Apparently this weekend is the one where most of us
fall off the wagon, and give up our diets. Well, a finished copy of The Superfood Cookbook by Dana Jacobi (978 0992625443) published by Emex
has just arrived in the office – and it looks just the thing for helping us
all stick to those New Year’s resolutions of eating properly. It is packed full
of nutritious meals for any time of day using nature’s healthiest foods. The
styling is very modern and contemporary, and it focuses on the core plant-based
ingredients (vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes) that are the building
blocks of healthy recipes. Emphasising easy meal planning, the recipes are
organised by course: breakfast, mains, sides & snacks and desserts. The Superfoods Cookbook also includes stunning
visual galleries of key ingredients showcasing the vast array of whole foods
readily available in local markets, with descriptions that reveal health
benefits and suggest how to prepare them. Special features throughout the book
offer additional quick ideas for using superfoods, such as strawberries, kale,
chillies, melons, butternut squash, and more, in easy meals or snacks. It is a
really attractive large format paperback with terrific full colour photographs
throughout, and you can find out more about the Superfoods Cookbook and order it
here.
Something else that might just help is Happy Hormones, Slim Belly by Jorge Cruise; just published by Hay House
(978 1401943295 ) This title is aimed specifically at women over 40, and is a
new approach that goes against conventional wisdom of slashing calories and
spending hours at the gym. It uses breakthrough science to confirm that cutting
sugar for two days, then adding it back for five days, will keep your insulin
low, which cuts belly fat, and your serotonin high, which makes you
happy. Happy Hormones, Slim Belly is the
perfect guide to balance your hormones, turn your metabolism to fat-burning
mode, and get your mood soaring day after day. This title adapts the vogue for
5/2 diets into one of Jorge Cruise’s
incredibly successful programmes – he is the author of three bestselling weight
loss titles which have been translated into 15 languages with 5 million copies
in print. Jorge’s title The Belly Fat Cure has been among the top-selling
items for Hay House since its publication. If you need further encouragement
then you can have a look at him in
action on a US chat show here. This book seems to combine the two
ideas which are most in vogue at present – i.e. cutting out foods for two days a
week – and also seriously regulating your sugar intake – and not surprisingly it
is getting a lot of publicity. It is excerpted in the Feb edition of
Woman magazine (circ. 250,000), as well as Bella magazine (circ.
209,022) and the Sun in January (circ.2 million).
And if your vice is not the dreaded doughnut but the
secret ciggie – then none other then Richard Branson on his own website has some advice to offer – and
hurrah, it’s to recommend some Compass titles– the massively bestselling
Allen Carr series – published by
Arcturus. Stop Smoking with Allen Carr
(978-1-84858-997-1 £12.99 hardback & audio CD), Finally Free: The Easy Way to Stop Smoking for
Women (£7.99 paperback 978-1-84858-979-7) and Stop Smoking Now Without Gaining Weight (£9.99
paperback & audio CD 978-1-84837-373-0) are three of the biggest sellers. To
date Allen Carr’s books have sold in
excess of 14 million copies in more than 35 different languages and over 50
countries across the globe, so don’t forget to have them in stock!
The Bluffer’s Guide to
Etiquette (£6.99 paperback 978
1909937000) was featured in the Daily Mail this Thursday, and was also
reviewed in the Financial Times under the heading “The polite way to
put a sock in it". This paperback
has just been published, and is by William
Hanson, who is considered by Sky News to be “the
UK 's leading consultant in
etiquette & protocol” and is widely regarded as the UK ’s
freshest and most trusted authority on etiquette and protocol. His youth,
coupled with his old-fashioned values, gives him credence to adjudicate on
modern manners.
Coming in March are new paperbacks on two subjects
which never seem to go out of date – and as every bookseller knows, there is a
large army of nutters – sorry eager customers – just waiting to buy them. Firstly, Tyrants:
History's 100 Most Evil Despots & Dictators (9781782126966). This
title from Arcturus by Nigel
Cawthorne introduces one hundred of the most infamous and despised
characters history has ever seen. Including familiar names as well as
lesser-known and more recent examples, the most evil characters of history are
profiled and analysed. You can order Tyrants here and of course we can’t pass
by this great opportunity to watch some of the baddies profiled in action in one
of the brilliant Epic Rap Battles - Stalin, Lenin, Putin –
what more could you want!
