27th January
Stylist Magazine's Cult Books of 2012
Great news! Lots of Random House titles have been chosen by Stylist magazine as 'cult books' of 2012! This includes three debuts- The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen, HHhH by Laurent Binet and My Policeman by Bethan Jones. Also joining them is the long awaited prequel to Irvine Welsh’s 1994 ,Trainspotting Skagboys! Click here for a link to the article.
26th January
Samantha Harvey and Tessa Hadley in Conversation
On Monday, January 30th, Samantha Harvey & Tessa Hadley will be discussing their new novels both published this month. Join them in conversation with literary journalist and blogger Suzi Feay for an enlightening evening of discussion. The event takes place at Foyles, Charing Cross Road from 6.30pm - 7.30pm. Tickets are free but must be reserved beforehand. Click here for more information.
25th January
Two New Blog Entries
Head over to the Vintage Blog for two new blog entries! Discover from Ruth Warbuton of Vintage Publicity what it feels like to be published for the first time, and hear all about The Reader Organisation’s first London revival of The Penny Readings which took place on Sunday.
25th January
Waterstone's Competition
The lovely people at Waterstone's are giving away a pair of tickets to the premiere of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - based on the bestselling novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach! The film stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Dev Patel, amongst a wonderfully star-studded cast. The premiere is on Tuesday 7th February at the Curzon, Mayfair. To enter, head over to Waterstones' Facebook page by clicking here.
24th January
Stories Before Bedtime
Stories Before Bedtime returns to the Criterion with an alternative Valentine’s theme on the 10th February. Twisted Love: an anti-valentines evening of unlikely love stories will see Irish actress Niamh Cusack reading Angela Carter’s The Courtship of Mr Lyon, Tom Hiddleston, recent star of Hollywood blockbuster Thor and Steven Spielberg’s Warhorse, reading the erotic Tennessee Williams short story The Kingdom of Heaven, and star of Men Behaving Badly Caroline Quentin reading extracts from Ovid’s hilarious The Art of Love.
For more information and to book tickets click here.
24th January
Prize for South Asian Literature 2012
Congratulations to Jonathan Cape debut novelist, Shehan Karunatilaka, who has won the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2012 for his book Chinaman! The Prize was awarded at the Jaipur Festival. Ira Pandel, Head of the Judges, said: 'Chinaman is a brilliant narration of all that is both great and sad about South Asia ... it brings a world to the reader that needs to be seen outside this region'.
23rd January
World Book Night 2012
World Book Night
represents the most ambitious and far-reaching celebration of adult books and reading ever attempted in the UK and Ireland.
This year, World Book Night will be held on the 23rd April and they’re once more looking for 20,000 volunteer givers. Givers will be distributing 24 copies each (480,000 books) with the further books distributed directly to prisons and libraries through charitable partners.
Giver applications are open until the 31st January 2012 so sign up here now to be part of
WBN 2012
20th January
Free Copies of The Woman in Black and The Descendants With The Telegraph This Weekend!
This weekend The Telegraph will be running offers for two of our forthcoming film tie-ins! Tomorrow, you will be able to pick up a free copy of The Woman in Black from participating Waitrose stores (nationwide), Booths (up north) and McColl’s (Scotland), when you present the voucher printed in the paper at the till. Then, on Sunday, the offer will be repeated for The Descendants. Enjoy!
20th January
Birdsong
The first episode of the two-part BBC adaptation of Birdsong is aired this Sunday (22nd of January), and ends the following weekend (29th). Set mostly in France spanning the years before and during the First World War it captures the drama and destruction of that era as it tells the story of Stephen, a young Englishman who is impelled through a series of extreme experiences. It is an incredibly moving novel and will no doubt be as beautiful on screen. Click below to view the book.
17th January
John Burnside Wins T S Eliot Prize For Poetry
We are delighted to announce that John Burnside has won the 2011 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry with Black Cat Bone (Cape). Burnside was chosen from a field of eight highly-regarded poets, including the Poet Laureate. For more information on this ‘haunting book of great beauty’ (as described by Gillian Clarke, chair of the judges), click here.
