We humans have
a long history of being drawn to images, of communicating visually, and being
enchanted with (our own) faces. And where has that trend taken us? Selfies: Why We
Love (and Hate) Them by Katrin Tiidenberg (pb,
£16.99, 978 1787437173) coming on 30 April from Emerald is a rich and nuanced analysis of selfie culture, exploring
the social, cultural and technological context surrounding selfies and their
subsequent meaning. They generate more attention than most other social media
content and are persistently attacked as being unworthy of all of this
attention, lacking artistic merit and indicating pathological and dangerously
stupid behaviour. This title is part of Emerald’s
Society Now series which provides
readers with a definitive snapshot of the events, phenomena and issues that
define our 21st century world. Written by leading experts in their fields these
titles offer a thoughtful, concise, and rapid response to issues being globally
debated. Previously published titles have dealt with Trump, Brexit, Corbyn and
the digital era, which you can find out about on the website. In
June comes Understanding
Fame Online by Crystal Abidin (978 1787560796, £16.99, pb) which I’m sure will be
fascinating – I’ll tell you more about that in the coming weeks! Fracking,
drones, celebrity culture, the far right, post-truth society, inequality,
obesity, clean eating, terrorism, hipsters, the dark net and the migrant crisis
are all topics cued up as potential future books in the series.
If you want to
read more about selfies then here's
a fun article in the Guardian on exactly
how selfies became a global phenomenon, and here are 14 fascinating
facts about selfies from the Readers Digest!
But first - let me take a
selfie.
Riga may be
over 800 years old as a city, but its status as capital of an independent
Latvia is only a century old, with half of that time spent under Soviet rule. Despite
this, it has established itself as a vibrant, creative hub, attracting artists,
performers, and writers from across the Baltic region. The stories in The Book of Riga (£9.99, pb, 978 1910974384) chronicle this growth and
on-going transformation, and offer glimpses into the dark humour, rich history,
contrasting perspectives, and love of the mythic, that sets the city’s artistic
community apart. It was included in Bookwitty's
16 Books from Latvia to Get Started
which you can read here. It’s published by Comma on the 12th April, to coincide with the London Book Fair
Baltic Countries Market Focus, which will showcase Latvian, Lithuanian and
Estonian literature.
We are
delighted to announce that Puffed Out: The Three Little Pigs' Guide to a Growth Mindset
(978 1785831171, £14.99, pb) by Will Hussey and Barry Hymer has just been named winner of the Educational Book Award at the Education Resources Awards 2018! The judges said that by ”using a novel approach and a well-known
story, Puffed Out introduces pupils to ethics, philosophy and critical
thinking. It is exceedingly witty and will help create fun lessons while
introducing pupils to new ways of approaching difficult concepts. It made us
laugh and think throughout the judging process.” This innovative and
entertaining title is suitable for primary and lower secondary teachers and is
published by Crown House. You can find the full list of Education
Resources Awards 2018 winners here.
Racism. Two
new Biteback titles out this week deal
with this ugly subject in very different ways and remind us of a time when “banana throwing and monkey noises were
almost normal.” Both have had some excellent coverage. Vince:
The Autobiography of Vince Hilaire is, as the Guardian said, “a funny,
emotive, and brutally honest insight into a cult figure” – and this this
hugely entertaining and candid book tells the story of one of the most exciting
footballers and the beautiful game as it used to be played. Big features in The
Guardian and The
Sun for this one. Behind the Blue Line: My Fight against Racism and Discrimination
in the Police by Gurpal Virdi has
had loads of press too – with a big piece in The
‘i’ headlined “Racists and bigots
drove me out of the police” and articles also in The Voice,
The
Justice Gap and on BBC Radio 5 Live’s
Eye
of the Storm slot.
