/lifestyle/books/rss ¾ÅÒ»ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞ Thu, 30 Jan 2025 23:14:00 Z en /lifestyle/books/2023-in-books-protests-bans-and-the-rise-of-ai-helped-shape-the-story-of-publishing/ /lifestyle/books/2023-in-books-protests-bans-and-the-rise-of-ai-helped-shape-the-story-of-publishing/ Book publishing in 2023 was a story of cooling sales and rising conflict, marked by legal action, protests, censorship and the impact of forces well beyond the industry. Print book sales continued to recede following the pandemic-era surge, but fiction remained strong, thanks in part to the young readers on BookTok. Colleen Hoover, one of BookTok’s signature authors, continued her reign as the country’s top-selling author, even without releasing a new book in 2023. Three of her novels were among the top 10 sellers as tracked by Circana, with other popular releases including novels by two authors, Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, regarded as leaders of “romantasy”, a newly branded genre that combines romance and fantasy. Literary highlights included Justin Torres’ inventive narrative on the hidden history of gay sexuality, Blackouts, winner of the National Book Award for fiction. Critics also praised James McBride’s multi-ethnic crime story The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, R.F. Kuang’s satirical Yellowface, Paul Murray’s family drama The Bee Sting and such nonfiction releases as Jonathan Eig’s Martin Luther King biography King, Naomi Klein’s internet saga Doppelganger and another winner of a National Book Award, Ned Blackhawk’s The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History. Book news was otherwise shaped by courtrooms, boardrooms, palace gossip, technological advances and growing divides in the US and abroad: Celebs bound and unbound The year was bracketed by million-selling tell-alls from celebrities estranged from their families: Prince Harry’s Spare and Britney Spears’ The Woman in Me. Both were stories of confinement and repression, from the palace life that Harry feared might drive his wife — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — to take her own life, to the conservatorship that gave Spears’ father power over everything from her finances to her ability to have children. Harry framed his life as a kind of reckoning, opening the book with William Faulkner’s famed observation: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Spears looked back hopefully to a youthful promise she made to herself: “I can make my own way to life. I can make my dreams come true.” AI rising ChatGPT is not yet a major force in the book market, but real-life writers are worried enough to take legal steps to prevent it, or at least control it. Numerous lawsuits were filed in 2023, including a class-action lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild and George R.R. Martin and John Grisham, among other authors. The plaintiffs allege ChatGPT is a “massive commercial enterprise” reliant upon “systematic theft on a mass scale”. Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger told the Associated Press she thinks the industry is on the verge of an “explosion” of AI-generated books that could well cut into the earnings of authors, most of whom already make little from their work. “We have to get some money back into the system,” says Rasenberger, who has advocates that authors receive compensation for copyrighted books used in AI programs. Prince Harry's memoir Spare is part of a growing trend of public figures using publishing to share their stories. Photo / Matt Cardy, Getty Images Done deal Simon & Schuster, home to Stephen King, Hillary Clinton and many others and turning 100 in 2024, serves as a kind of parable of a corporate-owned publisher unable to control its own destiny. Sold in 1975 to Gulf & Western, Simon & Schuster has since been part of various leadership structures, most recently Paramount Global. The company had solid growth in 2023, but once Paramount decided it was “a non-core asset”, its future was a matter of market calculations and antitrust law. After a federal judge halted Penguin Random House’s acquisition of its long-time rival, citing the likely shrinkage of competition, Paramount sold Simon & Schuster to the private equity firm KKR. Paramount’s farewell statement had all the poetry of a quarterly balance sheet: “Simon & Schuster is positioned well for future growth, and the transaction itself demonstrates significant value capture for Paramount and meaningfully advances our de-levering plan.” Bans and book fairs The publishing industry’s push to offer more diverse books continued to clash with a surge in bans and attempted bans that the American Library Association reports has reached levels not seen in decades, with Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and John Green’s Looking for Alaska among those removed from shelves. Near the end of 2023, Green was among the authors signed on to a Penguin Random House lawsuit over Iowa’s restrictions on sexual content and depictions of gender identity. Even attempted middle ground proved unstable. When Scholastic isolated some diverse books into a separate package that communities could pre-emptively reject for school fairs, authors were enraged and the children’s publisher apologised. It has since announced a new strategy that incorporates diverse books into the overall catalog while letting schools “make their own local merchandising decisions, as they have always done, just like any bookstore or library”. Rushie speaks After being hospitalised following a horrifying knife attack in August 2022, Salman Rushdie re-emerged publicly, although under increased security. He was honoured in person during Pen America’s annual spring gala in Manhattan, received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade during October’s Frankfurt Book Fair and was awarded the first lifetime Disturbing the Peace prize in November at Manhattan’s Vaclav Havel Centre. His publishing return is to come soon: He’s writing a book about the attack, Knife, which is scheduled for April. Netflix leak, Barrymore withdrawn The Hollywood strikes didn’t only upend the film and television industries. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, whose company was a key player in the writers strike, decided against attending the Pen America ceremony, where he was to receive a Business Visionary Award. Drew Barrymore was dropped as host of the National Book Awards after she started taping her talk show while its writers were still on strike. Her replacement was the actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton. 2023 has been a transformative year for those working in the publishing industry. Pictured are protesters and members of the Writers' Guild of America campaigning in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Michael Buckner, Variety Conflict at home The wars in Ukraine and Gaza divided the literary community in ways that mirrored other public debates. Russian author-activist Masha Gessen resigned as vice-president of the Pen board after the literary and human rights organization canceled an event that was to have featured both Russian and Ukrainian panellists. (The Ukrainians had objected to the Russians’ participation.) Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert announced she would postpone her novel The Snow Forest because some Ukrainians had objected to the story taking place in Russia. Gilbert called her decision “a course correction”. Officials at the Frankfurt fair cancelled a tribute to the Palestinian author Adania Shibli, who had been scheduled to receive a prize for female writers from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Arab world. A sponsor of the National Book Awards, author, publisher and podcaster Zibby Owens, withdrew her support when she learned some finalists would read a statement about the war. Owens feared the authors would “collectively band together to use their speeches to promote a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli agenda”, but the actual statement condemned anti-Semitism, along with Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias. The 92nd Street Y in Manhattan dropped an event with Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen because he had signed a petition opposing Israel’s invasion of Gaza. With authors condemning the decision and several staffers resigning, the Y put its fall literary schedule on hold. Nguyen, meanwhile, was invited to appear instead at the independent bookstore McNally Jackson. “I spoke about my book, yes, but also about how art is silenced in times of war and division because some people only want to see the world as us versus them,” Nguyen later wrote on Instagram. “And writing is the only way I know how to fight. And writing is the only way I know how to grieve.” Sun, 10 Dec 2023 02:26:17 Z /lifestyle/books/counsellor-feels-sense-of-achievement-for-grief-focused-storybook/ /lifestyle/books/counsellor-feels-sense-of-achievement-for-grief-focused-storybook/ Creating a storybook has been an important part of Robyn Te Paiho’s journey through grief. And now that the book has been published, she hopes it will help others who have lost a loved one. Robyn, who is a counsellor, has written and illustrated a 34-page storybook called The Sun and the Sad House. In June 2018, her husband Hirini (Sid), aged 56, died from a rare form of cancer, and then her father, John Malcolm, who hadn’t been well for a while, died in October at the age of 86. Two of Hirini’s siblings died that year too, adding to a rough year for Robyn. And during the first lockdown, Robyn was very busy doing many online counselling sessions for stressed-out clients. After lockdown she decided she needed to have a break, so she had a week off. “I decided I would have some time writing and drawing just to process my grief."  “I had read an article about ‘cocoon times’ which really resonated with me." “I felt like I had been in a cocoon." “I was operating normally in the outside world, but still felt like I was in this different world trying to cope with my grief.” She decided to turn the imaginative story into a book, and was spurred on by the knowledge that it would be another resource her brother Andrew Malcolm and his wife Merryn could add to the Loss and Grief Centre Kāpiti, in Paraparaumu, which they were opening. “I had always wanted to write a book, and my father was really into storybooks and was arty as well. “As a way of honouring my father, and my own story, I thought I would have a crack at it.” The front cover of Robyn Te Paiho's storybook. Photo / David Haxton She attended and was inspired by a workshop by author Joy Cowley on how to write a storybook. Robyn’s book, suitable for adults and children, follows a caterpillar who loses a loved one, is