RSSEver wondered what goes on in a little but lovely office where books are born? Welcome to the door that opens into the world of A & B... no need to knock, come right in!
-
Archive
-
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
Behind-The-Books Blog
Articles by chiara
Pop-ups? Pop to your local library any time…
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
As we near the end of a week celebrating libraries around the country, culminating tomorrow with special events to mark National Libraries Day (see yesterday’s blog), it seems fitting to highlight the new pop-up library at Selfridges in London (found in the UltraLounge on the Lower Ground floor of the department store). Recently opened as [...]
Bring back The Letter!
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Last week the blog Letters of Note, posted a letter written by author John Steinbeck to his then teenage and love-struck son, Thomas, back in 1958. Although it has been in the public domain since the 1980s, this recent spotlight has shot the letter to sudden fame. It has since been reproduced in last weekend’s [...]
5 things you should know when moving flat
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
You will have noticed that I did not post a blog on Friday. This is because, instead of blogging, I was completing a feat comparable to an Iron Man.
Yes, that’s right, I had to move flat.
And before you scoff at my hyperbolic analogy, I will explain that this feat involved getting everything done (obtaining keys [...]
A very Scandinavian week
Friday, January 13th, 2012
This week has seen some cosmic element pulling all manner of Nordic things into my life.
I discovered COS (Collection of Style) on Regent Street, the new sister store of Swedish chain H&M (full of sleek, classic but modern styles that don’t break the budget); every interior of a house I’ve seen (and loved) in the [...]
Quote great literature while you cook
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
As A&B’s resident foodie, it’s perhaps not surprising that I’ve discovered a lovely new blog The Gossip Bowl which celebrates vintage recipes (with a dose of the literary…) As they proudly highlight themselves on their site, Virginia Woolf wrote: ‘One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.’ Too true.
I [...]
Spending January at the cinema
Monday, January 9th, 2012
For me, January is the month of cinema trips, as a) there’s nothing much else to do, b) it’s cold and I want to sit in a warm darkened room for a couple of hours, and c) it’s Oscar season, so all the good films are out! Last year I remember seeing some of the [...]
Pick a font, any font
Friday, January 6th, 2012
As Chiara mentioned in the first blog post of 2012, I have some very wordy/worthy books on my current reading list. I haven’t finished Just My Type yet, though it’s so eminently dip-in-able that I could probably get two books going in tandem.
If you haven’t come across this book yet and have any kind of [...]
So what will we all be reading at the start of 2012?
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
And so we are back! The feasting and festivities are over and whilst we could dwell on the end of the holidays, the extra pounds we’ve gained, and the fact that we’ve been greeted by a wet and windy January, let’s focus on more positive things and the inevitable questions:
What books did you all read [...]
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
And so, here we find ourselves again - at the end of another year. In 2011 we’ve welcomed some wonderful new authors to our list, introducing you to a whole new array of reading choices. For our crime-fiction lovers we brought you inter-war mysteries from Jacqueline Winspear, Swedish police procedural from Kjell Eriksson, and medieval [...]
Wisdom from a Xerox machine
Friday, December 16th, 2011
Today our printer starting acting strange. Sara was printing off a manuscript and rather than printing the whole 420 pages in one go (as per usual) it started printing off 20 pages or so at a time. It would spit out one set of 20 pages, then stop and pause for a few minutes, and [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Get your Fix of cover stories…
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
For this, our last Wednesday Cover Story for 2011, I thought I would leave you with the discovery of another website-cum-blog that devotes, not just Wednesday’s, but Any Day to the subject that is The Book Cover. And so, to ensure that over the festive holidays you still get your fill of cover stories, I present [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: A topsy-turvy idea…
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
We’ve recently reprinted Paul Magrs novel To the Devil - a Diva! with a brand new cover.
I saw earlier today that the author had highlighted this news on his own website here (and was happy to see he thinks the new cover is ‘excellent’). But as I scrolled down the page my eye was drawn [...]
At least the NHS doesn’t have to deal with The King’s Evil
Monday, December 5th, 2011
I’m not sure a piece about all the different and bizarre things Londoners died from in the 17th Century is quite in tune with the Christmas spirit, but one bit of news hitting the papers today is a new exhibition at The Royal Society displaying various books that have never before been on public display. [...]
Your Movember book covers and the winning mo-hunter!
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
It’s is now December and officially the end of Movember. For those of you who supported the cause by growing your own tache, the time has come to, well - shave. No matter what your friends tell you, it really wasn’t a good look. And for those of you that supported the cause by entering [...]
Possibly the greatest Morganville Vampire fan?
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
For today’s post, I feel I simply must take this opportunity to highlight the existence of another blogger - Siobhan from Totally Bookalicious.
And why am I giving said blogger this special spotlight? Because, not only did she just recently give Last Breath, by Rachel Caine one of the most enthusiastic reviews - I could practically [...]
Foreign tastes: the changing book title…
Friday, November 25th, 2011
A chance discovery on Amazon.com (thanks to Christina) led me to searching out the foreign language editions of Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It’s an elaborate title (and a beautiful book, don’t miss it!) but it rolls off the tongue and conveys a sense of the story. We’ve stuck with [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Third time’s a charm…
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
Every day, for the past few weeks I’ve been admiring the cover for A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness (there’s a poster advertising the paperback as I head to the Northern Line at Waterloo station on my morning commute). It’s a beautiful juxtaposition - the silky, light strands of red contrasting with the stark, [...]
Let’s talk about Sherlock
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
A while ago people needed to talk about Kevin, and now they are talking about Sherlock Holmes. The release of the new official Holmes novel, The House of Silk, by Anthony Horowitz, has sparked this new hype, but Holmes has always been a source of interest and inspiration. A great deal of writers have been [...]
The SYP Conference, publicity and our paper fetish
Monday, November 21st, 2011
On Saturday I had the pleasure of speaking at the annual Society of Young Publisher’s Conference 2011 - giving three seminars, together with Alison Baverstock, on publicity. When our lovely SYP host, Katie Lewis, told us our seminar was the most heavily subscribed to, admittedly my first thought was: ‘Uh oh, pressure is on!’ , [...]
Ronnie Biggs versus his kidnapper, Patrick King
Friday, November 18th, 2011
Today’s news is that The Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, has just launched his official autobiography, Odd Man Out: The Last Straw. Unable to speak and looking extremely frail in this footage from SKY NEWS from the press conference, Ronnie has apparently been working on the book since he was released from jail on [...]
Currently we are...
-
...Reading
West End Front, by Matthew Sweet. Lesley: A look at what was going on behind the dazzling exteriors of the grand London hotels like the Ritz and the Savoy during WW2. Chock-full of interesting details.
Digg this
Facebook