It’s Shakespeare Day tomorrow of course – and
there’s lots great reading in the press this week about the many ways we love
the bard. Here’s a fun
piece on Shakespeare’s most fantastical plays – and what they’ve
inspired – and here's
an excellent article from The Stylist about the top Shakespearian
heroines. I really love this Shakespeare tube line – where the
London Underground has been recreated in celebration of this 400th
anniversary – you can see that in
the Independent here .
And finally you may enjoy this entertaining Shakespeare
Guide to Love: where every romance is also a bromance, you go to bed never
knowing who you’ll wake up with, and the strongest marriage is the
Macbeths’ which
is in the Guardian this week.
And I still think this sketch from David
Tenant and Catherine Tate is one of the funniest takes on Shakespeare ever!
As the NHS apparently decides that the fatties among us
will have to wait longer for healthcare because it is our own fault that we’re
ill; it is clear that advice on how to stay slender has never been needed
more. Slim by Design has just been published by Hay House – and is
attracting much publicity with its radical new philosophy for weight loss. In
this paradigm-shattering book, leading food psychologist Brian Wansink reckons
that the trick isn't changing what we eat, but the environment we eat in.
Through his extensive, cutting-edge research, Brian found that we are
increasingly starting to arrange our homes to make unhealthy, comforting foods
easier to reach and consume. Meanwhile, the same thing has been happening all
around us. Restaurants have made it more tempting to order richer meals.
Supermarkets have made it more economical to buy packaged and processed foods.
Workplaces have made it habitual to eat on the go or at our desks. School
lunchrooms have made it acceptable to pile large portions onto a tray. This has
all helped to make us 'fat by design'.
This eye-opening book shows how you can
adapt and redesign your most common spaces in innovative and inexpensive ways
to start losing weight naturally. It offers simple and practical solutions for
eating healthily in the long term without any dieting or restrictions. Slim by Design has
just been extracted in the Daily Mail (circ. 1.6 million), and on the
Mail website dailymail.co.uk (circ. 6.3 million). This is huge publicity as you
can see from the figures, and the book will also be in the May issue of Women’s
Health and the June issue of Red. You can read the Daily Mail
extract here.
“My studies show that if you want to lose weight or stay slim, willpower
simply won’t cut it, what really makes a difference is tricking yourself into
eating more healthily. By making a few subtle adjustments around your home,
when shopping or at restaurants, healthier eating can become an easy and
effortless default mode, even when your brain is on autopilot.” Slim by Design (pb,
978 1781807415, £12.99) is available now and you can order it and
find out more here.
Irenie, a young girl coming of age in upstate New York,
has a secret at the core of her life. Her mother – the striking, charismatic Yasmeen – disappeared five years earlier. Her
father, James, a distant, eccentric academic so bewitched by his late wife, has
never spoken of this gaping absence from their lives. Yasmeen is presumed dead, though Irenie has
doubts. In a hidden loft space Irenie discovers a box containing old love
letters exchanged between her mother and a man named Ahmed, who remained in Yasmeen’s native Pakistan as she immigrated to the
US. Yasmeen’s past and ultimate fate are
revealed gradually, in part through Irenie’s visit to her relatives in
Islamabad. As this heartbreaking and unusual and debut novel reaches its
dénouement, Irenie and James learn to become the protagonists of their own
lives as they uncover the secrets ruling them both. The story unfolds from dark
to light with admirable consistency, resulting in an emotional journey that is
as satisfying as it is gripping. Dear Yasmeen
by Sophia Khan (pb,
978 1902932491, £9.99) is published by Periscope Books in July and you
can find out more
here.
If you love the Queen and also fashion, then you’ll
probably enjoy browsing through this
from Elle Magazine – ninety of the queen’s best fashion moments –
some great pics!