overcome by sadness and takes refuge in her sad house - but with the sun’s comforting presence, and taking as long as needed, she emerges with a new way of being. Robyn, from Porirua, struggled a bit with the artwork, but gradually it all came together, especially after a talk with her husband’s niece Huhenia Pauorini, who is an Ōtaki-based artist, and some others. She got picture books from the library and bounced ideas off her mother Val Malcolm during visits. “I started drawing once I decided I would do my pictures in oil pastel and crayon.” After completing the pictures she contacted designer Briar Whitehead, who took her through the publishing process before the storybook was printed at Nelson-based The Copy Press. One of Robyn’s goals was to have the book published by her father’s birthday on March 6, which would have been his 91st birthday. “I didn’t think it would be ready in time because The Copy Press had been very busy. “But on the day of his birthday, I came home at lunchtime and there was a box at my front doorstep containing copies of the book. “That was really cool. “Then I got hold of Andrew and Merryn and said I wanted to have a book party.” Robyn was proud of the finished product. “It feels like an achievement. “The whole purpose of the book was for me to process my grief, but I also wanted it for the Loss and Grief Centre Kāpiti, too. “I wanted other people to read and get something out of it.” Robyn has gifted copies of the book to the Loss and Grief Centre Kāpiti. Copies are available for purchase at the centre, or people can pay one forward. To order one online, go to The Copy Press’ website: www.copypress.co.nz.   Tue, 21 Mar 2023 03:29:07 Z /lifestyle/books/burn-proof-edition-of-the-handmaids-tale-up-for-auction/ /lifestyle/books/burn-proof-edition-of-the-handmaids-tale-up-for-auction/ Margaret Atwood has imagined apocalyptic disaster, Dystopian government and an author faking her own death. But until recently she had spared herself the nightmare of trying to burn one of her own books. With a flamethrower, no less. She failed, and that was the point. On Monday night, timed for PEN America's annual gala, Atwood and Penguin Random House announced that a one-off, unburnable edition of "The Handmaid's Tale" would be auctioned through Sotheby's New York. They launched the initiative with a brief video that shows Atwood attempting in vain to incinerate her classic novel about a totalitarian patriarchy, the Republic of Gilead. Proceeds will be donated to PEN, which advocates for free expression around the world. "In the category of things you never expected, this is one of them," she said in a telephone interview. "To see her classic novel about the dangers of oppression reborn in this innovative, unburnable edition is a timely reminder of what's at stake in the battle against censorship," Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, said in a statement. The fireproof narrative is a joint project among PEN, Atwood, Penguin Random House and two companies based in Toronto, where Atwood is a longtime resident: the Rethink creative agency and The Gas Company Inc., a graphic arts and bookbinding specialty studio. Rethink's Robbie Percy said that he and fellow creative director Carolyn Friesen came up with the idea. Late last year, they had heard about a Texas legislator who listed hundreds of works for potential banning from school libraries: Percy and Friesen wondered if it were possible to make a book protected from the most harrowing censorship. They soon agreed on "The Handmaid's Tale," which came out in the 1980s and has had renewed attention over the past few years, beginning with the political rise and unexpected presidency of Donald Trump and continuing with the current surge of book bannings. "We thought an unburnable copy of 'Handmaid's Tale' could serve as a symbol," he said. Percy and Friesen spoke with Atwood's publishers in Canada and the U.S. — both divisions of Penguin Random House — and got in touch with the author. They then contacted Gaslight, which has worked on numerous commissioned texts, including some for PEN. The Gas Company's principal owner, Doug Laxdal, told the AP that instead of paper, he and his colleagues used Cinefoil, a specially treated aluminum product. The 384-page text, which can be read like an ordinary novel, took more than two months to complete. The Gas Company needed days just to print out the manuscript; the Cinefoil sheets were so thin that some would fall through cracks in the printer and become damaged beyond repair. The manuscript was then sewed together by hand, using nickel copper wire. "The only way you could destroy that book is with a shredder," Laxdal says. "Otherwise, it will last for a very long time." Atwood told the AP that she was was immediately interested in the special edition, and in making the video. She was a teenager in the 1950s, when Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" was published, and holds vivid memories of the novel's futuristic setting, in which books are reduced to ashes. "The Handmaid's Tale" has never been burned, as far as Atwood knows, but has often been subjected to bans or attempted bans. Atwood remembers a 2006 effort in one Texas high school district, when the superintendent called her book "sexually explicit and offensive to Christians," that ended when students successfully fought back. In 2021, "The Handmaid's Tale" was pulled by schools