Bookshelf of the Week: ‘Berlin Bookcase’
If you've been following my Bookshelf of the Week feature for a while now then you may remember back in 2008 I featured a rather odd shot of a bookcase bolted to the outside of an apartment block in Tallinn, Estonia. Well for this week's Bookshelf of the Week I feature an equally enigmatic shot, this time taken by Joseph DelPesco on the streets of Berlin. OK, let's work our way through this one. What it looks like to me is that a number of tree trunks have been joined together, and then niches have been hollowed out of each ...
Cover Love: The (RED) series from Penguin Classics
If you follow my Cover Love series then you would know that I have a bit of a thing for typography-based cover designs. In the past I've praised the virtues of the 'Art of the Novella' series from Melville House, hailed the glory that is the Faber 80 Beckett Series from Faber Books, and now, in this latest Cover Love feature, I pay homage to a gorgeous soon-to-be-launched 'rebadged' series of titles from Penguin Classics, which is being published in partnership with AID's awareness fund, (RED). Featured in this Cover ...
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010 regional shortlists unveiled
Get ready for a full on book feast because earlier today the regional shortlists for this year's Commonwealth Writers' Prize were announced, and I'm ready to give you the run down. Before I do that though, I'll give you a bit of background info: Presented annually by the Commonwealth Foundation, the aim of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize is to recognise and award outstanding English-language fiction which has been created within the Commonwealth of Nations. From the shortlists which were announced today, The Prize committee will select a 'best book' and a 'best first book' from each of the four ...
Forethoughts
It’s not every day that one gets to pick up a novel penned by a serving police...
With the read through of my last novel done ‘n’ dusted I thought I’d keep...
Read More Forethoughts
Reading Journal
I hope you will all forgive me for not posting a Reading Journal entry yesterday....
Reading Journal: Monday 15th March 2010
This week I’m keeping myself more off the Net than on, in order to concentrate...
Reading Journal: Remainder of Week 10 2010
So how did my reading for the remainder of last week go then? Well to be honest...
Reading Journal: Monday 8th March 2010
First of all, Hi! It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had the pleasure...
Reading Journal: Monday 15th February 2010
So thankfully I’m back into the full swing of reading again and I managed to keep...
Reading Journal: Remainder of Week 6 2010
Well what a frustrating week last week turned out to be, at least reading-wise....
Read More Posts From Reading Journal
Afterthoughts
In a Nutshell: Once read never forgotten, The House of the Mosque is one of these...
In a Nutshell: Although All That I Have won’t win any prizes for being an all-out...
In a Nutshell: Soothing Music for Stray Cats turns out to be an absolute gem of...
Read More Afterthoughts
Book News
Regional winners announced for Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010I don’t know whether you caught my mammoth Commonwealth Writers’ Prize shortlist post last month, but the regional winners for the prize have now been announced, and the finalists, from which an overall winner will be chosen at the start of April, is as follows: Regional Winners – Best Book Africa: The Double Crown by Marié Heese.... [Read more of this news article]
American Book Review’s Top 40 Bad Books – There’s an interesting run down in the latest edition of American Book Review, on what is considered to be the 40 worst books in American literature. It’s hard enough to define what makes a bad book at the best of times – as the introduction to the article itself admits –... [Read more of this news article]
Kyle Minor short up at Fifty-Two Stories – I really, really, need to catch up on my reading of the short story offerings at Fifty-Two Stories, because another plate of steaming story has been placed on the serving platter, and it looks to be a tasty one. This time it’s a story called The Truth and All Its Ugly, and it comes from Ohio-based... [Read more of this news article]
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010 regional shortlists unveiled
Get ready for a full on book feast because earlier today the regional shortlists for this year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize were announced, and I’m ready to give you the run down. Before I do that though, I’ll give you a bit of background info: Presented annually by the Commonwealth Foundation, the aim of the Commonwealth Writers’... [Read more of this news article]
Best Translated Book Award shortlists announced – Those interested in works-in-translation may like to know that the shortlist for this year’s Best Translated Book Awards (BTBA) has been announced. The winner will be announced on March 10th. Full details over at the Three Percent website. If you want more information (and some may argue better,... [Read more of this news article]
Van Booy makes another appearance at Fifty-Two Stories – As I strive to catch up with them, the reading offerings keep on coming over at Fifty-Two Stories, Harper Perennial’s portal of free short stories. And the latest author to be served up is none other than old favourite Simon van Booy with French Artist Killed in Sunday’s Earthquake,... [Read more of this news article]
Hemon discusses European literature – Fans of short stories, European literature and Aleksandar Hemon would definitely be interested in the latest Guardian Book podcast. In it Hemon talks about the tough job he had selecting shorts for Dalkey’s Best European Fiction 2010 anthology (a book I mentioned briefly in an On The Radar post last August).... [Read more of this news article]
Read More Posts From Book News
Featured Articles
Bookshelf of the Week: Bratislavan Bibliophile
There’s not a lot of detail about the subject for this week’s Bookshelf of the Week – other than it was taken in Bratislava, by fiction writer Michal Hvorecky – but I don’t think it really needs any. With books flowing from wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling, and even spilling out to the next room, this picture definitely... [Read more of this feature]
Cover Love: Knut Hamsun series from Souvenir Press
It’s been a wee while since I’ve done a Cover Love post (my last one was the four-volume Ox-Tales collection from Profile Books), so what better way to bring it back than with a post celebrating eight of the titles I’m reading in my Totally Knut reading project. All published by small independent publisher Souvenir Press, the collection... [Read more of this feature]
Rob’s 5 Reading Rules (inspired by Michael Bhaskar)
Inspired by Michael Bhaskar’s excellent post on the Picador blog, in which he introduces his five new rules for reading which will hopefully help him to tackle his ever sky-reaching book pile, I thought I’d play along on this occasion and offer up five of my own ‘rules for reading’, all of which have me ‘find’ a ton of reading time: 1.... [Read more of this feature]
Behind the Pen: Libby Cone, author of War on the Margins
This week sees the exciting release of War on the Margins by Libby Cone. Well written and engaging, War on the Margins is an important novel, because it not only sheds light on the level of suffering that was inflicted upon the Channel Islanders during the Nazi Occupation of WW2, it also provides an archive for a number of important historical documents... [Read more of this feature]
Bookshelf of the Week: Where books rule supreme
I adore this shot submitted to Flickr by ooh_food and chosen for this week’s Bookshelf of the Week, and I adore it for a couple of reasons. The first reason is the most obvious – wall to wall, floor to ceiling – a sprawling and glorious bookish vista. The second is how domineering the books appear, next to the teensy TV that occupies... [Read more of this feature]
Read More Featured Articles













