Compass Points 187

A very warm welcome to Anness Books who joined the Compass team at the start of October. Here’s Paul Anness signing the contract with MD Alan Jessop, and the rest of our super sales squad!

You may think you know Anness as a promotional books operation – or you may not have heard of them at all – but it’s definitely time to take another look at this 28-year old company, as they have been re-focussing their publishing over the last year; and we’re really looking forward to telling you about some of the terrific new titles they have to offer you! They incorporate the imprints Lorenz Books, Southwater and Armadillo (children’s) as well as a stationery range called Peony Press and all of their titles are high-quality and highly illustrated; all generated in-house using their own team of photographers, editors and designers.

The adult lists incorporate cookery, gardening, history, art books and general non-fiction. There’s a lovely catalogue of their 2016 books – just ask your Compass Sales Manager for a copy and they have a very comprehensive website too www.annesspublishing.com which lets you flip right through (every single spread!) all the books they publish! Just type the title into the search box and then you can preview the entire book as well as see the AI and cover.

Current cookery bestsellers for them include The Wood-Fired Oven Cookbook by Holly and David Jones (hb, £9.99, 978 1903141946); The Spiralizer Cookbook by Catherine Atkinson (hb, £12.99 978 0754831570); Tagines by Ghillie Basan (hb, £9.99, 978 1908991263) and Microwave Mug Cakes: Home Made Treats in an Instant by Hannah Miles (hb, £9.99, 978 0754831365).

Have a quick look and I think one of the things that will strike you first is what high quality content and pictures you are getting for a really great price! Look out from more from Anness in the coming weeks…

Congratulations to KJ Orr, winner of the BBC Short Story Award. The London-born writer's Disappearances, was described by judge Kei Miller as “a near perfect example of how the short story works.” The story was inspired by Orr watching a solitary man in a café in Argentina whilst travelling. Surfaces and what lies beneath were a starting point for this tale of a retired plastic surgeon who develops a relationship with a local waitress and is compelled to visit the same café every day.

Orr was presented with the prize of £15,000 on Tuesday (4 October) evening by the 2016 Chair of Judges Dame Jenni Murray at a ceremony held in the BBC's Radio Theatre in London. The news was announced live on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, during a special programme celebrating the short story. The BBC National Short Story Award (pb, 9781910974278, £7.99), edited by Jenni Murray and published by Comma Press is available now. As you can see here, someone else appears to have crashed the awards ceremony at the BBC...

More prize winners to congratulate! Carcanet celebrated a double win at the Forward Prize ceremony which was hosted last week at the Royal Festival Hall in London! Vahni Capildeo's Measures of Expatriation won Best Collection (£15,000) and Sasha Dugdale's poem Joy, published in PN Review Issue 227, won Best Single Poem (£1,000). The three awards (there’s also one for Best First Collection) are Britain’s most coveted poetry prizes, celebrating the best new poetry published in the British Isles.

Measures of Expatriation is Vahni Capildeo’s fourth collection. Born in Trinidad, she has lived in the UK since 1991. She is at ease in a number of languages – including the Spanish, French, English and creoles of her childhood – and she writes in her winning book: “Language is my home, I say: not one particular language.” Malika Booker, chair of the five-strong jury, said: “Vahni Capildeo’s Measure of Expatriation is a work that amazes … this is poetry that transforms. When people in the future seek to know what it’s like to live between places, traditions, habits and cultures, they will read this. Here is the language for what expatriation feels like.”

Booker also described Dugdale's Joy, a poem which presents the death of William Blake as retold by Catherine, his widow, as “addictive writing, compelling and tender.” Measures of Expatriation (pb, £9.99, 978 1 784101 68 8) and PN Review Issue 227 including Joy (£6.99, journal, 978 1784101 38 1) are both available now from Carcanet.

An excellent ad which you can see above, in the London Review of Books this week for two important books published this month by Skyscraper. State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel by Thomas Suárez (hb, £20.00, 978 1911072034) is a detailed account of the way terrorism was used to force the British out of Palestine. Baroness Jenny Tonge said “Everyone who has ever accepted Israel’s own account of its history should read this book.”

And Politically Incorrect: Why a Jewish State is a Bad Idea by Ofra Yeshua-Lyth (pb, 978 1911072041, £12.99) discusses how Israel’s insistence on an exclusively Jewish state is setting it on a course of self-destruction. Noam Chomsky called it “poignant and painful.” Both titles are published on 13 October.