16th January
The Golden Globe Awards 2012
Amazing news from the Golden Globes last night! The film adaptation of Kaui Hart Hemmings' The Descendants won best film, and George Clooney won best actor for his performance! We can’t wait until next Friday when the film is finally released. To view the book click here. Furthermore, The Iron Lady, based largely on John Campbell’s biography of Margaret Thatcher, was also feted at last night’s Golden Globes, with Meryl Streep winning the Best Actress award! Campbell’s book is available now (click here to view).
16th January
Powder on DVD!
The DVD of Powder, based on the novel by Kevin Sampson, is out today! Filmed on location in Ibiza, London, Liverpool and live at the V Festival, Powder is an authentic rock 'n' roll story. Click 'view book' for further info.
12th January
The Woman in Black Waterstone's Competition
Waterstone’s are giving away a pair of tickets to the premiere of The Woman in Black- where Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, screenwriter Jane Goldman and director James Watkins will be attending to celebrate the launch of the star-studded adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel! Click here for more details!
11th January
Pity The Billionaire
Listen to the Guardian Podcast’s round up of what’s in store in 2012 to hear Nick Cohen talk about Thomas Frank’s infectiously furious look at the baffling rise of the right, Pity the Billionaire. A study of the worst financial collapse since the 1930s and it’s surprising outcome.
10th January
An Oliver Twist For Our Times
In Dickens bicentennial year Vintage Classics and the Guardian have launched a competition to find a new cover for Oliver Twist. To enter simply take a photograph of an image that shows how you think Oliver Twist’s world would look now. The winning photograph will be featured on the cover of a new edition of the novel published in April 2012. Deadline for entry is February 7th. For more details click here
9th January
Sherlock
We’re all very excited about the second series of Sherlock and thoroughly enjoyed last night’s episode. Whether you’re a fan of the BBC series or not we highly recommend Arthur Conan Doyle’s original tales.
6th January
New Entry on Stop What You're Doing And Read This blog!
Head over to the blogStop! for an entry from Jane Davis who explores the importance of shared reading. Jane is the founder and director of The Reader Organisation, a wonderful charity with the ultimate aim to bring about social change through reading. Click here to visit The Reader Organisation website.
5th January
Winner of Foyles Murakami Short Story Competition Announced!
Last autumn, Foyles hosted a Short Story competition for budding writers and fans of Haruki Murakami.
Murakami selected a line from his novel, 1Q84, with which entrants were invited to begin a short story of no more than 1500 words. The judge was his publisher at Harvill Secker, Liz Foley. After making her way through scores of terrific submissions with the help of colleagues at Random House, Liz chose Kavita Jindal as the winner. Click here to visit the Foyles site and read Kavita’s wonderful story.
4th January
Back to School Blues?
Rob Eastaway, author of the best-selling Maths for Mums and Dads, is on hand to help with this article which helps to inject creativity into maths for teachers and pupils. Read the full article here. And if you are a parent dreading the advent of more maths homework sessions why not read more about Maths for Mums and Dads here.
3rd January
Mark Haddon and Michael Rosen on the Importance of Reading
In a world of fast-moving technology and increasing demands on your time, why should you stop what you’re doing and read a book?
MICHAEL ROSEN and MARK HADDON discuss the importance of reading and how great books can transform the way you see the world in a wonderful event on the 23rd January at Canda Water Library. Click here for more information.
22nd December
Stop What You're Doing And Read This!
On 26th December we ring in the New Year with a very important book that celebrates reading in all its forms. Stop What You're Doing and Read This! is a collection of ten essays from some of our passionate advocates of reading. This book will form the basis for a year-long celebration of reading starting on 9th January when Stop What You're Doing and Read This! will be BBC 4 Book of the Week.Tune in to listen each day to Jeanette Winterson, Mark Haddon, Tim Parks, Michael Rosen and Carmen Callil reading their essays. With events, news stories and a dedicated website (where you can get recommendations and enter the debate), a nationwide mood-boosting books campaign in libraries and lots of fantastic ebundles created around each essay in the book, the debate about reading has never been more topical or easier to join in!
For more information on upcoming events check here