in Texas and Kansas. The novel has sold millions of copies and its impact is not just through words, but images, amplified by the award-winning Hulu adaptation starring Elisabeth Moss. Advocates worldwide for women's rights have dressed in the puritanical caped robes Atwood devised for her story. Most recently, some women in handmaid outfits marched to protest the Supreme Court's expected overturning this year of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. "It's an unforgettable visual metaphor," Atwood said. "That's why people in the middle ages put coats of arms on their armour, and had recognizable flags. That way you can visualize them and know who's standing for what." - By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer Tue, 24 May 2022 01:40:03 Z /lifestyle/books/handmaids-tale-sequel-one-of-two-winners-for-booker-prize/ /lifestyle/books/handmaids-tale-sequel-one-of-two-winners-for-booker-prize/ Canadian writer Margaret Atwood and British author Bernardine Evaristo split the Booker Prize on Monday, after the judging panel ripped up the rulebook and refused to name one winner for the prestigious fiction trophy. Chairman Peter Florence said the five judges simply couldn't choose between Atwood's dystopian thriller "The Testaments" and Evaristo's kaleidoscope of black women's stories, "Girl, Woman, Other." Partly inspired by the environmental protesters of Extinction Rebellion, who were demonstrating near the prize ceremony's venue in London's financial district, Florence said the judges refused to back down when told the rules prohibit more than one winner. "Our consensus was that it was our decision to flout the rules," he said. "I think laws are inviolable and rules are adaptable to the circumstance." Prize organizers didn't see it that way. Gaby Wood, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, said prize trustees repeatedly told the judges they couldn't have two winners, but they "essentially staged a sit-in in the judging room" as deliberations dragged on for five hours. Wood insisted the decision "doesn't set a precedent." It means Atwood and Evaristo will split the 50,000 pound ($63,000) Booker Prize purse. Florence said both of the winning books "address the world today and give us insights into it and create characters that resonate with us." "They also happen to be wonderfully compelling page-turning thrillers," he added. Both winners said they were happy to share the prize. "It would have been quite embarrassing for a person of my age and stage to have won the whole thing and thereby have kept a younger one, at different stage of their career, from going through that door," said Atwood, who at 79 is the oldest-ever Booker winner. Evaristo said winning the Booker was something that "felt so unattainable for decades." "So I'm just absolutely delighted to have the prize and to share the prize," she said. Atwood, who won the Booker in 2000 for "The Blind Assassin," had been the bookmakers' favorite to win the coveted trophy for a second time with her follow-up to "The Handmaid's Tale." Like that book — now a hit TV series — "The Testaments" is set in Gilead, a theocratic republic taken root in the United States, where young women are forced to bear children for powerful men. Florence, founder of the Hay literary festival, said Atwood's novel "does massively more" than just continue the story started in "The Handmaid's Tale." "It's beautiful in its depth and exploration of the world of Gilead," he said. It might have looked like science fiction back in the day . Now it looks more politically urgent than ever before." Evaristo, who is of Anglo-Nigerian heritage, is the first black woman to take the trophy. "I hope that honor doesn't last too long," she said. She has published seven previous books but is less known than her co-winner. Florence said he wasn't worried Evaristo, 60, would be overlooked as people focused on Atwood. He said that "there is something utterly magical" about the 12 characters from many walks of life who narrate "Girl, Woman, Other." "They give a wonderful spectrum of black British women today," he said. "In that sense this book is ground-breaking — and I hope encouraging and inspiring to the rest of the publishing industry." Founded in 1969, the prize is open to English-language authors from around the world. It has been split between two winners twice before, most recently in 1992, when Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient" and Barry Unsworth's "Sacred Hunger" shared the trophy. The rules were changed after that to stipulate there can only be one winner each year. Judges chose the two winners from a six-book shortlist that included British-Turkish author Elif Shafak's Istanbul-set "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World"; U.S.-British writer Lucy Ellmann's stream-of-consciousness novel "Ducks, Newburyport"; India-born British writer Salman Rushdie's modern-day Don Quixote story, "Quichotte"; and "An Orchestra of Minorities," a saga of love and exile by Nigeria's Chigozie Obioma. The prize, which often delivers a big boost in sales and profile to the winner, was sponsored for 18 years by investment firm Man Group and was known as the Man Booker Prize. This year it reverted to its original name, the Booker Prize, under a new sponsor: the Crankstart Foundation, founded by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Michael Moritz and his wife, writer Harriet Heyman. Tue, 15 Oct 2019 01:16:36 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-whisper-man-and-city-of-girls-1/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-whisper-man-and-city-of-girls-1/ The Whisper Man by Alex North.  