Just a really quick Compass Points this week, to
keep you up to date with all the seasonal review coverage and other festive
nonsense!
There have been some lovely reviews for the
Hesperus Minor children’s classics - the Evening Standard featured
The Story of the Treasure Seekers,
The Princess and the Goblin and The Red Fairy Book in their Christmas children’s
books round-up and you can read the full article here . And also
The Scotsman covered The Story of the
Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbitin its books pages saying that the classic novel
‘has lost none of its appeal’.
This reminds me to tell you that the winner of this
autumn’s Hesperus Uncover a Children’s
Classic competition was The
Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge,
which was suggested by Adrienne Byrne who lives in Muswell Hill, London. Elizabeth Goudge is best-known for her children’s
book The Little White Horse which JK Rowling cites as her favourite
children’s book and a major inspiration for Harry Potter. The Runaways (also previously published under the
title Linnets and Valerians) was originally published in 1964 and has
been out of print since 2001. All judges
(author Annie Dalton, children’s book critic for The Times Amanda Craig, Foyles
children’s book buyer Jennifer Bell and Waterstones children’s book buyer
Melissa Cox) were in agreement this classic, magical book deserved a new lease
of life and it will fit perfectly into the Hesperus Minor
list.
The Runaways will be published February 2104 along with
The Children of the New Forest and
Pollyanna. I loved these titles as a
child, so I am personally very excited to see them back in print. The foreword
for The Children of the New Forest will
be written by Michael Rosen and the foreword for Pollyanna will be written by Anne Fine – and of course the introduction to
The Runaways will be written by the
competition winner, Adrienne Byrne.
This Monday – 23rd December – is the
start of the ten-part BBC Radio 4 programme Books at Bedtime where
actor Martin Jarvis will be reading
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the
Window and Disappeared. The episodes will be on at 22.45 every day
until January 3rd. This is sure to lead to even more sales of this colossal
bestseller!
Well, that’s it for publishing news this week;
but if the amount of books in your shop yet to be sold is really getting you
down, then you could always take them home and make them all into a Christmas
wreath – as suggested here on YouTube.
And in amongst all the festive fun and games –
please spare time to think about this important Christmas
message…
Onto Christmas music – what is the all time best
Christmas song I wonder? I’ve always had a weakness for Wham and Mariah
Carey myself, although George – even you can’t carry off that furry hat – and Mariah – what on earth
are you doing to that poor reindeer.
I
do love more retro tune though, and this group - the Overtones singing a well known ditty on
Radio Two this week made me smile. And I really like this new song from Kim Wilde
- Hey Mr Snowman .
It’s a rather shortened version of Compass Points
today, as this week we have all been in London at the Compass Sales Conference,
listening to our wonderful publishers tell us all about the fabulous titles they
are bringing out next year! There are some real goodies coming up I can tell you
– so here is a taster of just a few that caught my eye!
Desert for the Day is coming from Emex. This is a truly
scrumptious idea – a book of 365 delicious pudding recipes – arranged with one
for every day of the year – in suitably seasonal order. It is a £19.99 hardback
with lots of mouth-watering colour photos throughout – definitely one to tempt
all that love sugar and spice and all things nice!
And talking of recipes for those with a taste for
the white powdery stuff; well no-one could be a bigger fan (not even David
Cameron) of Nigella Lawson than I am; but nevertheless I did find the following
spoof clip of the Domestic Goddess herself extremely
funny!
Everywhere from Oxygen is a passionate and witty
defence of the many joys and consolations of reading – something I’m sure
booksellers everywhere will well appreciate. Helen Dunmore said called it “a
brilliant travel guide to the city of books” which sums in up very
nicely.
I’m sure there will be a great deal of commemorative
publishing throughout 2014 to mark the start of the First World War. An
interesting title on that subject caught my eye coming from Freight.
Entitled Outside Verdun, it is a novel
based on the experiences of a German soldier – a classic text, long out of
print, which should find a wide audience with this timely
reissue.
