Daily Bookshot: Madras Quartet

So you may remember at the start of last month I spoke about ‘new publisher on the block’ Madras Press, and their quest to create a publishing platform for the novella story-form; a publishing platform that would also be involved in raising funds for charitable causes. Well the first four titles which make up the first series have now officially launched, and to mark the occasion I’m using today’s (returning) Daily Bookshot to show you the first set of four ‘in the flesh’. From left to right:

• The Third Elevator by Aimee Bender
• Sweet Tomb by Trinie Dalton
• Bobcat by Rebecca Lee
• A Mere Pittance by Sumanth Prabhaker

So what are my first impressions? Well the first thing that struck me about these books when I first turned them out onto my desk was their ‘unique’ format, in terms of size. Measuring 5in x 5in – a perfect square – these books (maybe ‘booklets’ is a more appropriate term) are certainly portable. Their squareness perhaps makes them a little awkward for the average pocket (I know because I’ve tried, without success, to pocket them while ‘walk reading’), but they’re perfect for bag or briefcase, with hardly any weight consideration to worry about. The same ’squareness’ however, does make the books a real pleasure to hold, and to skim the eyes across.

Have I actually read any of these titles yet? Actually yes I have – all four. But I’m holding back on offering any in-depth opinion right now, in favour of keeping it for my official afterthoughts, which I will be posting in the next day or two.

What I will say for now though is as a whole the four titles in this first series certainly make for an eclectic mix. From fateful dinner parties to magical elevators, and sugar-loving witches to prolonged telephone calls, there’s a whole spectrum of storytelling to be found in the pages of these books. The big question is whether the calibre of that storytelling is up to the same standard as the delicious aesthetic quality of the books? I’ll let you know what I thought, very, very soon.

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