Compass Points 12

Compass Points 12

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

What an amazing summer of sport it’s been – and of course there’s still more to come – lots more!  But if the amazing feats of team GB still haven’t convinced you to get off the sofa and put on the lycra then fear not; you only have to stagger as far as your kitchen in order to emulate the Olympians. If you can’t run like a hero – at least you can eat like one. The Big Sports Recipe Book is a super- powered collection of over 40 recipes from winning stars of the sporting world – published in aid of The Princes Trust. This book is a great way to experience the food which some of the UK’s top sportsmen and women associate with winning and features recipes from the likes of Rebecca Adlington, Jenson Button and Steven Gerrard . It’s getting lots of publicity – there was a piece in Taste Magazine this week and there will be lots more publicity to come in the regional press.

Find out more and order the book here

Still on a sporting theme; Not Out First Ball by Roger Morgan-Grenville is another title for those who’d much rather read about sport than get all hot and sweaty actually doing any. Long listed for the MCC Book of the Year 2012. David Gower said in his foreword "This is a joyful book...a relentlessly entertaining read and not just for cricket lovers either. Everyone should read it." The author was interviewed on TalkSport Radio recently – and there will also be an interview coming up shortly on Radio 5 Live. This is a delightful and witty book that is a love letter to cricket through the story of an accidental club that has lasted 25 years and 263 matches longer than it ever meant to. It’s a laugh-out-loud manifesto for anyone who has ever silently sobbed at the sight of their off stump cartwheeling off into the distance, or thrown their bat in disgust onto an autumn bonfire.  As the author says, “the whole glorious point of crickets is that so much of it is utterly pointless.”

Order the book here

Back to school – back to work – September can really feel like a time for new beginnings. What would you like to change about your life? It can sometimes seem as though we spend half our lives wishing for change — and the other half trying to avoid it. Everything I’ve Ever Learnt About Change is a stimulating and thought provoking collection of essays on change. Columnist and social commentator Lesley Garner writes: “The idea for a book about change came to me when I realised that it was all anybody ever talked about. It was a theme that blew like an invisible wind through every conversation.’” This book had a big piece in the Daily Mail (circulation 2 million) recently which you can read here and the book has also had publicity in The Daily Express and Easy Living Magazine. The Sunday Times Style section are about to run a big interview with Lesley in the next couple of weeks.

Order Everything I've Ever Learnt About Change here

But if all that change, sport and healthy living malarkey just seems like way too much effort – why not just get Hammered? Heavy Tales from the Hard Rock Highway by ex-Metal Hammer editor Kirk Blows shares never-before-published stories of rock’n’roll lunacy, giving readers an exclusive backstage pass to a chaotic world of sex, drugs and spandex, and taking us behind-the-scenes with heavy metal’s biggest, baddest (and often drunkest) names. Featuring exclusive encounters with rock legends such as Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Fleetwood Mac, Black Crowes, UFO, Paradise Lost, Hawkwind, Meat Loaf and Guns N’ Roses among others; Hammered: Heavy Tales from the Hard Rock Highway is a unique collection of adventures, anecdotes and interview experiences that noisily explores the stairways to heaven and highways to hell. As you would expect, this book is attracting a lot of attention in the online media, and you can read some of the rave reviews here,  and here,  and here, and here.

There has also been a great interview with Kirk on the Planet Rock radio station, and will be a big feature in Metal Hammer magazine shortly. Incisive, witty, provocative, and packed with enough sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll to satisfy even the most jaded thrillseeker; this is a must-read for anyone who’s ever worshipped a band or dreamed of being onstage.

Find out more about the book here

And here's a bit of Guns 'n' Roses just to get you in the mood ... and a bit of Meatloaf too!

OK, what is the best film ever? My top three would be Some Like it Hot, A Matter of Life and Death and The Jungle Book. Let’s face it – this is a discussion that’s as old as film itself – and when you get into that headed debate down the pub over the merits of Lord of the Rings versus Citizen Kane – you need the facts, and you need the stats to back up your argument. And that’s when you and your customers reach for the new edition of The Radio Times Guide to Films – the UK’s number one film guide.

With 23,000 film reviews and 500 new entries, it really is a film fan’s must-have. The previous edition sold over 11,000 copies – and this edition will get masses of ongoing promotion in The Radio Times (which has a readership of 2.5 million) from now right up until Christmas! It's published today - make sure you have plenty on display!

Find out more and order it here.

And how could I not give you a clip a clip from my favourite film to finish with – well we’ve got to have some Marilyn to offset all that heavy metal – and what’s not to love about Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag?!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

Compass Points is now back from holiday, so there will be more next week!