Watch Brian Wansink
talking about this ever pertinent subject on YouTube here
The Unmumsy Mum is
absolutely soaring up the bestseller lists – and there is no doubt that
self-help books and blogs for mothers by mothers are “having a mummy moment”. Mum Hacks: Time Saving Tips to Calm the Chaos of Family Life by
Tanith Carey is
published next week, and is written by an award-winning journalist and
columnist for the Telegraph and Daily Mail, so it’s certain to
get plenty of publicity – there’s been a lots of interest already from women’s
mags and daytime TV shows; Fiona Philips said it was “exactly what every
time-starved modern mum needs” – this quote is on the front cover.
From how to get out the house on time in the morning to how to tame your
housework, this book is invaluable for any stressed mum. Tanith Carey offers
sensible advice on how to get a handle on life and have time to actually enjoy
your kids and partner without feeling overwhelmed by it all. This book isn’t
about being a supermum but about finding ways to simplify everyday habits to
create a healthy life balance for the whole family and lead to a happier life. Mum Hacks has an
eye-catching cover, put it on a table next to The Unmumsy Mum, How to
Have a Baby and Not Lose Your Shit et al and it will sell! Mum Hacks: Time Saving Tips to Calm the Chaos of Family Life by Tanith Carey (pb, 978 1910336229, £9.99) is published in May by Crimson
Press and you can find out more and order it here.
Here’s Tanith Carey talking on This
Morning last year about whether pushy parenting is a good idea!
You can watch an interview on YouTube with Sophie Khan talking
about her book here.
The Observer will be publishing a review of Alison Brackenbury’s new poetry collection Skies on the 1st May. For forty years Alison has
been a popular poet throughout the UK. Her poems have been featured on BBC
Radio 3 and 4 and this new book contains reflections on childhood, nature,
family memories and WWI. Alison Brackenbury recently won a Cholmondeley
Award and you can find out more
about Skies (pb, 978 1784101800,
£9.99) which is published by Carcanet here.
The sun is shining – finally – the weather is warming up,
so our thoughts are turning to summer holidays – and the Sunday Times Travel
Section will be publishing a big extract from Glamping
Getaways this weekend. This is a
fully revised second edition of this title from the Cool
Camping series which has been updated
to showcase 80 stunning glamping sites across the UK. As one reviewer said of
the first edition, this is “a beautifully presented book, like the others
from this publisher, it presents a feast of photographs to feed the fantasy.
There are just so many beautiful images, they sell the whole idea of glamping;
the reviews of campsites are quirky, funny and informative - this is my kind of
campsite guide, giving you the flavour of what you might find as well as all
the facts that you might need.” Glamping is the big holiday success story
of the last few years, proving that you don't have to sacrifice style and
comfort to enjoy a refreshing blast of life outdoors and this is the original
luxury camping guidebook, fully updated for 2016. Glamping Getaways: Stylish Stays Around the UK
(pb, 978 1906999654, £16.95 is out this month from Punk Publishing. Find
out more and order it here.
Treats, a
brilliant debut collection of unforgettable, interlinked short stories of 21st
century womanhood by Lara Williams has just been published and is getting enthusiastic
reviews on social media. These are strong, introspective, feminist stories;
blackly comic and full of emotion. Lara Williams is an outstanding, wholly authentic new voice and
readers are loving her! BookMunch said “Williams brings a level of
awkward humour … which brings to mind writers like Miranda July, or Lena Dunham”
and David@bluebookballoon wrote “Two stories left in Treats and putting off finishing as I want to keep
reading. Please tell me you have more by this author coming!” Emma Jane
Unsworth said “What a wonderful collection. Very smart and VERY funny. A
stunning mix of measured wisdom and raw emotion. There’s also a real sense that
these stories - beautiful in their own right - belong together. I loved the
connections between them, and the way ideas were subtly and steadily developed
from beginning to end.” Treats (pb,
£8.99 978 1910449707) tackles many of the dilemmas of contemporary female
adulthood, including abortion, depression, extra-marital affairs, infatuation,
new baby anxiety, bereavement, hair loss, sexual ethics, cats and taxidermy!
It’s published by Freight and you can find out more here.
