Is election fever building in your bookshop – or is
election apathy threatening to swamp you? Some would say that from the
incoherent riots of a disaffected youth to Russell Brand’s call to reject the
ballot box, Britain
In this timely and innovative
call to arms, Paul Twivy argues that we
need a drastic overhaul of our political system at every level, forging a new
relationship between the people, the state and the corporate world. Radical,
entertaining and thought-provoking, Be Your Own
Politician maintains that a newly energised, politically engaged
society really is ours for the taking – and shows us how to claim it. This book
is getting some good publicity – here’s a great review in the Mirror which calls Paul Twivy’s ideas “thought-provoking” and
“brilliant”. Be Your Own Politician: Why its
Time for a New Kind of Politics by Paul
Twivy is out now from
Biteback (978 1849548861, pb £9.99).
Which famous book titles can you name that are based on lines of poetry – and do you know which poems they’ve come from?? Well here
are ten for starters...
A lot of literary anniversaries at the moment; as
well as it being National Poetry
Month, World Book Night
was this week of course – and on Thursday it was Shakespeare’s birthday.
What a lot he has given us – here are eight modern novels all inspired by the bard; and
here’s a fun visual reminder of all just some of the many
sayings and phrases he has contributed to the English
language.
Still on the subject of great literary creations,
Robson Press have just published this heart-rending true story
referencing one of the most famous. The Real Peter
Pan by Piers Dudgeon tells the
tragic tale of Michael, fourth son of Sylvia and Arthur Llewelyn Davies who was
the inspiration for one of literature’s most enduring characters. Ever since J M
Barrie struck up an intense friendship with the family after a chance encounter
in Kensington
Gardens Barrie , however, Michael
was an active participant in the world of Peter Pan, from the mermaid’s
pool of Kensington Gardens to the fairies that inhabited Barrie ’s native Scotland Barrie
Watch the trailer
for the new film Pan here – looks like fun!
All children, except one, grow up is surely one of the greatest first lines of all
time. But how well do you booksellers really know your opening lines?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that it was the best of times; the
clocks were striking thirteen and if you really want to hear about it, call me
Ishmael?
Test yourselves here – an excellent way to spend a
Friday!
A bit of a buzz is building for a cracking bit of
travel/nature writing coming in July – Sixty Degrees
North: Around the World in Search of Home by Malachy Tallack . It's just been the Editor's
Choice for July in the Bookseller and we have received a very strong
endorsement from Robert Macfarlane (bestselling author of The Old
Ways and Landmarks).
“Thank you very much for sending me Malachy's Sixty Degrees of North.
It's a book I've been looking forward to reading for some while - and I wasn't
disappointed when I did. The first thirty pages in particular are quite
brilliant, I think, as is the last chapter. The whole is held together not just
by the line of latitude … but also by a tight weave of images and
preoccupations, and of course by the sense of unresolved loss and grief, that
flows through the whole. In the fineness of its investigation of the meanings of
home, and the needs for travel, it reminded me of William Fiennes's The Snow
Geese. It is a brave book in its honesty and self-exposure, I think, and a
beautiful book in terms of the subtlety of its thinking and the quality of its
descriptive prose, that at times possesses the lucidity of the northern
light in which so much of it is set. I wish it very well indeed.” Sixty Degrees North is a deeply personal book and
also a book of travel and culture, of history and natural history. The book
explores some of the places that share the latitude of sixty degrees north –
which include the author’s home in Shetland, but also Norway, Sweden, Finland
and Greenland, the southern coast of Alaska and the great spaces of Russia and
Canada The sixtieth parallel marks a borderland between the northern and
southern worlds and Malachy Tallack
focuses on the landscapes and natural environments along the parallel, and the
ways that people have interacted with those landscapes. How has human history
been influenced by the climate and by natural resources? How have people shaped
and changed the land? What is the relationship between culture and place? Within
the book, each location is explored through personal observations, interviews
and encounters with local people, and references to historical and contemporary
texts. These are woven together to create portraits of each place that are both
intimate and illuminating. This is the sort of book which BBC Radio 4
listeners are sure to love and we are hoping for it to be a Book of the
Week or Book at Bedtime – there is already review coverage lined up
in the Guardian and there’s sure to be more. Sixty Degrees North: Around the World in Search of Home by
Malachy Tallack (hb, 978 1846973369, £12.99) is published in July by
Birlinn and you can order it and find out more
here
After three non-fiction titles I think we’re now
ready for a good old romantic, thoughtful, funny paperback – like something Jo
Jo Moyes would write – and Close of Play
by P J Whiteley is just such a
story! It’s a tale of missed opportunities and a chance at redemption – and the
fear of opening our hearts to another when we think we’ve forgotten how to love.