I know versions of this have been all over the internet forever – but this still amuses me greatly: see what happens when you replace the word “wand” with something else in the Harry Potter books…

Ken Hom has been absolutely everywhere this week promoting My Stir Fried Life (£20.00, hb, 978 1849549783) published by Robson Press. I heard him on Simon Mayo’s Drivetime on Radio 2, and he’s also been on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen, ITV’s This Morning, Radio 4’s Midweek, Radio 5Live’s Afternoon Edition and on LBC, Steve Allen in Conversation. There have been interviews in the Telegraph, The Sunday Times, BBC Easy Cook and Delicious Magazine; he’s been at the Daunts October Festival and will also be at the Blenheim Palace Literary Festival on 14 October. Simon Mayo used Bob Marley’s Stir It Up to introduce Ken on his show – love a bit of that!

You may have seen a piece in this week’s Bookseller, about Hillsborough Untold: Aftermath of a Disaster which is by Norman Bettison, the former chief constable of both Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police. The title will give an insight into what was happening at South Yorkshire Police headquarters following the tragedy, and will also "respectfully" seek to explain why Bettison feels his involvement has been "unfairly scapegoated" in parliament and by the press. The proceeds of the book will go to charity. Biteback said this "personal account" will describe how the Hillsborough disaster unfolded, and gives an "objective and compassionate" account of the bereaved families’ "long struggle for justice". Bettison said: "I wrote this account because I did not want my 40-year professional career to be defined by false accusations. The book should appeal to anyone with an open mind who remains curious about one of the UK’s most tragic, and controversial, peacetime disasters." Hillsborough Untold (hb, £18.99, 978 1785900891) will be published in November by Biteback.

We love a bit of e-books versus real books debate, so thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful piece from Alison Jones at the Book Machine on the role of the print book in an increasingly online world. She writes how “that phrase, ‘friction and texture’ summed it up for me: this is what print provides and a white screen does not.”

Another Ken is also out and about at the moment: Ken Livingstone is on the road again, promoting Being Red: A Politics for the Future (£12.99, pb, 978 0745399058) which has just been published by Pluto Press. In it Ken serves up an account of the Labour Party and its future, at a pivotal moment in its history. Having worked most of his life within the party in various leading roles; as the head of the Greater London Council, as Member of Parliament and as Mayor of London, Livingstone is able to offer insights into the internal workings of the party, and the rise and fall (and potential rise again) of its radical socialist ethos. Discussing his battle with Boris Johnson, the fight against privatisation and pollution as well as his analysis of Jeremy Corbyn’s arguably radical leadership and its implications for the future; Livingstone displays his trademark honesty and humour. Ken has just been at the Henley Book Festival and will be at the Chichester Speakers Festival, this Saturday, followed by the Hillingdon Literary Festival on Sunday. Then he’s on to the Canterbury Festival on 27 October, and the Folkestone Book Festival on 21 November.

I still love this amusing moment from Top Gear 2007 when Ken is nominated for almost all of the awards!

I highly recommend a new fiction title coming in October by Jen Waldo; an astonishing new American voice who will stop you in her tracks. She brings an electrifying tone to fiction, tackling difficult subjects with a warmth and humour, and creating an unforgettable protagonist. Our MD can’t put it down! Old Buildings in North Texas begins when thirty-two-year-old Olivia (a recovering cocaine addict) returns to live with her mother and pregnant sister. Under pressure to take up a hobby, she decides to try urban exploration. Soon she's poking through derelict homes, churches and schools across North Texas. This vivid and humorous book modulates effortlessly from domestic nuance to taut adventure and social and moral transgression. It is a book about a modern woman's dilemma as she searches for personal equilibrium and wild adventure, trying to find stability in her existence without losing sight of what makes life worth living, and I think it will strike a chord with many. Old Buildings in North Texas by Jen Waldo (hb, £12.99, 978 1910050781) is published in October by Arcadia.

Talking of the US, we all know that book jackets are often different when they’re published in the UK and over the pond. But why? Have a look here at these fun comparisons on BuzzFeed to see if you can come up with any answers!