The media were
all over the announcement this week that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have
asked Claire
Ptak, an east London pastry chef, to make an organic lemon and
elderflower cake for their wedding. Kensington Palace said Ms Ptak will create
a cake incorporating "the bright
flavours of spring" for the May 19 wedding, covered with buttercream
and decorated with fresh flowers. This is the sort of publicity that money
simply cannot buy for this chef – and she has a book published by Lorenz that I recommend you get front
of store asap! The
Home-Made Sweet Shop: Make Your Own Confectionery (pb, 978
1780195193, £9.99) by Claire Ptak has over
ninety recipes for traditional, hard-boiled, chewy, soft or sticky sweets, candies
and chocolates including salt-water taffy, peanut butter fudge, sugar mice and raspberry
lollipops! The good news is that they are surprisingly easy to make at home and
this fabulous book has step-by-step recipes, a stunning picture of each
finished confection as well as an overview of the history of sweets and a
cook's guide to ingredients, equipment and techniques. Claire Ptak focuses on using
seasonal and organic ingredients and after the announcement on Tuesday, she
told of her excitement on Instagram, saying she and the Royals "share so many of the same values
regarding food provenance, sustainability, seasonality and of course,
flavour!" You can read the whole story here
and everywhere else – this really is a terrific bit of promotion for this
author!
We’re thrilled
to announce that Saqi has been
shortlisted for the 2018 Inclusivity in Publishing Award at the London Book Fair. This award is one of
seventeen categories which together make the London Book Fair International Excellence
in Publishing Awards. The winners of each category will be announced
on Tuesday 10 April. Saqi’s aim has
always been to publish works that help demolish cultural barriers and encourage
conversations. They’ve always been open to controversial and challenging ideas,
creating opportunities for dissident voices to speak for themselves. A good
time methinks to remind you about two important Saqi titles which were published in 2017. The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim
Women Write (978 0863561467, £12.99, pb) was a Guardian Best Book of the Year. From established
literary heavyweights to emerging talent, the writers in this ground-breaking
collection blow away the narrow image of the 'Muslim Woman'. Hear from users of
Islamic Tinder, a disenchanted TV chat show host and a plastic surgeon
blackmailed by MI6. Follow the career of an actress whose dreams of playing a
ghostbuster spiral into repeat castings as a jihadi bride. Among stories of
honour killings and ill-fated love in besieged locations, we also find
heart-warming connections and powerful challenges to the status quo. Don’t Panic, I’m
Islamic was a Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year. How can you tell if
your neighbour is speaking Muslim? Is a mosque a kind of hedgehog? Can I get
fries with that burka? You can't trust the media any longer, but there's no
need to fret: Don't
Panic, I'm Islamic: Words and Pictures on How to Stop Worrying and Learn to
Love the Alien Next Door (£12.99, pb,
978 0863569999) provides you with the answers and includes cartoons, graffiti,
photography, colouring-in, short stories and more in an explosion of
expression, creativity and colour. By contributors from around the world, these
subversive pieces are provocative and laugh-out-loud funny.
The Ted Hughes Award shortlist is announced, and hurrah, Caroline Bird is on it with In These Days Of Prohibition. Caroline’s fifth
collection with Carcanet confronts
dark regions of the human psyche with surrealism, sharp observation and humour.
The judges found it “powerful, disturbing
– yet witty and very funny in places; redemptive.” The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry,
presented annually by The Poetry Society since 2009, celebrates the outstanding
contributions made by poets to our cultural life, acknowledging the
possibilities of poetry both on the page and beyond. The £5,000 prize is
awarded next week.
It was great
to see a mention of the wonderful Room Little Darker by
June Caldwell in this
interesting Guardian article about
whether the so-called renaissance of the short story is a genuine “thing” or
just a publishing myth! From one of Ireland's most grindingly authentic and
radically original talents and published originally by New Island, Room Little Darker explores
the clandestine aspects of modern life through jagged, visceral tales of wanton
sex, broken relationships and futuristic nightmares – if this is the sort of
thing you like – then you’ll absolutely love it!
A nice review last
weekend in the Observer which you can
see here
for The
British Mosque by Shahed Saleem (£60, hb, 978 1848020764) which is published by Historic England. There are an
estimated 1,500 mosques in Britain, most of them built in the last decade or
so. For all their visibility and significance, little has been written about
their origins, how they come into being and why, who designs them and what they
are trying to achieve. Saleem’s book sets out to put this right and aims
to be the “first ever overview and
explanation of Islamic architecture in Britain”. “Mosque design,” says academic Tim Winter, “has historically reflected the local cultures of the Muslim world. A
mosque in Java bears no resemblance to a mosque in Bosnia, or a mosque in
Senegal.” The question underlying The British Mosque, is, then, what one should look
like in Britain.
