As you box up the returns of all those celeb biogs,
you might well be wondering what WERE the top sellers of Christmas 2015? If your
shop is in line with national trends, then you’ve probably done pretty well with
anything by David Walliams, Harper Lee, Jeff Kinney, Ella Woodward, David
Nicholls and Millie Marotta. However, which were the books that YOU sold – but
their recipients then sold on to someone else?! According to a top re-selling
website for unwanted books – the top five titles that were given but immediately
put in the pile to pass on to some other mug; were Recipes For a Healthier
Happier You by Jamie Oliver, My Story by Steven Gerrard, The Girl
On The Train, The Ladybird Guide to How it Works: The Husband and
Elizabeth is Missing. I really don’t know what that tells us about
customers’ true preferences, since all of these are currently deemed by the
marketers to be highly popular trends! Perhaps someone had better tell all of
our publishers pronto to immediately stop publishing healthy cook books, footie
biogs, dark psychological thrillers, spoof ironic parodies or anything to do
with Alzheimer’s as the great British public clearly don’t want to read them
whatever the bestseller lists tell us!!
Maybe you think you could write something better
than anything that came out in 2015? Is your New Year’s resolution to make 2016
the year you write a book? Here’s a fun article from the Huff Post from a somewhat
cynical ghostwriter who’s heard it all before….
One trend that I genuinely do think is on the up, is
the decision to finally get round to reading that enormous literary novel –
kicked off by the sumptuous new BBC adaptation of War and Peace. Another
title also on many readers “to-do list” is Marcel
Proust’s À la Recherche du Temps
Perdu, which many of us have fancied having a bash at, but have been
put off by the sheer magnitude of the undertaking. How fortunate then that the
greatest French literary masterpiece of all time is now available as a gorgeous
hardback graphic novel from those Francophiles at Gallic – this is a
genuinely literary adaptation which reveals the fundamental architecture of
Proust’s work while displaying a
remarkable fidelity to his language as well as the novel's themes of time, art
and the elusiveness of memory.
This is a truly stunning hardback – we have just
had finished copies in the office, and it is beautifully illustrated by renowned
comics artist Stéphane Heuet with an
evocative new translation by renowned translator Arthur Goldhammer. An online review sums it up
perfectly: “A brilliant version of Swann's Way with the addition of a gallery
of characters and family tree as well as an excellent illustrated glossary. The
illustrations are truly authentic; meaning they follow the text to the letter as
well as reproducing the atmosphere of fin de siècle France
I really would urge you to have a look at this title; it would be enjoyed equally by
brainy bookish types as well as newcomers to the challenging literary narrative.
What about a “Make 2016 the Year You Finally Read…” window display?! You
can order In Search of Lost Time: Swann’s
Way (hb, 978 1908313904, £19.99) here, and find out more.
If someone were to say “Marcel Proust” to you – you could probably summon
up a few words – even if you’d never read him But how many modern authors truly
have “brand recognition” Read this thought provoking article in the Bookseller
on whether or not authors have a brand – and whether indeed they need
one!
Fingers crossed for the two Carcanet poetry
collections up for the TS Elliot Prize,
which is awarded on Monday. Tim Liardet’s The World
Before Snow and Les Murray’s Waiting for
the Past are both on the shortlist of ten titles, which was chosen
from a record 142 poetry titles submitted this year. The winning poet will be
presented with a cheque for £20,000, and the shortlisted poets will each receive
£1,500.Good luck to both of them.
If you are a fan of the literary uncanny, not-nice
sorts of fairy tale, the work of Neil Gaiman or Shirley Jackson and books that
are strange and unsettling; then this next title will be for you. The Children’s Home by Charles Lambert is a beguiling and disarming novel
about a mysterious group of children who appear to a disfigured recluse and his
country doctor—and the startling revelations their behaviour evokes. Beryl
Bainbridge described Lambert as “a seriously good writer” and his memoir
With a Zero at its Heart was named one of The Guardian’s Ten Best
Books of the Year in 2014. The Children’s
Home by Charles Lambert (pb,
978 1910709009, £9.99) is published in February by Aardvark Bureau, and
you can find out a bit more in an excellent review of it here and you can order it here.