It was National Poetry Day this week, a good time to remind you about the paperback of A Lion Was Learning to Ski and Other Nonsensical Limericks by Ranjit Bolt (pb, £8.99, 978 1783340927) which is published this month by Gibson Square. The hardback edition was a 2015 Christmas bestseller which reprinted three times and has now sold over 10,000 copies! Robert McCrum in the Observer said it “Transforms Ranjit Bolt into a literary lion … a parable of print and paper in the age of eBooks and social media…”

You’ve done extremely well with the David Bowie Colouring Book, and on a similar theme, the Classic Album Covers Colouring Book (978 1905959938, pb, £9.99) just published by Red Planet is getting tons of promo and I think could be equally successful. It’s been mentioned on The Radcliffe & Maconie Show, BBC 6 Music are talking about it and radio interviews are coming up on BBC Berkshire, BBC Lancashire, BBC Stoke, BBC Ulster, BBC Wales, BBC Cumbria, BBC Solent, Wirral Radio Merseyside, Swansea Sound, Talk Radio Europe, Real XS, North West, Planet Rock, and Absolute Radio and there will be more to follow! This great gift paperback features 30 classic album covers to colour in yourself – and I can think of tons of people who would like to find this in their stocking! It includes all the greats – from Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bowie, Nirvana, The Eagles, Duran Duran, The Cure, The Sex Pistols, Bruce Springsteen –  they’re all here! As one Amazon enthusiast said “What a great idea. Loads of my favourite albums in here and its great fun digging them out and making your own version of the cover! I've now got a psychedelic cow on Atom Heart Mother and The Beatles are all in blue jeans on Abbey Road! Great fun.”

So to finish – let’s watch this brilliant 10 minute round-up of the Greatest Albums of All Time – how many are in the Red Planet colouring book I wonder!

Compass is on Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. This week we’re loving all the great tweets at #TheApprentice – have a look for some hilarious pictures, gifs and memes celebrating the return of the show!

LilianHarry ‏@LilianHarry I can't believe that they get thousands of applicants and THESE are the best......?

Mark Johnson ‏@Testwood The Apprentice is our annual reminder to appreciate our colleagues because there are at least 18 worse people you could be working with

Lily Bailey ‏@LilyBaileyUK WatchingThe Apprentice is great because I always feel I have mediocre life skills, but then I see theirs and by the end I feel like a CEO.

hoskas ‏@hoskas Can't wait for that woman to find out that the chair she was so proud of selling for £17.50, was actually worth £300

Katie Weasel ‏@KatieWeasel "Thank you for the opportunity to reveal myself as a useless cretin to around 6 million people Lord Sugar."

Ian Hyland ‏@HylandIan Lovely tribute to Alan Rickman on tonight's The Apprentice. One of them has come as Hans Gruber.

The Apprentice@bbcapprentice “You got any experience in antiques?” / “I watch a bit of Bargain Hunt.” / “You’re hired."

Jack Edwards ‏@jackbenedwards The first episode of a new series of The Apprentice mostly just consists of me muttering "wanker" under my breath.

Sam Avery ‏@samaverycomedy The reason you never see the face of Lord Sugar's receptionist is because it's last year's winner.

Moe ‏@MoesusLDN It's been 1 episode only & i swear the gyals got less brain cells combined than Claude has hair on his head.

Ricky Gervais@rickygervais LikeThe Office never happened #TheApprentice

That’s all for now folks! More next week!

This blog is taken from a 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.

Compass Points 186

Antoine Laurain has been everywhere recently promoting the wonderful French Rhapsody (pb, £8.99, 978 1910477304) just published from Gallic – here's a great one-minute interview with him in the Independent which tells you everything you need to know . Here he is at the EuroStars event at Waterstone's Piccadilly with publisher Jane Aitken; at Toppings in Bath, outside Belgravia Books and at Mr B's Emporium!

I noticed a super-duper spread on Slim by Design by Brian Wansink (£12.99, 978 1781807415, pb) from Hay House in the current issue of Red magazine this week – entitled Life Hacks for Healthier Eating. This entertaining, eye-opening book shows how you can lose weight not by changing what we eat – but where and how we eat. One of the tips I especially loved was to make tempting foods invisible and inconvenient – basically put the biscuits in a high up cupboard and don’t have treats sitting in full view! People who have a fruit bowl in their kitchen weigh 7 lb less than those who don’t; and apparently every four minutes a person spends in their kitchen, they consume 20 more calories! This expert food psychologist offers a genuinely radical new philosophy for weight loss, and this spread in Red is great publicity for it!