In August,
Pope Francis will visit Ireland; the first papal visit to the country for
almost 40 years. You can find out more on the BBC website here. No better time then, to display the magnificent Illustrated
History of the Popes (£19.99, hb, 978 0754830252) by Charles Phillips which
came out last autumn from Lorenz.
This authoritative guide to the lives and works of the popes of the Catholic
church has over 450 images and is a comprehensive guide to the 266 men who have
been Pope. Divided into three historical sections in chronological order; The
First Popes; The Crusades and the Reformation; and Into the Modern Era; this
lavishly illustrated reference book is both fascinating and informative.
Driverless
cars. Much debated – and extremely topical with the dreadful news this week
that a self-driving Uber killed a pedestrian in Arizona – you can see more on
that here.
Emerald are publishing Autonomous Driving:
How the Driverless Revolution will Change the World by Andreas Herrmann,
Walter Brenner and Rupert Stadler (978
1787148345, £19.99, hb) on Monday which really could not be more relevant. The
authors are very well known and respected academics and Rupert Stadler is CEO at Audi who are investing a lot of money into
PR for the book. Emerald are also
running a full publicity campaign for it so there will be loads of press
coverage. There will be advertising, social media campaigns, author podcasts
and news and radio appearances by the authors – there have already been reviews
in the Evening
Standard, and Business
Money. Autonomous
Driving is a must- read for anyone
interested in the next technological revolution, and in how we may be living
and working in a future once considered science fiction. The race toward self-
driving vehicles has revolutionized the motor industry, with technology
replacing traditional manufacturing as the driver of development. But how far
away are we from the finish line - and what will the driverless world look like
when we get there? The road towards social acceptance of and trust in self-
driving vehicles will perhaps be the trickiest to navigate of all and this
title addresses this – and all the other crucial issues on this controversial
subject.
Sheena Kalayil won the Writer’s Guild Award for Best First Novel
and was shortlisted for a Stanford’s Travel Writing Award for her novel Bureau of Second
Chances – this was a big hit for Polygon selling over 4,000 copies.
Coming in June is Sheena’s second novel The Inheritance (£8.99, pb, 978 1846974502) which
is beguiling everyone who reads it – if you would like a proof please email laura@birlinn.co.uk. Rights are being snapped
up for this one worldwide which is the sure sign of a forthcoming hit; a
Commissioning Editor at Penguin Random House said “I started reading Inheritance last night and found it near
impossible to put down – she has such a beautiful writing style and the
relationships could not be more topical. This is the kind of book I would take
forward in a heartbeat if it wasn’t for the close pub date.” This is an
exquisitely written and powerful novel about a passionate young woman’s search
for identity set in London, Lisbon and Kerala – WHS Travel have already picked
it as a Superlead
title.
A Party with Socialists In It by Simon Hannah (978 0745337470,
pb, £12.99) was a Guardian Book of the Day last week, they described it as “pithy” and “astute” and you can read the whole review here
For over a hundred years, the
British Labour Party has been a bastion for working class organisation and
struggle but has it ever truly been on the side of the workers? This history
guides us through the Bevanite movement and the celebrated government of
Clement Attlee, to the emergence of a New Left that was highly sceptical of the
Labour party during the Wilson era. It explores the move towards Blairism and the
disheartening story of the decline of the Labour Left after their historic defeat
in the 1980s. With the emergence of socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour
Party’s fate rests in the balance. Will they reconcile their internal divisions
or split into obscurity? It’s published by Pluto
With the news
this week that Jacqueline Wilson is to continue the story of Tracy Beaker as an
adult – here’s an amusing look on the BBC website
at some other famous literary children who grew up…
That’s all for now folks! More next
week!
This weekly blog is written for the UK
book trade. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please
talk to your Compass Sales Manager, or call the Compass office on 020 8326
5696. Every Friday an e-newsletter containing highlights from the blog is sent
out to over 700 booksellers – and if you’d like to receive this then please
contact nuala@compass-ips.london
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