Two Biteback titles are out at the end of
this month both on subjects very much in the news at present. Firstly Europe in or Out: Everything You Need to Know by
David Charter (pb, 9781785900419 £8.99).
This is an essential layman’s guide to
the forthcoming UK referendum on membership of the European Union – the previous
editions of this title have sold very well indeed, and this is a fully updated
and revised edition of this definitive and unbiased book .The Economist
called it “extremely useful” and this clear, comprehensive and compelling
guide to the impact of the EU and the implications of a British exit really does
need to be in every bookshop to help us all make a sensible, informed decision.
Comrade Corbyn by Rosa Prince (hb, 978 1849549967 £20.00) is about
to be serialised in a national newspaper and the Telegraph described it
as “Fascinating and forensic – a real insight …essential reading for anyone
who follows politics” while the Mirror called it “a real political
thriller with a revolutionary ending.”
I rather like this list of 100 Most Corbyn Things
Jeremy Corbyn Did in His First 100 Days as Leader – from those jolly jesters at Buzzfeed!
Those kindly folk at Goodreads have
let BuzzFeed Books know which books its users were most excited
about in this coming year. Have a look here at this list of 15 titles getting the most buzz,
based on amount of people adding them to their “to-read” shelves, in order of
when they’ll be released.
The Munich air
disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609
crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at
Munich-Riem Airport in Munich , West
Germany
With an estimated global fan base of
approximately 40 million, Manchester United is now the richest and one of the
most successful football clubs in the world, and this new book will be an
essential purchase for every football fan. It includes never seen before
material from those involved, with the author given unique access and full
cooperation and contribution of survivors including Harry Gregg, Ken Morgans and
Albert Scanlon. The Busby Babes by Richard Skinner (978 1910692578, £8.99) is
published in February by Urbane and you can find out more and order it
here.
You can watch a short highly evocative newsreel clip
from 1958 on how the US
Had your fill of brandy butter, mince pies and
stilton? About to start juicing or tucking into the protein shakes in an attempt
to detox your poor old bod? Well, according to Julie
Montagu, all we need to do is Eat Real
Food. This bestselling UK
Well, if you had a little TOO much fun over the
festive season, then the title of this new music biog may well strike a chord.
Had Me a Real Good Time is the definitive
account of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most engagingly shambolic acts as well as an
evocative portrait of the era in which they raised hell and recorded some
timeless tracks. We are talking of course of The
Faces; who typified the glamorous English rock 'n' roll band that
toured relentlessly through America in the 1970s leaving a trail of sell-out
concerts, gold albums and wrecked hotel rooms in their wake. They still exert an
influence over today's rock 'n' roll bands; as Record Collector magazine
said: “Overgrown adolescent ruffians riffing away through a fog of booze,
bed-hopping and fisticuffs are well represented here by author Andy Neill, but the author also rightly praises
the music that established The Faces as
the quintessential touring rock ‘n’ roll band.” Had Me a Real Good
Time: The Faces Before, During and After by Andy Neill (pb, 978 1783059959, £18.99) has eight
pages of black and white pics, comes highly recommended by the music press and
is published by Omnibus Press this month - order it here!
And to finish today, here are The
Faces, at their boisterous boozy best!
Compass is on
Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. This week we’re very much enjoying
#LoseAFriendIn3Words…
"Borrowed your car..."
"But they're fictional"
Lose me as a friend in 3 words? Easy: #refugeesnotwelcome
Actually, it's "they're"
Gave Away Cat
Retweet this please?
Sorry, no room.
Your book's long
I support Trump
"Who's Harry Potter?"
"You hate flowers??
"We're going vegan!"
Going through menopause
Be my wife.
That’s all for now
folks! More next week!
This newsletter is sent weekly to 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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