And talking of food, why not take this fun quiz in Buzzfeed which claims that We Know Your Exact Age Based On Your Hipster Food Choices!

How great would it be to learn from other people’s mistakes rather than having to make our own? In WTF Just Happened? Martin Goodyer presents a hilarious compilation of catastrophes to help readers do just this. Drawing on his experience as a psychologist and taking the perspective of a behavioural change coach; Martin offers insights into people s often irrational behaviour and suggests ways to avoid such behaviour ourselves. This collection of cringe-worthy stories includes pretty much every bad situation you can imagine – from how to avoid missing the point; how to avoid your darling children turning into teenage monsters; how to avoid letting yourself go; how to avoid getting scammed; how to avoid being a loser! An ideal book for anyone interested in human behaviour, personal development or avoiding mistakes by learning from others. If you only buy one book to help you handle life’s challenges, then make it this one. WTF Just Happened? How to Make Better Decisions by Asking Yourself Better Questions by Martin Goodyer (978 1785830310 , £12.99, pb) is published by Crown at the end of October.

Watch a short 2-min promo film from Martin Goodyer about WTF Just Happened here.

Harrogate author, Jackie Buxton has recently presented a cheque to Breast Cancer Haven, Yorkshire for £830.62 from the sales of her bestselling book: Tea & Chemo; Fighting Cancer, Living Life (pb, £7.99, 978 1910692394). Thanks very much to all you lovely booksellers who supported it! When Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer she began to write down her thoughts and feelings, soon developing them into a blog which received an overwhelmingly positive response from the many followers who could relate to what she was writing.

Encouraged that her words could help other people in the same situation, Jackie set about writing Tea & Chemo which was published by Urbane. Go to the blog to see some pics of Jackie at Breast Cancer Haven; which has five UK centres providing free emotional, physical and practical support to anyone affected by breast cancer. 

Jackie’s new title Glass Houses (pb, 978-1910692844, £8.99) a novel about a text sent whilst driving and its enormous ramifications; was published in July – also by Urbane – and has had some absolutely rave reviews from readers on Amazon.

Great publicity for Eat Well, Stay Well: What to Eat to Beat Common Ailments (£12.99. pb, 978 1859063712) by Dr Sarah Brewer with a big spread in the Daily Mirror – and there’s more PR to come! This full colour paperback is packed with nutritional advice based on the latest scientific evidence and features twenty superfoods to make a part of your diet plus great advice on how to combat the fifty most common ailments. It’s organized by ailment for quick and easy reference and covers everything from high blood pressure and osteoporosis to eczema and depression. With tasty recipes to try, Eat Well, Stay Well shows you how to eat your way to staying healthy and happy as you age. It is published by Connections.

An interesting piece in the Guardian this week headed: A Northern Powerhouse Really is Coming – in Publishing. It discusses as length the issue of publishing in the UK being too white, too middle-class and too London-centric, and suggests that if publishers really want to reflect the diversity of modern Britain they should follow the independents and move north. The piece mentions our lovely friends Comma Press and Carcanet among many others – do read the whole article here.

Congratulations to Anakana Schofield whose novel Martin John (pb, 978 1908276667, £10.00) published by And Other Stories has just been shortlisted for the 2016 Goldsmith’s Prize. Written with all the electrifying humour of her award-winning debut Malarky and exhibiting a startling grasp of the loops and obsessions of a molester’s mind; Martin John stands as a brilliant, Beckettian exploration of a man’s long slide into deviancy. The Guardian called it “Ambiguous; funny; distressing and complicated” while the Sunday Telegraph said “Schofield writes without judgment. Five stars.’ This title is highly topical and explores issues of sexual harassment and abuse with great empathy and dark humour.” If any bookseller would like a reading copy of Martin John, then please email nuala@compass-ips.london. The Goldsmith’s Prize is awarded for “embodying the spirit of invention that characterizes the novel genre at its best” and the winner (who receives £10,000) will be announced at a ceremony at Foyles in central London on 9th November. The judges’ chairman Blake Morrison said: “Innovative novels used to suffer from the stigma of ‘difficulty’ but one thing we’ve learned since the Goldsmiths Prize was launched four years ago is what a large and responsive readership they reach.” You can read about all six shortlisted titles in The Bookseller here.