Of course it was “only” a comedy show, but
nevertheless I know I am not the only one who find that watching the final
moments of Blackadder Goes Forth is an extremely poignant reminder of
the sacrifice that so many made in the Great War.
Benedict Cumberbatch – what can I say? You are indeed Cumberlicious, so I am very pleased that Plexus
have seen fit to publish a pictorial biography of you – well done that
publisher.
To take my mind off Benedict, perhaps I’d better
have a read of Apocalypse Next Tuesday –
a wacky satire on the end of the world. This battle between good and evil is
coming from Hesperus, and by all accounts is extremely funny.
Propaganda. Used throughout history to try and convince us –
without us realising we’re being convinced – it can be a powerful weapon indeed.
And also a very funny one when viewed with the hindsight of history. This new
large format paperback coming from Arcturus is edited by Tony Husband, and contains many brilliant cartoon
examples.
Rocks Off is a terrific biography of the Rolling Stones
coming from Birlinn – which plots of the life of Mick and co using fifty
of their top album tracks. Hmm, that definitely makes you wonder what is
the best Rolling Stones album track? I’ve always liked the Harlem Shuffle, but
maybe that’s just because of the promo video with the crazy
cartoons!
Have you ever wondered if there is someone other
than you living in your home? Possibly not a thought that has occurred to many
of us – although at this time of year I definitely wonder whether there is
someone other than me using my credit card. However, Nagasaki is a novel coming
from Gallic, which is
based on a true story where that very scenario occurred. It is set in
France, where a man discovers quite
by accident, that there is indeed a total stranger who has taken up residence in
his house – and he has been living alongside her for quite sometime before the
penny finally drops! This book has sold over 75,000 copies in
France – and has won many awards. It
is a most intriguing premise and I for one am looking forward to finding out a
bit more!
The M25 – even if you live nowhere near London you’ve undoubtedly
heard of this demonic ring road. Jam: One Night, One
Road, Many Stories is an ace novel coming from Polygon, which
explored how one almighty traffic jam on the M25 leads to a cataclysmic
collision of many different stories, secrets and lives.
Wild Things Publishing are revealing more of those secret gems around the
UK: Hidden Beaches will show you exactly where the
best palaces are to paddle, swim surf, sunbathe or just
admire.
So to finish, here’s a three
minute clip of the best 25 beaches in the world – just the thing to
take your mind of the cold, rain and fog that the UK is currently
swathed in! Have a watch and see if you agree with the
choices!
To kick off this week, we’ve just heard about a
fantastic new series which will start on ITV on
Monday 6 January at 8pm entitled A Great
Welsh Adventure with Griff Rhys Jones. This is running over two
months; in eight 30 minute episodes. ITV are expecting really good viewing
figures of around 5 million for this series as Griff is such a popular
presenter, and it is being aired at peak viewing time. I’m pleased too say that
Parthian is publishing the accompanying full-colour hardback edition
(9781909844698 £4.99) in January which features lots of lovely photographs from
the series. In this informal guide to Wales, Griff Rhys Jones rediscovers “the land of his
aunties”. Born in Cardiff but raised in Essex, he
returns home on a mission to explore the real Wales: the one
beyond the tourist trail that exists in the deep beautiful countryside, full of
hidden treasures and eccentric characters that make this country so unique. With
help from a hidden hand, Griff is set a number of quests in eight distinct
regions that not only test his knowledge of his homeland but his body too, as he
climbs, abseils, rides and canoes his way through some truly breathtaking
scenery. Griff’s journey takes him through Snowdonia, Anglesey, and the Gower;
mid Wales, Brecon,
Pembrokeshire, north Wales and Monmouthshire. Packed with
all manner of weird, wonderful and enlightening facts, you’ll learn as much
about Wales as you do about Griff! And is
he or isn’t he insufficiently Welsh?!