It was the Queen’s 90th birthday this week of
course, and if you are not a royal fan then you may be interested in the
views of Biteback author Joan Smith who wrote a piece in the Guardian yesterday
entitled The Queen and a Reign of Abject Failure which you can read here.
Joan’s book Down with the Royals (hb, £10.00 978 1849548298) , which is part of the Provocations
series, declares that the monarchy – undemocratic, unaccountable and shockingly
expensive – has no place in modern Britain. If, however, you are looking for
something a little more celebratory for your bookshop; then you’ll be pleased
to know there are plenty of other more royalist options also available from Biteback!
Backstairs Billy: The Life of William Tallon, the
Queen Mother's Most Devoted Servant (pb,
£8.99 978 1785900006) by Tom Quinn is available in paperback, the Daily Mail said
that it “provides a fascinating downstairs angle on the Royals’ upstairs
life, with lots of unexpected details: for example, that the Queen Mum’s comic
turns included impersonations of Blackadder and (brace yourself) Ali G.”
Pets By Royal Appointment (hb £14.99, 978 1849546034) by Brian Hoey contains
masses of intimate anecdotes and fascinating detail, as this royal expert
describes the mini-palaces provided for the Queen’s pampered corgis and
Princess Anne’s badly behaved bull terriers.
Not in
Front of the Corgis: Secrets of Life Behind the Royal Curtains (pb,
£8.99 9781849544115) also by Brian Hoey gives us the inside story of the Royal Family through
the eyes of those who know them best, a sneak peek behind the ermine-trimmed
curtains to reveal what they really get up to in their spare time. Are they
just like us? Or are they a world apart? Here are the answers to everything
we’ve ever wondered about the Royals: which programmes does the Queen watch on
TV? What music did the Queen Mother listen to? Who can drive and who can’t?
What is it like to attend a dinner party thrown by Charles and Camilla? Who are
the most popular (and most unpopular!) Royals to work for and why?
And finally,
Her Majesty Sixty Regal Years (pb, £9.99, 978 1849542937) again by (yes you’ve
guessed it) Brian Hoey, is a lively,
authoritative and revealing portrait of the Queen’s life and work through the
eyes of those who’ve known her and worked with her over the last 50 years. The Mail
on Sunday called it “the most intimate book ever written about the
royals” and it’s available in paperback now.
Let’s end with some music – five top queen inspired songs!
No – not the Sex Pistols, but I think this dance floor filler from
Abba would be a great place to start! How about this 1974 hit from
– who else but Queen, and RIP Whitney – always loved this
one. If you’re feeling the 80’s vibe then this is going to be
right up your street. But in at number one – this is
a bit of a wild card – but hey it does feature her majesty’s relations!
You can follow us on Twitter at
@CompassIPS. We’ve always been very big fans of the tweets from Elizabeth
Windsor@Queen_UK so here’s a selection of her best tweets so far this year...
April 20: We are family. One's got all
one's heirs with me. #StillReigning
April 19: India says it wants return of
priceless diamond the Koh-i-noor #forgetIt
Apr 11: Seriously considering having
David Cameron moved offshore.
Mar 26: Great Britain. Remember that
the clocks go forward an hour tonight. This is so Gin O'Clock is an hour closer
for the summer. #You’reWelcome
Mar 23: Text message from Adele:
"Hello".
Mar 18: Iain Duncan Smith has
resigned. Amazing. Had absolutely no idea he was still a minister in the first
place. #IDS
Mar 8: #InternationalWomensDay
#LikeABoss
Mar 3: If there's one thing every
country is petrified by, it's a "warning" from the French. LOFAO
Feb 21: Didn't hear Europe moaning
about Britain when we had to pop over and settle a couple of wars. #JustSaying
Feb 18: Text from Nick Clegg: "I
know it's none of my business anymore but I REAAAALY hope we don't leave the
Eurovision Song Contest" #StillAMoron
Feb 15: Text from Camilla:
"Freezing one's tits off". #Awkward.
Jan 22: Just got a £130m cheque from
@google. #Winning
Jan 3: OK Britain. Back to work. This
isn't France.
That’s all for now folks! More
next week!
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