Lovely launch party this week – thank you very much Urbane – for Serial Damage (pb, £8.99, 978 1911129455) by husband and wife team Liz Cowley and Donough O'Brien. This is a riveting thriller in the best traditions of Barbara Vine, Patricia Highsmith and Val McDermid which has already had some great reviews. Somewhat surprisingly, as well as co-authoring books about serial killers, Liz is also the bestseller author of Outside in My Dressing Gown and Gardening in my Slippers.

In October she has a new poetry collection published by Gibson Square: Pass the Prosecco, Darling: Cooking Disasters and Other Kitchen Dramas (hb, £9.99 978 1783341344) This time, Liz hilariously turns her wicked wit on everything from disastrous supper parties (and people on mobile phones during them), gluten-free demons, diet fads and the clutter of unread cookbooks that collect in our kitchens like tumble weed.

I think this super little hardback could be a very successful Christmas gift title – so do order it! Here are Liz and Donough at the party!

Events are the lifeblood of many a good bookshop we know – and we absolutely LOVE this wall at the entrance to Waterstone's Birmingham!

And talking of great signage – I think you will enjoy this piece from the Independent about the fab punning signs  outside Inversnecky Café in Aberdeen!

There are some great displays for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton titles in many of your shops at the moment – like this fab one in one in The Norrington Room, Oxford – featuring of course Hillary Rising: The Politics, Persona and Policies of a New American Dynasty (£14.99, pb 978 1849549646) by James D. Boys which is published by Biteback, and selling very well indeed!

Off to Foyles in Chelmsford today for the launch of their beautiful brand spanking new bookshop – opened by none other than that ultimate survivor, loveable (?!) rogue and author Lord Jeffrey Archer! Good luck and congratulations to all involved with the new shop! Here you can see Lord Archer and Christopher Foyle opening the shop - and Foyles marketing legend Jasper Sutcliffe looking surprisingly perky after his 5.30am start today!

And finally; on the day the Rosetta Space probe collides with its comet bringing to an end one of the most audacious space missions ever; I adore this little animation made by the European Space Agency team marking the moment. And what I love most, is that in amongst all of that extraordinary technology, the Rosetta Space probe is holding a book! Hurrah!!

Compass is on Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. Here are some of our favourite tweets from this week...

Waterstones Witney ‏@WstonesWitney I think someone NEEDS to make a picture book out of the wonderful @ESA_Rosetta animations! SO CUTE! #CometLanding

The New European ‏@TheNewEuropean In this issue: Alastair Campbell reveals the moment #TonyBlair nearly quit as PM moment #TonyBlair nearly quit as PM from Vol5 of diaries

Joanne Harris ‏@Joannechocolat Libraries are staffed by trained librarians, experts who give help and advice and organize activities. #TenThingsAboutLibraries

Scottish Book Trust ‏@scottishbktrust 'Through fantasy, children face their fears and become braver', says @CorneliaFunke...

Freight Books ‏@FreightBooks Speaking to @PukaarMagazine, @nicholas_hogg on Tokyo and The Author’s Cricket Club

Comma Press ‏@commapress Our brilliant distributors @nbnibooks have just featured us on their Instagram, thanks guys, follow nbnibooks and give the photo a like!

Matthew at Urbane ‏@urbanepub Rather bizarrely, my fifty seconds of fame talking about pop-ups on @YouTube has over 1,200 views

Kirkdale Bookshop ‏@KirkdaleBooks "Do you sell alarm clocks?" Welcome to Friday evening. This is five minutes after somebody sang a Robbie Burns song in here. Strong night.

That’s all for now folks! More next week!

This blog is taken from a 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.

Compass Points 185

Compass is now bringing you a selection of the very best children’s books, and one such title is a really gorgeous edition of The Night Before Christmas or A Visit from St. Nicholas. Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas in 1822 and it is true to say that its composition redefined our image of Christmas and Santa Claus.

For example, prior to its creation, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh or reindeers! There are many editions of this famous poem of course, but this new hardback published by Arcturus in October is special on three counts.

Firstly, this edition contains all the original text and is a reproduction of an 1888 edition; reproducing the beautiful colour illustrations by William Roger Snow (1834-1907) in a stunning facsimile edition that's filled with period charm. Secondly, it is a highly appealing, large handsome hardback in its own right with lovely endpapers, ornamental borders, many charming decorative touches, a red fabric binding, and an interesting introduction.

