally pennies to the running of this site. Let’s put it this way, I’ve never actually reached the threshold for getting even an Amazon token from them from people clicking the links on this site. Nonetheless, I use Amazon a reasonable amount, and they send lots of email advertising as…

I noted a few weeks ago that following the controversy over Tintin in the Congo, it was storming the Amazon charts (it’s currently 115). So it was interesting to note that in Hergé’s own home country, state prosecutors are considering whether charges can be brought. Ridiculous, I know. Plenty of racist/sexist/homophobic books are available to…

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that Tintin in the Congo is currently sitting at number five in the Amazon best sellers list? This follows everyone suddenly noticing that a book first published between 1930 and 1931 is actually a bit racist. I don’t believe that this is particularly new news, and…

This is written as a review of the most recent, and sadly last, Zen novel. But really, it’s a reflection of Michael Dibdin’s work. And a fine body it is too.

In recent years there’s been this awful new “non-fiction” genre of books develop. It started with the Dave Pelzer books which detailed his terrible upbringing. It was so bad, he got a trilogy out of it. Anyway, the books sold loads with their distinctive white covers and distant looking photos. There was plenty more misery…