Well, this week we at Compass Towers have all
temporarily been holed up in a hotel in Ealing (oh the glamour) hearing from our
lovely publishers about the goodies they have in store for us this autumn! And
what a cornucopia of delights it has tuned out to be! Here is a sneak preview to
get you salivating!
From Scott
Pack and his new imprint Aardvark
Bureau we have two thought provoking novels – When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow by
Dan Rhodes, (which you may recall we have
previously mentioned – it’s the somewhat controversial title starring Richard
Dawkins – the Guardian called it a “zippy little farce”) and also
The Miner by Natsume
Sōseki, one of the greats of Japanese literature (translated by Jay
Rubin) which tells the story of a young man who leaves Tokyo on foot following a
disastrous love affair and is recruited to work in a copper mine. Comma Press told us all about an intriguing
collection entitled Forty Five Years: Selected
Stories by David Constantine –
one story has been made into a new film starring Charlotte Rampling which comes
out in September. Gallic were very
excited (as are we) about the new Muriel
Barbery (author of the Elegance of the
Hedgehog) novel: Life of
Elves.
How's this for a contentious bit of publishing – Red Planet is are bringing out a title
entitled God Save the Queen – to tie-in
with the date in Autumn when the Queen (God willing) will become the longest
serving monarch in history. However, the Red
Planet title is not a reverential tribute to our magnificent
monarch – but a totally irreverent look at the history of the iconic Sex Pistols
single! This is going to be huge – there is a lot to say about this
extraordinary song and the impression it made on the public when it was first
released in 1977 (which of course was the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee).
Here’s the video to remind you! One and a half million people in
the UK are involved in five-a-side footie every week – and in celebration of
them, Freight are bringing out the
Five-a-Side Bible – a miscellany of fact,
figures and entertaining info about this massively popular game – which may well
be the must-have dads and lads gift book for this Christmas!
Which small town in
Wales Port
Talbot ! The Actor’s Crucible
is a hardback coming from Parthian which
explores this extraordinary phenomenon. If you like gothic thrillers – and the
novels of Mervyn Peake, then you’ll definitely be looking forward to The Unusual Possession of Alastair Stubb – a novel
coming from Urbane. And if that
sounds far too frightening for you then you might prefer Angels Whisper in my Ear – by the UK’s youngest
“Angel Communicator” – Kyle Gray –
published (who else!) by Hay House.
Post election, everyone’s favourite political commentators Biteback bring us Call Me Dave – an unofficial biography of our
leader – written by Lord Ashcroft, together with sassy journo Isabel Oakeshott. Btw, if you haven’t yet seen the
brilliant Cassetteboy’s most
recent David Cameron rap then you really should! Carcanet are bringing us the Collected Poems of Muriel Spark, and Enitharmon have a marvellous collection of
poems by the dissident Russian poet Vladimir
Mayakovsky. If this name is unfamiliar to you – then here’s a couple
of minutes of archive footage which gives you a fascinating update.
Talking of dissidents; Forty Six have a
new title from Murong entitled Through the Red Dust. His writing deals mostly
with social issues in contemporary China, exploring themes such as corruption,
censorship, business-government relations, and general disillusionment over
modern life; and his literature is known for its nihilistic, realist, racy, and
fatalist style. Gibson Square have a
cracking title which will appeal those many readers who love those collections
of letters to the Times and Telegraph. But this is a book of
letters with a twist – entitled Make Do and
Send, it is an assortment of letters of protest written to the
authorities about the rationing after WWII. They are very funny – and give you a
real feel about the frustrations of the ordinary men and women who still had to
do without many of life’s basics even though we had won the war!
Lots of you are
doing extremely well with Wanna Cook –
the companion to Breaking Bad from Myrmidon; and the same publisher is bringing
you Investigating Sherlock – an
entertaining trawl through all the episodes in Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal
of the renowned detective. As you may
know, Benedict’s fans (the self-titled Cumberbitches) are both enthusiastic and
plentiful – and this book is most definitely for them!
Birlinn are bringing us a lovely compilation of
love stories from the ever popular Alexander McCall
Smith – similar in feel to the very successful Trains and Lovers, this is a charming collection.
McCall Smith has used as his starting
point some old sepia photos of unknown couples – and imagined the stories behind
them. Two very different historical titles – Arcturus have a lavish hardback History of Maps and Plexus have Manly
Manners – which is a republished Etiquette guide from the 1960’s –
very odd and very funny! And finally, Periscope’s lead title is The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami which comes with a glowing
endorsement from Salaman Rushdie – and was one of Wall Street Journal Top Ten
Books of the Year. Phew – plenty to look forward to this Autumn I
think!
And now onto books you can order now – as we said
above, new novels from Alexander McCall
Smith are always a treat and a couple are coming up this summer!
