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Archive
Behind-The-Books Blog
Reading ONE DAY, by David Nicholls
Friday, February 26th, 2010
I was going to merely comment on One Day, by David Nicholls in our Currently we are reading column, but realise I have too much to say about it…
Proof that you should never judge a book by its cover. This one is a garish orange, close-up silhouette of a couple presumably about to kiss. Blegh. [...]
T-shirt joy at JOY!
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Have you ever noticed how once you see one example of something they keep cropping up where ever you go? This week for me it has been t-shirts, ones with funny/naughty slogans, they have been here, there and everywhere, often leaving me staring after people in the street in a confused fashion. And when I [...]
High-flying artist causes a buzz online
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Now I’ve seen it all.
For centuries people have mounted hunting and fishing trophies on their walls (which always give me the creeps), then in the 1990s we had Damien Hirst’s macabre series of animals preserved in formaldehyde (it makes me shudder just to think of them), and now we have…dead fly cartoons.
OK, admittedly these aren’t [...]
When credit cards just won’t do
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
With the snow showing no sign of letting up, this year is possibly the very best for keen skiers in Europe. However, skiing is a very expensive hobby and there are always those looking to cut corners and save a bit of cash.
Pity this poor guy though who tried to sneak onto a ski lift [...]
Author Blog Awards 2010
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
I’ve just been alerted to the upcoming launch of the Author Blogs Awards - run by CompletelyNovel.com. The aim of this award is “to highlight to readers the great content that you can find in author blogs, reward those authors who write excellent blogs, and encourage other authors to start their own.”
Here’s how it will [...]
What you said about Glass Houses (Morganville Book 1)
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Before Christmas, we ran a competition with our friends The Reading Agency and teen reading groups around the UK. We gave them the first installment in our Morganville Vampires series, Glass Houses, and asked for reviews - and in turn have now received some great and detailed responses.
Plenty of our reviewers mentioned how accurate the [...]
Snapshot: Ann Cleeves & Martin Edwards
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Taken last night at the-one-and-only Goldsboro Books (London) where I joined a merry crowd to celebrate the launch of crime-writers Ann Cleeves’ new book Blue Lightening (a new case for Shetland detective Jimmy Perez) and Martin Edwards‘ new book The Serpent Pool (the latest in his Lake District mystery series).
Chiara Priorelli, Publicity & Online Marketing [...]
An interesting lesson in crafty marketing…
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
I received an email the other day from a finance company wishing to advertise on our website with a link back to their site. I didn’t think it was appropriate, and said as much, but they insisted it would be a “textual advert” and somewhat hidden within the content on the page. Still unconvinced but [...]
Avatar pilates, of course
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
My pilates class takes place on a Monday evening straight after work. Usually, it’s the most I can handle on the first weekday back at work: gentle breathing, relaxing, stretching. I always leave the class feeling refreshed and ready to face the week ahead. Also, the muscles do ache a bit in the following days [...]
Valentine’s (hic!) Day
Monday, February 15th, 2010
For Valentine’s Day you could have found me and the other half squinting in rapt concentration, aiming for a swirl (but slopping more instead) and making some interesting noises through pursed lips under a London railway arch. Sounds romantic, no?
Guided through a systematic approach to wine-tasting in the Vinopolis caverns around London Bridge, we attempted [...]
Love-sick on a book tour
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
We’re coming up to Valentine’s and perhaps inspired by the fact I watched the Sex & the City Movie again which sees Carrie reading a book Love Letters from Great Men, I googled the topic and enjoyed a few minutes perusing a few of such amorous letters posted on the internet.
I can’t help but share [...]
The Art of Cover Art
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Every now and again we are contacted by freelancers asking us to keep them on our radar.
Alice Stevenson is one such freelancer and although we rarely do books requiring illustrations like this, I can’t help myself from browsing her website to see the beautiful new things she’s been up to - like her beautiful Barbara [...]
A story for Valentine’s…
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
My journey home last night didn’t start off too well. It was drizzling with rain. I was cold, hungry and tired; I just wanted to get home. I got to Finsbury Park to find my train was cancelled. Then we were told that, from then on, trains would only be going as far as Gordon [...]
Train your brain (and have fun in the process)
Monday, February 8th, 2010
It’s a known fact that the Telegraph Online is an excellent source of news, features, review pages, blogs TV and job listings etc…but were you aware that it offered brain-training excercises too?
If not, allow me to introduce you to Word Bubbles - a brain-training game to which I am now seriously addicted and causing fierce [...]
Exactly what libraries need?
Friday, February 5th, 2010
You know, I might harp on a bit about this whole ebooks/digital thing, but away from the news-grabbing stories of iPad this and epub that, there are some pretty cool developments taking place which are a really positive thing for reading as a whole.
For instance, you may not be aware of Bloomsbury Library Online, I [...]
You’ve got to be kidding!
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
My favourite news story of the week so far has to be that of poor old Christine Cuddihy - the 24-year-old woman who was forced to produce ID to prove she was over the age of 21 in order to buy…wait for it…a 51p cheese and onion quiche from Tesco!
For reasons best known to herself, [...]
Review of It’s Complicated
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Earlier this week I went to see It’s Complicated - the new movie featuring Meryl Streep as a divorcée , who unexpectedly finds herself having an affair… with her ex-husband. The ex-husband is Alec Baldwin, a man who had left her ten years ago for a yonger woman, and to whom he is currently still [...]
More neologisms…
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
I absolutely loved reading all the brilliant entries to our recent Caboose competition - the one where we asked you to supply us with alternative meanings for the word ‘caboose’ - see previous blog. Now I’m delighted to discover that The Washington Post has been running similar neologism contests (in which readers are asked to [...]
A little gem for cinema-goers
Monday, February 1st, 2010
I’ve been watching more films recently – mostly thanks to my Lovefilm account. But occasionally there’s a film you just have to see on the big screen and this cinema in Notting Hill is my secret love.
The Coronet is an old Victorian theatre, with gorgeous old-school décor in scarlet and gold and feels like a [...]
Currently we are...
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...reading
The Rose of Sebastopol, by Katharine Mcmahon Lara: Mariella is an interesting protagonist – so far, not your traditional heroine and still second fiddle to the beautiful, enigmatic Rosa. This is the author’s aim I suppose, but I’m still interested to see if Mariella does finally come into her own – or if as readers you’ll always wish the story was told from Rosa’s point of view instead.
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