There was an interesting article by Griff in the
Guardian a couple of weeks ago (which mentions the book and TV series)
about moving on with life following the sad death of comedy partner Mel Smith which you can read here
A big feature in the Sun this week for Sex: 369 Facts to Blow You Away by Sadie Cayman. Join her on a randy romp through the
glorious world of sex, as we discover the longest orgasm on record, the world’s
first penis museum, and why every man can travel as fast as Usain Bolt – well,
his sperm, that is! This book is packed full of extraordinary and fascinating
facts and would make a good present for a partner or fun-loving friend. Did you
know for example that the most orgasms experienced by a woman in one hour is
134; the record for a man is 16. Thirty minutes of active sex burns
approximately 200 calories and the proteins in sperm make a very effective
anti-wrinkle treatment! This is a £5.99 hardback from Summersdale, which
has just been published.
Order Sex here (not sure this sentence will get past
the porn filters, but let’s give it a go!)
Some good publicity for three Carcanet titles
in the Christmas book features. Her Birth
(978 1 847772 38 1 pb) by Rebecca Goss
will be included in the Daily MailChristmas Round Up of Best
Books. The Greek Anthology, Book
XVII (9781906188054) by Greg Delanty
has been listed in Times Literary Supplement’s Books of the Year,
selected by A.E. Stallings. “In these archly archaic ventriloquisms,
Delanty’s wry wit comes through.” And finally, the Sunday Telegraph
Supplement Seven Magazine featured Muriel
Spark’s biography of Mary Shelley
(978 1 847772 37 4 pb £12.95) “a brief but brilliant biography of Mary
Shelley which has all the economy and ruthless insight of her
novels.”
The Totes Ridictionary by Balthazar
Cohen will be featured in the Sunday Times Style magazine at
the end of December – there will be a big two page spread on it and then they’ll
run an image from it each week. There certainly has been a crazy amount of media
nterest this year in words like “deets”, “jel”, “obvs” and “twerk” – and The
Totes Ridictionary is the ideal way to keep ridiculously up to date
with the way language has changed during 2013 – in emails, tweets, Facebook
posts, text messages, blogs and even real-life conversations. It’s a paperback
from Plexus, with over 60 photos and illustrations (978 0 85965 511
8).
And if you’d rather have a visual definition of the
word “twerk” – well then take it
away Miley – or should I say
put it away Miley.
We mentioned that Andrew Marr was seem
reading and enjoying Good for Nothing by
Brandon Graham a couple of weeks ago –
and the word of mouth buzz is definitely building for this title. Audrey Niffenegger, the author of
The Time Traveller’s Wife said “Brandon Graham is a very funny,
painfully observant, no-holds-barred American writer. … This is a brilliant
book. When times are really horrible it's good to be able to laugh (especially
at ourselves).” This amazing debut novel, containing humour with a bite,
covers a week when Flip Mellis tries to rid himself of excess weight and solve
the problems of his life when a suicide attempt – like much else in his life –
fails to achieve its goal. Overweight, weak-willed, and quick to criticise
others, Flip has a self-fulfilling fatalism which leads him to stumble through
each day, hoping against hope that he can get a job, mend his marriage and
rebuild his life. Perceptively observed characters from American small-town life
populate the book in hilarious cameos and get in the way of Flip’s well-meaning
attempts at reform. This is approachable, laugh-out-loud humour and comes from
same agent and editor as the 2012 runaway bestseller The Hundred-Year-Old Man
Who Climbed of the Window and Disappeared. It is coming out in paperback
(978-0-9551810-7-8 £8.99) in January from new independent publisher,
Skyscraper Publications. Order Good for Nothing here
Can you name 10 famous Belgians? Or do you think it
is just boring Brussels and all those Eurocrats on the gravy
train? Until 1993, Alec le Sueur had
never been to Belgium, so it
came as some surprise when in August that year he found himself at the altar of
a small church in Flanders, reciting wedding
vows in Flemish. It was the start, for better or for worse, of a long
relationship with this unassuming and much maligned little country. He decided
to put worldwide opinion to the test: is Belgium really
as boring as people say it is? Bottoms up in
Belgium: Seeking the High Points of the Low Land sees Alex immersing
himself in Belgian culture – and sampling the local beer and ‘cat poo’ coffee
along the way. He discovers a country of contradictions; of Michelin stars and
processed food, where Trappist monks make the best beer in the world and grown
men partake in vertical archery and watch roosters sing (not necessarily at the
same time). This colourful and eccentric jaunt is proof that Belgium isn’t
just a load of waffle. It’s published in paperback (978 1 84953 247 1 £8.99) by
Summersdale.
