Compass
Points 14
Your
weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information
and trivia!
The Hundred Year Old Man
who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared continues to sell and sell! A
contact at Waterstones Head Office this week described it as “One of those rare,
magical titles which Waterstones sells by the bucketload for years.”
And it’s not just selling in Waterstone’s – this heart-warming and hilarious
tale is zooming up the bestseller lists everywhere!
Now – your
little darlings may have gone back to school, but that doesn’t mean they’re not
driving you bonkers every evening! What you need is
The
Manic Mum’s Guide to Calm Parenting and Co Operative Kids. If
you’ve ever felt like you’re banging your head against a brick wall or wished
sometimes that your children would take you more seriously and that you had the
time and energy to be the mother that you want to be, then this definitely is
the book for you. It is packed full of jargon free, common sense techniques and
tools and ideas that will turn you from manic to calm and in control in just
seven weeks. The title is getting lots of publicity; Prima Magazine said
“I’d definitely recommend this book to other stressed out mums.” and
there have been lots of reviews in the parenting magazines; family pages of the
national press and in the ever popular “opinionated mummies on their computers”
social media!
Further
events this week leave us in no doubt that we are living through a time of great
revolution and change in the Middle East. Joumana
Haddad is an award winning poet, publisher and journalist, and her
new book Superman is an Arab: On God, Marriage,
Macho Men and Other Disastrous Inventions examines the patriarchal
system that continues to dominate in the Arab world and beyond. Haddad’s earlier
book, I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of an Angry Arab Woman was
critically acclaimed and translated into thirteen languages. This book is not a
manifesto against men in general. Nor is it a manifesto against Arab men in
particular. It is, however, a howl in the face of a particular species of men:
the macho species – Supermen, as they like to envision themselves. From
monotheist religions and the concept of marriage to institutionalised machismo
and widespread double standards; Haddad reflects upon the vital need for a new
masculinity in these times of revolution and change in the Middle East. The
Independent called her “The Germaine Greer of Lebanon” and the
Guardian have just run a rave review which you can read here
saying “The Lebanese writer knows her targets and tracks them with a steady
glare….Haddad speaks out for those who cannot” You can watch a very
interesting interview with Joanna here. This title is going to get a lot
more publicity – Joanna was on the BBC World Service week, and you can Order
Superman is an Arab here.
Yet more
amazing publicity this week for Education,
Education, Education: Reforming England’s Schools by Andrew Adonis. The Bookseller included it
this week as one of the UK’s most reviewed books, and there was a superb piece
in the Guardian yesterday which said “this is an exhilaratingly
unapologetic, well-sourced, highly readable and generally persuasive account of
why the late-20th century English schools system had to be reinvented, has
largely been reinvented, but still needs to be reinvented further. Read
it.” You
can read the whole article here.
Now who can
complete the following line: “My old man’s a dustman, he wears a dustman’s
hat…”? If so, you’re obviously as ancient as I am – or maybe even older! If
you haven’t got a clue then click here to hear the rest of
the song!
Coming in
October is The Lonnie Donegan Story by
Patrick Humphries. This is the story of
the man who arguably kick-started the British pop and rock scene and remains one
of the most important and influential figures in British musical history. It is
the first full-length biography of the skiffle king and godfather of British
rock’n’roll and is sure to be very well reviewed. The book contains numerous
revelations about Lonnie’s extraordinary life and includes exclusive interviews
with Mick Jagger, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Brian May, Tim Rice, Bruce
Welch, Richard Thompson, Bill Wyman and the late George Melly and John Peel,
plus many, many others. Here's some footage of Lonnie
playing live - great stuff!
But despite
all of these terrific books coming out – if things carry on the way there are,
will there actually be anyone interested in reading them? The latest research
shows that children are reading less than ever before – the figures show a scary
gradual year-on-year drop in the number of eight- to 16-year-olds choosing to
pick up books outside school. Data published by the National Literacy Trust
shows that just three-in-10 now read every day in their own time compared
with four-in-10 seven years ago. One in six children admitted they were too
embarrassed to read in front of their friends for fear of being labelled a
geek. How can this possibly be – surely we all know that bookshops are the
coolest places to be in the world and booksellers are the hippest cats in town?
You
can read the whole article here and have a look here
to see what we could maybe do with all of those unread
titles.
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.
That’s
all for now folks, more next week!
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