Ah, how glad we are on this historic day that two of
the most melodious and tuneful sounds in our united kingdom
Let’s start with two titles, each featuring a sport
from either side of Hadrian’s Wall . Firstly,
Behind the Rose by Stephen Jones and Nick Cain This publication is an
official licensed product of the Rugby Football Union, the governing body of
English rugby, and has exclusive access to the players, the archives and the
fans. It is a unique history of the England England England
And secondly – for all your booksellers who do well
with golfing titles, there’s Jewel in the Glen:
Gleneagles, Golf and the Ryder Cup by Ed
Hodge with a foreword by Jack Nicklaus (hb, 978 1909715233 £25.00).
This is a new updated edition which will include a new chapter on the 2014 Ryder
Cup and features interviews with: Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Ian Woosnam, Sam
Torrance, Sandy Lyle, Bernard Gallacher, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Sean Connery,
Andy Murray and even … Alex Salmond!! The Ryder Cup starts in six days time, on
23 September, and this title will be out in November. Tracing the history of the
Ryder Cup back to that famous forerunner match in 1921; this book intertwines
the histories of the coveted prize with the famous five star resort’s own rich
heritage on and off the course. Through a series of over 80 in-depth interviews
with an array of international celebrities, Jewel in
the Glen reveals what the Ryder Cup and Gleneagles means to them
while examining the impact of the tournament on the local community and the
wider Scottish society, culture, and economy. This beautiful £25 volume paints a
unique and absorbing portrait of Gleneagles and Scottish golf as a whole and is
the ideal Christmas present for all golfing fans. It is published by Arena
Sport, and you can order Jewel in the Glen here
On the subject of golf, let’s not forget that
another very important ballot took place in Scotland yesterday: The Royal and Ancient
Golf Club in St Andrews voted in favour of
allowing women members for the first time in its 260-year history. The club has
2,400 global members who were entitled to vote and more than three-quarters took
part in the ballot. Of those that voted, 85% were in favour of change. I should
think so too!
An hour programme called Four Women Poets
Today, which features Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Eavan Boland and Liz Lochhead, will be aired on
BBC Radio Four tomorrow, on Sat 20th Sept at 8pm. Eavan Boland is a Carcanet author who is
celebrating her 70th birthday on 24 September and Carcanet have published
two new books by her to celebrate this. A Poet’s
Dublin (978 1847774477 £7.99, pb)
which collects her greatest Dublin
Now you may remember last week I mentioned a new
publisher who we are very pleased is joining the Compass family: Red Planet
Publishing. This is a publisher of some tremendous music books; last week we
told you about The Popmaster Quiz Book which is out this month.
The Rock Atlas: 700 Great Music Locations Throughout
the UK and Ireland and the Stories Behind Them by David Roberts features landmark album cover
locations plus gravestones, plaques, recording locations, statues and sites of
loads of famous and infamous gigs. This is the new revised second edition of
this title, which features more than 70 per cent new or revised entries, more
than 120 great new photographs – many of them never seen before and more than 70
new interviews. The cover is fab – it’s the hand-tinted David Bowie Ziggy
Stardust album image, which Red Planet has exclusive use of. The book
contains hundreds of rare and unseen pics including Cream, The Beatles, The
Rolling Stones, Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, and many more! The Rock Atlas by David Roberts (pb, 978 1905959570 £19.99) is
published in October by Red Planet and you can find out more and order it
here.
Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and
in the absence of any suitably piratical themed books, I could have brought you
Top Ten Pirate Movie Scenes, or even Top Ten Moments from Pirates of
the Caribbean. But better than that I feel has to be this first
ever episode starring the most fearsome pirate of them
all!
If you have no desire to talk like a pirate, but
would prefer instead that your diction were more like that of her Majesty the
Queen; then you’ll be needing two new titles coming in November from
Hesperus. The Gentleman's Book of Etiquette
and Manual of Politeness, by Cecil B
Hartley (pb, 978 1843915416 £7.99) and The Ladies Book of Etiquette and Manual of
Politeness, by Florence
Hartley (pb, 978 1843915423, 7.99) were first published in 1860 and
are now available in two beautiful packaged, flapped paperbacks with a nostalgic
style. If the correct rules of etiquette fail you, never fear for these handy
guides will instruct you in the correct manner! These indispensable nineteenth
century guidebooks will entertain, educate and inspire and although first
published in 1860, the witty and useful advice on behaving well often still
rings true down the ages. You don’t need to live in the nineteenth century to
agree with Hartley that it is rude to finish someone else’s jokes.
Whatever the
situation, whether the reader would like to know how to be as ladylike as
possible when seasick or the best colour schemes for bridesmaids’ dresses, these
thorough and wide-ranging books will provide sensible and succinct guidance on
how best to behave, and indeed how not to behave, as well as shed light into
life in the nineteenth century. They are a veritable mine of information and
indispensable advice for aspiring ladies and gentlemen!
An Aviary of Small Birds by Karen McCarthy
Woolf (pb, 978 1906188146 £9.95) was launched this week with a part
in London
Writers Zadie
Smith, Lionel Shriver and
Rose Tremain join Tessa Hadley and Francesca Rhydderch on an all-female shortlist for
the BBC National Short Story Award
2014.It is the second year in which the prize has featured an
all-women shortlist. Smith's story, Miss Adele
Amidst the Corsets, follows an ageing American performer as she shops
for underwear. Tremain's The American
Lover is an woman's recollection of a "disfiguring love affair".
Shriver's Kilifi Creek looks at a gap
year traveller's encounter with morality, while Hadley's Bad Dreams captures the moment a child discovers
the unease behind her home life. Rhydderch's The
Taxidermist's Daughter centres around the emerging sexuality of a
young girl in post-war Wales.The stories will be broadcast on Radio 4 next week
from 22nd September by actors including Carey Mulligan and Rebecca Hall, with
interviews with the writers on Radio 4's Front Row. The winner will be
announced live on Front Row on 30th September, and the five stories are
published in a collection by Comma Press: The
BBC Short Story Award 2014 (pb, £7.99, 978
1905583676). Alan Yentob, chair of the judges,
said: "The enthusiasm of writers, both established and emerging, is very much
in evidence in this, the ninth BBC National Short Story Award. With the quality
and diversity of the work submitted, it has been a pleasure and a challenge to
serve as this year’s chair."
And in honour of today’s momentous news, I’ll leave
you with a bit of Bay City Rollers to finish!
Superb!
That’s all for now
folks, more next week!
This blog is read weekly by 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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