We are delighted to announce that The Summer My Father Died (9781846590948,
paperback £8.99) by Yudit Kiss and
published by Telegram has been shortlisted for the 2014 Jewish
Quarterley Wingate Prize. This prize is awarded to a book that explores
themes of Jewish concern in any of its myriad possible forms either explicitly
or implicitly. The other shortlisted titles are Shani Boianjiu’s The People
of Forever Are Not Afraid, Otto Dov Kulka’s Landscapes of the Metropolis
of Death, Ben Marcus’ The Flame Alphabet, Anouk Markovits’ I Am
Forbidden and Edith Pearlman’s Binocular Vision. Yudit Kiss grew up a communist in Budapest, soaking up her
father’s ideology unquestioningly. As her father lies dying, Yudit tries to
understand the enigma surrounding his life. As she digs deeper into his tragic
history Yudit is forced to confront the contradictions and lies woven into the
life of her family – and her country – through the dramatic twists of twentieth
century Hungary. Lyrical and poetic, The Summer My Father Died is a powerful memoir.
The winner will be announced on 26 February, during Jewish Book Week, at a
ceremony at Kings
Place in London.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica - one of the most breath-taking and inspiring
adventure stories of all time. Shackleton’s Boat
Journey by Frank Worsley is
published in new B format edition by Birlinn to mark the anniversary of
this classic tale of British bravery, loyalty and inspiring leadership. Ernest Shackleton was 11th in the BBC public poll
of 100 Greatest Britons – ahead of Sir Francis Drake, Charles Dickens and
Florence Nightingale and Sir Edmund Hillary called this “A breath-taking story
of courage under the most appalling conditions”. On August 1, 1914, on the eve
of World War I, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his hand-picked crew embarked in HMS
Endurance from London’s West India Dock, for an expedition to
the Antarctic. It was to turn into one of the most breathtaking survival stories
of all time. Even as they coasted down the channel, Shackleton wired back to
London to offer
his ship to the war effort. The reply came from the First Lord of the Admiralty,
one Winston Churchill: “Proceed.” And proceed they did. When the Endurance was
trapped and finally crushed to splinters by pack ice in late 1915, they drifted
on an ice floe for five months, before getting to open sea and launching three
tiny boats as far as the inhospitable, storm-lashed ElephantIsland. They drank seal oil and ate baby
albatross (delicious, apparently). From there Shackleton himself and seven
others – the book’s author Frank Worsley
among them –went on, in a 22-foot open boat, for an unbelievable 800 miles,
through the Antarctic seas in winter, to South Georgia and rescue. It is an
extraordinary story of courage and even good-humour among men who must have felt
certain, secretly, that they were going to die. Worsley’s account, first
published in 1940, captures that bulldog spirit exactly: uncomplaining, tough,
competent, modest and deeply loyal.
And talking of breathtaking journeys made under the
most appalling conditions over hundreds of miles – what do we all think of
Amazon’s ambitious idea to get their drones to deliver the books? Have a look here to find out more.
Hang on a minute though, Waterstone’s have a much better plan. Very Harry Potter, and I like it a
lot!
But do the general public actually want to get books for Christmas anyway – whether or not they are bought in a bookshop or delivered by an owl? Well this little brat certainly didn’t: I must say I found this clip absolutely hilarious!
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