And secondly, also from Arcturus, Crop Circles by Steve
and Karen Alexander (£9.99 9781841934013). Through stunning
photography and detailed analysis, this lavish, groundbreaking book explores the
mysteries of crop circles around the world. This revised and updated edition
reveals the latest in crop circle phenomena and is illustrated throughout with
stunning colour and aerial photographs and claims to reveals the hidden secrets
behind crop circles by two world authorities on the subject. You can order Crop Circles here. And whether or not you
are a believer or a sceptic, I’m sure you will enjoy this crackpot – sorry
highly scientific – video on
the subject.
Zealot: the Life and Times of Jesus of
Nazareth by Reza Aslan certainly attracted plenty of publicity
when it came out in hardback last year, and in March it is published by
Westbourne Press in paperback (9781908906298). The Telegraph said
it was “A lean, fast-paced account of First Century Palestine , often revealing
and always finely written, which attempts to locate Christ within his historical
landscape.” Others called it “A bold, powerfully argued re-visioning of
the most consequential life ever lived” and Publisher’s Weekly said
“Compulsively readable and written at a popular level, this superb work is
highly recommended.” Reza Aslan is an
excellent self publicist – even going as far as to make a somewhat controversial
video in order to sell his book this Christmas (shades of Life of Brian
methinks) which you can watch here. Whether or not it was thanks
to this bit of self promotion, the hardback has certainly sold very well – and
you can order the paperback of Zealot
here
As well as being a time for diets and
self-sacrifice, January is also the time when many are determined to make this the year they learn
to drive – and also when thousands of
kids round the countries are staring to get seriously stressed about this
summer’s exams. As someone who has both of these scenarios unfolding in my
house; I will definitely be having a look at two little books from
Summersdale; Driving Test Tips
(9781849535380) by Andrew Adams and
Exam Busting Tips (9781849535397) by
Sam Morgan. These books of short,
straightforward tips are highly useful for any student and previous editions
have sold over 11,000 copies. Exam Tips
identifies the most common stumbling blocks and is crammed with practical tips
on how to overcome academic angst. It is the one-stop expert guide to
co-ordinating revision and lifestyle during any exam period, no matter what
level of education you are at and contains advice which is relevant to tackling
all kinds of exams, from SATs to degrees.
Driving
Test Tips has lots of these short, straightforward tips which make
the book easily digestible and indispensible for the nervous learner driver. If
you want an example of how not to drive, then have a look at how Mike Wasowski
gets on in the hilarious Pixar short film Mike's New
Car. Or for something a little more retro – but still extremely
funny, have a listen to the classic
Bob Newhart sketch from 1960.
A Well Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp
Sendker is published by Birlinn in March, (9781846972850) and
is the follow-up to the international best-selling novel The Art of Hearing Heartbeats which was selected
as one of Amazon’s Rising Stars in spring 2013 and has sold 10,000 copies
in the UK to date. The Art of Hearing
Heartbeats has sold over 200,000 copies in the USA and
Jan Philipp Sendker’s vivid and
evocative prose has won praise from critics and readers all over the world. In
this new novel, almost ten years have passed since Julia Win came back from
Burma , her father’s native country.
Though she is a successful Manhattan lawyer, her private life is at a
crossroads; her boyfriend recently left her, she has suffered a miscarriage, and
she is, despite her wealth, unhappy with her professional life. Julia is lost
and exhausted. One day, in the middle of an important business meeting, she
hears a stranger’s voice in her head starting to ask questions Julia has been
trying to avoid. Why do you live alone? To whom do you feel close? What do you
want in life? Interwoven with Julia’s story is that of a Burmese woman who finds
her world turned upside down when Burma goes to war and calls on her two young
sons to be child soldiers. This spirited novel, like The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, explores the most
inspiring and passionate terrain: the human heart. Order A Well Tempered Heart here
It’s always extremely satisfying when a film based
on a book does well, as it inevitably leads customers back onto the bookshops to
seek out the original title – and of course the multi Oscar nominated 12 Years a Slave is no exception – the
Hesperus edition of this searing classic (978-1843914716) is outselling
the Penguin film tie- in edition in many shops. And whatever you may think of
the recent adaptations of The Hobbit and Sherlock, there’s no
denying that Tolkien’s and Conan Doyle’s words remain as good as ever.
There’s always room for a good spoof however, and
perhaps this alternative ending for the Desolation of Smaug might entertain
you?
Or what about this hilariously operatic version of Sherlock as a
musical!
Talking of musicals, I still love this very funny combination of Sherlock, Doctor who and the sublime lyrics of
Irving Berlin!
That’s all for now
folks, more next week!
This newsletter is sent weekly to over 600
booksellers, publishers and publicists. If you would like to order any of the
titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles
Website or talk to your Compass Sales representative.
I love that old Bob Newhart sketch - still hilarious even 50 yrs later!
ReplyDelete