Meet Charles Mysak, cigar-puffing bookseller extraordinaire - I've always been a fan of strong real-life characters, and there are certainly plenty of those in the wonderful world of books. Take cigar-puffing Charles Mysak, who has sold books on the … [Read more...]
‘Book Bites’ for Tuesday 6th September 2011
September 6, 2011 By 3 Comments
Man Booker shortlist announced - Although I'm not a fan of the unfair amount of coverage it gets, I'm always interested to see what books make it on to the Man Booker shortlist every year. You may remember that the longlist announcement caused quite … [Read more...]
‘Book Bites’ for Monday 29th August 2011
August 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Taking Murakami to the stage - The Economist has a nice little write up on the new Haruki Murakami play which has been taking Edinburgh by storm this past week. Adapted from Murakami's novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Stephen Earnhart's adaptation … [Read more...]
‘Book Bites’ for Saturday 13th August 2011
August 13, 2011 By 3 Comments
Readers like spoilers - According to researchers at U.C. San Diego people prefer to know how a story ends before they read it. A team at the university ran three separate experiments using twelve short stories - from the likes of Chekhov, Updike, and … [Read more...]
‘Book Bites’ for Friday 12th August 2011
August 12, 2011 By 4 Comments
Touring the literary hotspots of Edinburgh - If you ever wanted an easy to follow Google Maps-based interactive guide to the places in Edinburgh which are settings in books, you're in luck. The good people of Edinburgh City Libraries have produced an … [Read more...]
From Stray Cat to Perfect Architect – Jayne Joso to publish 2nd novel
December 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I'm a little beside myself with excitement today because I've got the pleasure of announcing to you that Jayne Joso's 2nd novel - 'Perfect Architect' - will be available in a bookish retail outlet near you (in the UK at least), sometime in May 2011. … [Read more...]
‘Book Bites’ for Thursday 9th December 2010
December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Stinging Fly offer appealling subscription deals - People got a heads up on Twitter today from David Hayden (@seventydys - Publishing Director of The Folio Society), telling them that The Stinging Fly - the wonderful Irish press responsible for first … [Read more...]
Canongate unveil ‘groundbreaking’ iPad-only publication
December 9, 2010 By 5 Comments
If like me you’ve embraced the digital age and tooled yourself up with an iPad, then you may be more than a little excited to hear that Canongate Books have, with the aid of software developers Popleaf, dipped a first toe into the iPad app … [Read more...]
‘Book Bites’ for Tuesday 21st September 2010
September 21, 2010 By 2 Comments
Paris Review website opens legendary 'Interviews' archives to all - I don't know if you've seen the snazzy new Paris Review website yet, but if not then you may well want to pop on over and have a gander. However, it's not the peachy new colour … [Read more...]