And finally – the price! It’s just £6.99 which is a truly astonishing bargain! I genuinely cannot see why any family would not want to purchase this – it is one of those Christmas books that can become a tradition to read every year – and something that looks so lovely at this price makes it a complete no-brainer for any parent or grandparent to purchase! You can see some of the pictures here – get yourself some copies now – you will definitely sell them all, and I have a feeling this could be a very big seller for Arcturus this year! The Night Before Christmas: A Reproduction of an Antique Christmas Classic (978 1784282998, 24 pages, £6.99, 304 x 248mm, hb) is available to order now.

The shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2016 has now been announced – and it looks like a pretty good year, including tales by Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel, poet and author Lavinia Greenlaw, and short story writer K J Orr. All the characters assembled in this year’s shortlist are all looking for a new start, a chance to escape or change the way they are perceived. Young garment workers in a Bangladesh factory seek a better life; a girl on a deep, dark moor is drawn into a different kind of darkness after a stranger gives her a bunch of flowers; a retired plastic surgeon, who once served the great and not-so-good of Buenos Aires, finds a new peace when he disguises his identity; an academic seeks sanctuary in a different rhythm of life and for those who wile away the nights in A&E, unlikely memories and a good sense of the absurd keep the worst at bay. A spokesperson for the award said: "Intimate and yet universal, the 2016 shortlist is a diverse, multi-generational selection that shows how direct and powerful the short story form is in its ability to reflect every facet of human experience. Human connection and the quest for experience are key themes for this year’s stories." The winner of the award will be announced on Radio 4 from 7.15pm on Tuesday 4 October 2016, with £15,000 going to the winner and £3,000 to the runner-up. The BBC National Short Story Award (pb, 9781910974278, £7.99), edited by Jenni Murray and published by Comma Press is available now – previous years’ editions have sold out very fast, so do order it!

Well, Mary’s staying (along with Mel and Sue) Paul’s going – but which GBBO baker has sold the most books? Find out in this piece in The Bookseller here !

The fallout from Brexit rumbles on; and for those still interested, Biteback are bringing your customers everything they could possibly need to know – and possibly quite a lot they don’t! Well, You Did Ask: Why the UK Voted to Leave the EU (pb, £10.00, 978 178590168) by Michael Ashcroft and Kevin Culwick was published earlier this month and draws on more than two years of intensive research by Lord Ashcroft, explaining how voters came to make the most momentous political decision of our time – how they saw the choice before them, what they made of the campaign, its personalities, claims and counterclaims – and why they ultimately chose to take the UK out of the EU. It also offers a colourful and revealing look at what our continental neighbours think about Britain and the British!

Two Brexit titles published in October are The Bad Boys of Brexit: Tales of Mischief, Mayhem & Guerrilla Warfare in the EU Referendum Campaign (hb, £18.99, 978 1785901829) which is an unexpurgated and highly entertaining diary of the referendum campaign by Arron Banks. In the year preceding Brexit, Arron Banks tore up the political rule book, sinking £8 million of his personal fortune into a madcap campaign targeting ordinary voters up and down the country. His anti-establishment crusade upset everyone from Posh Spice to NASA and left MPs open-mouthed. When his rabble-rousing antics landed him in hot water, he simply redoubled his efforts to wind up the targets. Lurching from comedy to crisis (often several times a day), he found himself in the glare of the media spotlight fending off daily bollockings from Nigel Farage and po-faced MPs. Sound good!

There’s also The Brexit Club: The Inside Story of the Leave Campaign’s Shock Victory by Owen Bennett (£12.99, pb, 978 1785900983) which brings you the inside story of the battle for Brexit. With unprecedented access to the key figures in the Leave groups, The Brexit Club reveals the truth behind the campaign that divided friends, families and the country.