The Revolving Door of Life is the tenth
titles in the hugely successful 44 Scotland
Street
With customary charm and
deftness, Alexander McCall Smith gives us
another instalment where anything could happen to Bertie and the gang! I absolutely love the whimsical and
witty style of the jackets for this series. The Revolving Door
of Life by Alexander McCall Smith (hb, £16.99, 978 1846973284) is
published by Polygon in August and you can find out more and order it here.
And don’t forget about the new children’s book from
McCall Smith; Precious and the Zebra Necklace (hb, £9.99 978
1780273273) which is out from Birlinn in July. Precious Ramotswe’s early
years (long before she founded her Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency)
as a precocious detective continues in the fourth book in this delightful
series. When 8 year old Precious finds out that all her school friend Nancy Botswana in
their search for Nancy
Long Time No See by Hannah
Lowe is a poignant memoir, which speaks eloquently of love and its
absence, regret and compassion, and the struggle to know oneself. Subtitled,
A Memoir of Fathers, Daughters and Games of
Chance; this title takes us into the vivid world of Hannah Lowe’s father “Chick”, a half-Chinese, half
Jamaican immigrant, who worked long hours at night to support his family –
except Chick was no ordinary working man. A legendary gambler, he would vanish
into the shadows of East London to win at cards
or dice, returning in daylight to greet the daughter whose love and respect he
courted. Lowe calls forth the unstable world of card sharps, confidence men and
small-time criminals, mixed with scenes of racially charged and often plain
intolerant Essex life in the 80s, with flashbacks to a Jamaica
Will Long Time No
See be added to the list of all time great novels with a gambling
theme do we think? And what would be our top ten? Well, I’d start with Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas, Casino Royale, The Dice Man and
Dostoyevsky’s The Gambler perhaps – any more
suggestions?
Who fancies an intelligent and compelling historical
novel with a cast that includes Julius Caesar, Octavian, Mark Antony, Horace,
Cassius Longinus, Cleopatra and Herod the Great? Definitely me, and so will all
those readers who enjoy Robert Harris, Robert Graves, James Clavell and Hilary
Mantel. The Horse Changer by Craig Smith (978 1910183137, pb, £8.99) is a new
novel from Myrmidon coming in July. Set in Rome
Who out there was Born
in the 70’s? Well whether you are claiming to be far too old or far
too young – you and your customers will certainly enjoy this a stroll down
memory lane: a fabulous collection of photographs of Britain in the 1970s; that fast-changing decade which saw a steady
rise in living standards, the introduction of package tours abroad, far too many
oranges and browns in home furnishings, bottles of Blue Nun, spacehoppers,
Bagpuss and Curlie-Wurlies, prawn cocktails and avocados, colour TV, Kevin
Keegan's perm, the Nolan Sisters, Abba, Edward Heath & Harold Wilson, Arthur
Scargill and Maggie Thatcher! Born in the
70’s by Tim Glynne-Jones (hb,
978 1784047450, £6.99) contains over 90 photographs accompanied by a witty and
moving commentary describing a fascinating decade which saw a whole nation
taking to faded denim as miners manned the barricades and inflation topped 30%.
The Seventies marked the beginning of Women's Liberation, and topics covered in
this nostalgia fest also include punk, popular perms of the time, Bay City
Rollers fans and the introduction of decimal currency. This is the latest in a
great little series of gift hardback titles – you can see Born in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s on the blog -
guaranteed to produce a golden glow in every reader! Born in the 70’s is coming from Arcturus in
August and you can find out more and order it here.
And just to put you in the right frame of mind to
place an order – here’s a
brilliant 16 mins which takes you through the top 100 selling singles
of the whole of the 1970’s – love it!
Compass is now on
Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. Here are some of our favourite Tweets from last
week...
“I find
television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the
other room and read a book.” ― Groucho Marx
Thanks @CompassIPS - always get such positive feedback
on the books. Here's to a great second half to the year!!
Our
'Independent Book of the Month' for May is Boxes by Pascal Garnier from @gallicbooks http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/stores/holborn/independent-book-of-the-month/ …
Have you read it?
What
do we wante? Latyn! Whanne do we wante yt? Nunc!
Well done Sue
Lawrence - Fields of Blue Flax @FreightBooks is Scottish Book of the Month of
the month at @BlackwellEdin! @scottishbooks
Today #biketoworkday Check out our fab Cycling
related range here http://bit.ly/1nYOxuA
@BluffersGuide
And finally; never let it be said that Compass gives
you booksellers titles you don’t actually want … but this Facebook post on the
day following the election from our friends at the Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham made us laugh.
A lot.
That’s all for now
folks, more next week!
This blog is taken from a newsletter 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.
