Off to Daunts in Notting Hill this week for the
launch of the new edition of the Good Hotel Guide
2017 (pb, £20.00, 978 0993248412)
featuring the best hotels, inns and B&Bs in Great Britain and Ireland.
There has been a distinct resurgence in sales for this guide in recent years –
consumers seem to be realising that the physical book has many advantages over
the website – not least the fact that you get £150 worth of vouchers in the
printed guide, giving you a whopping 25% off compared to the 10% off that is
available online! As the Mail on Sunday said, this is “the one guide
that offers a sense of what a place is really like” and the newly designed 2017 Guide has a
cleaner brighter format, full-colour throughout, with 11 pages of user-friendly
maps showing you locations for around 900 selected hotels in Great Britain and
Ireland. It includes lists of special hotels, ranging from
child-and-dog-friendly to romantic and great value and is the clear market
leader in its field; as the Guardian said: “Squeaky clean advice. No.
1 of the guides that take no freebies.”
You booksellers are ever innovative with your well-chosen
but seemingly random displays for titles; designed no doubt, to make the
browsing punter pick up and try something they wouldn’t otherwise have thought
to try! We love this brilliant example of this at Toppings St
Andrews – where I spot Prime Minister Corbyn:
and Other Things that Never Happened (hb, £14.99, 978 1785900457)
from Biteback nestled up against books by George Orwell, Oscar Wilde and
Shakespeare!
As the US election gets ever closer, In Trump We Trust: How He Outsmarted the Politicians, the
Elites and the Media by Ann Coulter (pb, £9.99, 978 1785901416) and Hillary Rising: The Politics, Persona and Policies of a New
American Dynasty by James D. Boys (pb,
£14.99, 9781849549646) both published by Biteback continue to sell well.
I love this moment when
a CNN reporter is genuinely dumfounded by the fervour of a particular ardent
Trump supporter, and if you haven’t seen this already then you
must watch – Clinton and Trump having the time of their life!
This week was Ada Lovelace Day and Twitter went
bonkers celebrating the achievements of Ada, and other women in science who
were ahead of their time. Hopefully you used the opportunity to sell lots of Ada’s Algorithm: How Lord Byron’s Daughter Launched the
Digital Age through the Poetry of Numbers by
James Essinger (£8.99,
pb, 978 1783340712) which has just been published in paperback by Gibson
Square. This title tells the story of Ada’s turbulent private life and her
exceptional achievement. It traces how her scientific peers failed to recognise
the extraordinary breakthrough she had made in the middle of the 19th century
and suggests that if they had, the computer age could have started almost two
centuries ago. The film rights for Ada’s Algorithm have already been optioned by Monumental Pictures who
made Suffragette.
We gave you an introduction to Anness Books last
week, and this week we’re getting very excited about one of their October
titles, Microwave Mug Meals (hb, £9.99, 978 0754832850) by Theo Michaels which
is published by their hardback imprint, Lorenz Books. As it says on the
cover, this book brings you fifty delectably tasty
home-made dishes in an instant: all are speedy and simple and taste
incredible. Whether you are after a quick brunch, a speedy spag bol, a healthy
bean stew or fresh-tasting fish, there's every kind of meal here from Mexican
chicken to a Brazilian feijoada to an authentic Asian stir-fry. Not forgetting
the instant sweet fixes, such gooey chocolate orange cake!
A terrific piece in the Guardian by Mohammed
Moulessehoul, whose books are published under the female pseudonym of Yasmina Khadra entitled
“Algeria could have been a paradise for all” where the novelist explains
why he turned to boxing to tell the story of his country’s struggle against
France’s bloody post-war repression. You can read the whole interview here
. The Angels Die has just been published by published by Gallic. The
New York Journal of Books said “The Angels Die is a must read for readers of international fiction,
whether historical or contemporary” while the TLS enthused: “here is a
skilled storyteller working at the height of his powers.”
The turmoil in the middle east at present has prompted
many booksellers to highlight the incredible range of literature that is now
coming out of that region. This is a great display in Blackwell’s
Oxford, entitled Around the Middle East: The Perspective from some of
the Region’s Best Novelists. As well as including The Angels Die (Gallic)
it also features short story collections The Book of
Gaza (£9.99, pb, 978-1905583645) and The Book of Dhaka (£9.99,
pb, 978 1905583805) which is published this month by Comma;
and Refugee Tales
(pb, £9.99, 978 1910974230) published by Periscope, described by
one reviewer as “a collection of beautifully written tales about real asylum
seekers and refugees experiencing the iniquities of the UK's detention system
which is essential reading for anyone interested in human beings.” A really
good theme for a book display methinks…
There was a double page spread on The Philanthropist's Tale: The Life of Laurie Marsh
(hb, £16.99, 978 1910692547) in this Saturday’s Express Life & Style magazine.