And finally; Summer Madness How Brexit Split the Tories, Destroyed Labour and Divided the Country by Harry Mount (pb, £12.99, 978 1785901799) which describes in entertaining detail how in less than three weeks Brexit became a mass murderer!  Hello?! Shortly after Boris Johnson was knifed in the back by Michael Gove, a close friend of Boris’s apparently said to Harry Mount, “Brexit is like some horrible curse. It kills everything it touches.” The Bullingdon boys, Cameron and Osborne had been 'whacked’, Mafia style, the Cabinet was drained of blue blood and the Notting Hill set – who had holidayed, worked and lived together for thirty years since their Oxford days – were torn asunder by the Brexit serial killer. Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, who had fought the Brexit campaign together, broken bread and plotted with their wives, were ripped apart by Gove’s sudden desertion. Jeremy Corbyn, who remained in post before and after the referendum, joined the ranks of the living dead. Shortly after the Brexit result, Labour MPs voted against him in a no-confidence vote. And Nigel Farage, arguably the only real victor of the referendum, resigned his UKIP leadership within days of the result being announced. According to Harry Mount, this sad and sorry spectacle appears to resemble nothing less than a scene from The Godfather and in a day-by-day account, he gives us his insider’s version of those three chilling weeks of mass blood-letting. Summer Madness is also published at the end of October.

The Ryder cup is about to begins in Minnesota the end of this month, so don’t forget to display Behind the Ryder Cup: The Players’ Stories by Peter Burns with Ed Hodge (hb, 978 1909715318, £20.00) which was published by Arena Sport in July. From the origin matches that preceded the first official trans-Atlantic encounter between Britain and America at Worcester Country Club in 1927, all the way through to the fortieth instalment at Gleneagles in 2014, this is the complete history of the Ryder Cup – told by the men who have been there and done it. With exhaustive research and exclusive new material garnered from interviews with players and captains from across the decades, Behind the Ryder Cup unveils the compelling truth of what it means to play in golf’s biggest match-play event. This title joins the best-selling series of behind-the-scenes histories from Arena Sport and is packed full of exclusive and previously untold stories. Arena’s Behind the Jersey series has sold over 30,000 copies and Behind the Ryder Cup looks set to do equally well.

And let’s hope this year’s Ryder Cup brings us something as amusing as this highly entertaining golfing moment from earlier this year!

Talking of America, Interstate: Hitch Hiking Through the State of a Nation is a fascinating journey across that vast and complex country. Recruited to work on a documentary project, Julian Sayarer went to New York convinced he had hit big time at last. Finding the project cancelled, he wandered the city streets and, with nowhere else to go, decided to set out hitchhiking for San Francisco. Revisiting this timeless American journey, he finds an unseen nation in rough shape. Along the road are homeless people and anarchists who have dropped out of society altogether, and blue-collar Americans who seem to have lost all meaning in forgotten towns and food deserts. Helped along by roadside communities and encounters that somehow keep a sense of optimism alive, Interstate grapples with the fault lines in US society. It tells a tale of Steinbeck and Kerouac, set against the indifference of the vast US landscape and the frustrated energy of American culture and politics at the start of a new century. Julian Sayarer has cycled six times across Europe, and in 2009 broke the 18,000-mile world record for a circumnavigation by bicycle. A politics graduate, his writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, New Statesman, Aeon Magazine, and many others. Interstate: Hitch Hiking Through the State of a Nation (£8.99, pb, 978 1910050934) has been described as “On The Road for the Occupy generation” and it’s published in October by Arcadia.

It's fashion week time around the globe – and I love this  – 16 Books That Perfectly Match New York Fashion Week Looks!

The latest edition of The Good Food Guide 2017 (978 0953798346, pb £17.99) has just been published and this stunning clothbound trade paperback with foil and ribbon looks extremely handsome this year; running to 624 pages including 30 pages of maps. This is the UK’s bestselling restaurant guide, and with over 1,200 reviews, it’s the UK’s most comprehensive guide too! There will be a significant PR campaign for it through Waitrose Weekend and Waitrose Food which have a combined circulation of 2.4 million readers a month. The Good Food Guide 2017 contains £50 worth of restaurant vouchers as well as its in-depth, impartial, entertaining reviews. It predicts the major culinary trends for 2017 plus of course those hotly anticipated listings: the Top 50 Restaurants and Top 50 Pubs. There are also many other foodie features and chef interviews.