Brian Clarke has an ordered life, a life of weekend cricket and solid
principles. He is resolutely fending off advancing middle-age with a straight
bat, determined to defend his wicket against life’s occasional fast balls. Then
he meets Elizabeth
Close of Play
(978 1909273528, £7.99, pb) is a funny and gentle story receiving a great deal
of interest from women’s magazines and blogging sites, and the author and book
are headlining this year’s Ampthill Literary
Festival which you can read about here. Close of
Play is published this week by Urbane Publications and you can
find out more and order it here.
And if that sounds a bit too light-hearted for you,
then how about Fields of Blue Flax (pb,
978 1910449103, £8.99) by Sue Lawrence
which is coming in May from Freight. This is a gripping page-turner, with parallel
stories 150 years apart by a leading food writer (and the first ever winner of
BBC’s Masterchef) with a huge public following who has now turned her
hand to fiction. Fields of Blue Flax is a
fabulous evocation of the North East of Scotland in Victorian times and reveals
how an innocent interest in genealogy brings a family to the brink of
destruction. The two sisters at the centre of the novel find out in different
ways that uncovering a family’s past can have unexpected and irrevocable
consequences for those living in the present – this is a riveting tale of
shocking scandal and buried secrets, and there is going to be a feature in the
Sunday Telegraph on it on 3 May – terrific publicity!
Stand by Your Manhood: A Game Changer
for Modern Men which was published
last year by Biteback is currently being serialised over three days in
the Daily Mail. The article begins: “Ridiculed, abused, exploited -
the triumph of feminism has made today's men second class citizens” which
gives you a pretty good idea of what the book is about! Its author Peter Lloyd goes on to argue that it’s high time
the chaps fought back as although men are responsible for many great
achievements they are currently getting a very raw deal. He claims men have been
unfairly undermined by modern feminism and are currently doing more and working harder than every before and getting
none of the credit. This page has now been shared 8,300 times – and attracts
2,500 comments – typical example – “if you know someone who is male buy them
this book now!!” – so this is clearly a subject close to the hearts of many!
Don’t let the Daily Mail bookshop, or Amazon get all the sales for this
deliciously provocative hardback (978 1849547437, £16.99) order up some copies
now!
Compass is
now on Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. You’ll get the breaking news on our top
titles even faster – and better still, we can find out what all of you lovely
booksellers are up to – and re-tweet your news back to all of our publishers,
editors and sales people! Happy days!
Here are
some of our favourite Tweets from last week...
Buy books Read
books Give away books Stroke books Sniff books Lick books Eat books You know,
whatever makes you happy #WBN15
I recommend
every man especially in the UK
Behind the
scenes at our #Poemoftheday selection process! Teetering
piles of Carcanet poetry #bestjobintheworld
WOW - love
this: "@prospect_uk: What would things be like if
Steven Berkoff ruled the world? @urbanepub
It may not be
English but some of it is set here and it is about a George! Perfect #StGeorgesDay reading George’s Grand Tour @gallicbooks
Get this book,
Journeyman: better than the generic football autobiographies that u see #properinsight and top guy @bsmudger7
This blog is taken from a weekly newsletter sent to over 700
booksellers as well as 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.
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