Laurie Marsh is
one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs but I bet you’ve never heard
of him! Here for the first time is the incredible tale of this extraordinary
philanthropist; from the streets of Lambeth to glamour of LA, it's a compelling
true story of rags to riches, and sharing those riches with others. From
persuading Disney to license their characters for the first time outside the
USA, to convincing film stars to perform in low budget movies, Laurie has
carved success from his confident, entrepreneurial and collaborative approach
to life. Now in his eighties, Laurie still works every day, using his wealth
and influence to help as many good causes and charitable organisations as he
can. It's an inspirational and fascinating story of entrepreneurial success,
and commitment deserving causes. The
Philanthropist's Tale: The Life of Laurie Marsh is published by Urbane.
Talking of entrepreneurial success; is Karthik –
one of this year’s contestants on the new series of The Apprentice, one
of the biggest plonkers of all time? You decide: watch here!
The royal family continue to enthral some of us, and annoy
others in equal measure, as the pretty much blanket coverage of Wills, Kate,
gorgeous George and cutie-pie Charlotte in Canada has demonstrated. So two new
titles from Biteback should do well this Autumn I think. Mrs Keppel: Mistress to the King (£20.00, hb, 978 1785900488) is by bestselling author
Tom Quinn who
draws on a range of sources, including salacious first-hand eyewitness
accounts, to paint an extraordinary picture of Alice Keppel, and her infamous
affair with King Edward VII. This is great read, giving us loads of detail
about the outrageous goings-on of the Edwardian aristocracy, and the lives of
royal mistresses right down to Alice’s great-granddaughter, the current Duchess
of Cornwall. Both intriguing and astonishing, this is an unadulterated glimpse
into a hidden world of scandal, decadence and debauchery.
If you’ve received your copies of The Un-Discovered
Islands: An Archipelago of Myths and Mysteries, Phantoms and Fakes by Malachy Tallack (hb, £14.99, 978 1846973505) which is
published this month by Polygon then you will no doubt be exclaiming at
its beauty, and the glorious full-colour illustrations by Katie Scott. Gathered in the book are
two dozen islands once believed to be real but no longer on the map. This is an
atlas of legend and wonder; of places discovered and then un-discovered.
You can watch a lovely two-minute preview of the book here on YouTube and if
you haven’t ordered this book for your bookshop yet, then I really don’t know
what you are waiting for, it’s fab!
Is getting old all about attitude? Arnold Appleforth claims
it is. In which case he certainly needs all the attitude he can get, because
his journalistic career is on life support, his sex life non-existent (except
for a recent regrettable incident at a well-known chain restaurant), his
financial position precarious and his alcohol consumption prodigious. The Diary of a Has-been: The Intimate Chronicle of Arnold
Appleforth: Legendary Journalist, Idealist and Sponger by William Humble
(£12.99, hb, 978 1911129608 ) has just come out from Urbane in October
and takes the form of a diary, dealing with Appleforth’s own life with
intimate, eye-watering honesty and also providing pungent political comment on
the disgraceful state of contemporary Britain. Join Arnold as he drops pearly
bon mots before swine and makes one last grab for literary immortality. And
struggles to survive in a sadly unappreciative world...
Compass is on Twitter! Follow us
@CompassIPS. It’s 90 years today since Winnie the Pooh was first published, so
today here are some of our favourite tweets in an outpouring of love for
#WinnieThePooh!
Waterstones@Waterstones Happy 90th anniversary to
#WinnieThePooh, first published on 14th October 1926.
Blankspace@blakeney “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We
shall get there some day.” A.A. Milne. Happy 90th Birthday #WinnieThePooh
Parris@supernovester You're an old guy but i love you so much
happy 90th pooh bear
Identity
Design @identitylondon You are
braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter thank you think.
Happy 90th birthday #WinnieThePooh!!
Paul
Squires@paulsquirescom “It is
wise to ask someone what you are looking for, before you begin looking for it.”
#WinnieThePooh
Blondie
Rambles@BlondieRambles "I
need you to come here and find me ‘cause without you I'm totally lost."
#WinnieThePooh
Duck
Barn Interiors@DuckBarn “Home is the
comfiest place to be” Winnie the Pooh
Curved
House Kids @CurvedHouseKids Anyone
else think Penguin was a weird idea? Is nothing sacred? Maybe we're just old
being old fashioned. #Pooh90
Prestige
Bathrooms @PrestigeBathLtd If the
person you are talking to doesn't seem to be listening-be patient- he may have
some fluff in his ear #WinniethePooh
Celeste
Thorson @CelesteThorson I knew
when I met you an #adventure was going to happen.
SusanGarren @SusanGarren #WinniethePooh What day is it?"
It's today," squeaked Piglet. My favorite day," said Pooh. A.A. Milne
And here
are ten things you may not have known about our furry friend!
That’s all for now folks! More
next week!
This blog is taken from an e-newsletter which 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 talk to your Compass Sales Manager, or call the office
on 020 8326 5696.
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