When Ben and Juliette's young daughter dies in a tragic accident on a school trip, they begin searching for answers. But will they ever know the truth? What was the role of the teacher on the trip - and are the rumours about his past true? As Ben and Juliette search for the truth and the pressure rises, their own secrets and motivations are revealed. An Honest Deceit (pb, £8.99, 978 1911129974) by Guy Mankowski is an extremely gripping contemporary psychological thriller that questions not just the motives of others, but the real reasons for discovering the truth. Guy Mankowski’s first novel, The Intimates was a Must Read Title for New Writing North's 2011 Read Regional campaign. His second, Letters from Yelena, was adapted for the stage and his third, How I Left the National Grid, was a bestseller for Roundfire. An Honest Deceit was recently described by The Huffington Post as “a contemporary, socially aware artwork, a bubble of semi-fictional reality, a fantastic world” and “a novel of outstanding quality.” It is published by Urbane on 20 Oct 2016 and you can see Guy (who lives in Newcastle) talking about one of his previous novels on the North East Arts and Culture Show here and find out a bit more about him on his blog here.

Last week I wrote about the award-winning South African author Henrietta Rose-Innes whose title Nineveh, is out from Aardvark and Gallic in November. Her fourth novel, Green Lion is published in 2017 and Henrietta has just put a short presentation about this novel onto YouTube. Lovely stuff – it is great when authors do this I think – and you can watch this two-minute preview of Green Lion here.

Nick Perry spent his childhood in Dorset, out in the countryside. He was educated at Parkstone Sea Training School before leaving for London where he worked for ATV Television and then travelled around Europe moving from job to job until he came into money, whereupon he bought a hill farm in North Wales. Like you do. His experiences are entertainingly related in Peaks and Troughs, Hill Farming for Absolute Beginners (£14.99, hb, 978 1846973659) which is published in October by Polygon. This is a warm-hearted, humorous and ultimately inspirational tale of a young man’s attempt to run an organic farm in the unforgiving Welsh hills. Despite the hardships, he never loses his belief that there is an alternative way to farm that is sympathetic to the earth and the animals in his care. His neighbours never take him seriously and try to undermine his efforts as he struggles against the elements and nagging self-doubt, but he carries on, no matter how close to the edge he and his family get. This illustrated, funny nostalgic memoir will appeal to readers of Peter Mayle, James Herriot and shepherd James Rebanks and is described by Polygon as “The Good Life meets Withnail and I”.

And just to remind our younger readers what exactly those two things are: here’s ten minutes of Felicity Kendall milking a goat and also the top ten moments from one of my all-time favourite films!

Compass is on Twitter! Follow us @CompassIPS. Here are some of our favourite tweets from this week...

The Bookseller ‏@thebookseller Jeremy Robson is to leave Biteback Publishing after five years to focus on his own writing.

Comma Press ‏@commapress Listen live at 3:35pm, catch up on @BBCiPlayer, or even better, read the whole anthology BBC Short Story Award.

Oberon Books ‏@OberonBooks Hear @glynofwelwyn chatting about Drinks With Dead Poets, the follow up to bestseller On Poetry, on TheVerb on BBCRadio3 at 10pm tonight!

The Bookseller ‏@thebookseller Wayne Winstone buys @HuntingRavenBks as he looks to establish a mini-chain in the south-west of England.

Gardners ‏@Gardners Congratulations Wayne @winstonebooks! Wishing you all the best with your new shop! #indiebookshops

Choc Lit ‏@ChocLituk Very excited about @PiaCCourtenay's new book The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight.

Biteback Publishing @Biteback Jeremy Corbyn's ex-wife says she voted for Owen Smith @JuliaRampenMM shares other insights from #ComradeCorbyn. 

Ken Hom ‏@ChefKenHom Meet me at @dauntsbooks on thurs 6 Oct, Marylebone High St 1.30 to 2.30 pm for a chat and book signing. KH

Gallic & Aardvark ‏@BelgraviaB You still got time to book tkts to see #AntoineLaurain at @ToppingsBath on 29 Sep talking about his new novel French Rhapsody.

Bookshop Windows ‏@BookshopWindows @BelgraviaB @hartsbooks gorgeous! Something about a bookshop window in the sun is really warming of the soul.

St. David's Press ‏@StDavidsPress Thanks @WaterstonesCardiff for a great display of our rugby books!

Pam Ayres ‏@PamAyres No Sue, no Mel, no Mary, 4's Bake Off will be scary, Could they not heed the nation's moan, And leave the bloody thing alone?

That’s all for now folks! More next week!

This blog is taken from a 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.