A recently widowed ad and his young son move to a new town to try and start a new life – a place where many years ago some kids went missing but they thought that was all behind them. But when they arrive they find that’s not quite the case…..being reviewed internationally with a lot of excitement, for people who like this genre it’s a genuinely chilling thriller. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41940236-the-whisper-man?from_search=true  City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. Fiction again, from the author best known for Eat, Pray, Love – and the themes of this are not a million miles away from  that one. Novel set in 1940’s about a young naive country girl who goes to NYC and gets caught up with a theatre troupe and discovers a way of life (thespian) that she never knew existed. She’s a good writer and it’s a lot of fun.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42135029-city-of-girls?from_search=true           Sun, 11 Aug 2019 02:34:01 Z /lifestyle/books/book-review-chanels-riviera-and-big-sky/ /lifestyle/books/book-review-chanels-riviera-and-big-sky/ This week, Catherine Raynes reviews two new exciting books for you to read.  Chanel's Riviera - Anne de Courcy Far from worrying about the onset of war, the burning question on the French Riviera in 1938 was whether one should curtsey to the duchess of Windsor. Featuring a sparkling cast of historical figures, writers and artists including Winston Churchill, Daisy Fellowes, Salvador Dalí, the Windsors, Aldous Huxley and Edith Wharton - and the enigmatic Coco Chanel at its heart - CHANEL'S RIVIERA is a sparkling account of a period where such deep extremes of luxury and terror had never before been experienced. Big Sky - Kate Atkinson Jackson Brodie, ex-military police, ex-Cambridge Constabulary, currently working as a private investigator, makes a highly anticipated return, nine years after the last Brodie, Started Early, Took My Dog.Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It’s picturesque, but there’s something darker lurking behind the scenes. Sun, 11 Aug 2019 02:33:49 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-whisper-man-and-city-of-girls-2/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-whisper-man-and-city-of-girls-2/ The Whisper Man by Alex North.  A recently widowed ad and his young son move to a new town to try and start a new life – a place where many years ago some kids went missing but they thought that was all behind them. But when they arrive they find that’s not quite the case…..being reviewed internationally with a lot of excitement, for people who like this genre it’s a genuinely chilling thriller. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41940236-the-whisper-man?from_search=true  City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. Fiction again, from the author best known for Eat, Pray, Love – and the themes of this are not a million miles away from  that one. Novel set in 1940’s about a young naive country girl who goes to NYC and gets caught up with a theatre troupe and discovers a way of life (thespian) that she never knew existed. She’s a good writer and it’s a lot of fun.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42135029-city-of-girls?from_search=true           Sun, 11 Aug 2019 02:33:33 Z /lifestyle/books/book-review-the-nancy-s-and-the-unhoneymooners/ /lifestyle/books/book-review-the-nancy-s-and-the-unhoneymooners/ This week, Catherine Raynes reviews two new exciting books for you to read.  The Nancy’s - RWR McDonald A schoolgirl and her uncle and his boyfriend have two weeks to solve a murder in a small town style forgot…'A delight - moving and hilarious. I loved every minute I spent with these characters.' - Paddy O'Reilly, author of The Wonders Tippy Chan is eleven and lives in a small town in a very quiet part of the world - the place her Uncle Pike escaped from the first chance he got as a teenager. Now Pike is back with his new boyfriend Devon to look after Tippy while her mum's on a cruise.Tippy is in love with her uncle's old Nancy Drew books, especially the early ones where Nancy was sixteen and did whatever she wanted. She wants to be Nancy and is desperate to solve a real mystery. When her teacher's body is found beside Riverstone's only traffic light, Tippy's moment has arrived. She and her minders form The Nancys, a secret amateur detective club. But what starts as a bonding and sightseeing adventure quickly morphs into something far more dangerous. A wrongful arrest, a close call with the murderer, and an intervention from Tippy's mum all conspire against The Nancys. But regardless of their own safety, and despite the constant distraction of questionable fashion choices in the town that style forgot, The Nancys know only they can stop the killer from striking again.The Nancys is gripping and glorious, a heart-warming novel for anyone who's ever felt they were on the outside looking in. At its heart it is about the family we make and how we must summon the courage to face the truth, no matter what the cost may be.  The Unhoneymooners - Christina Lauren Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky. Sun, 11 Aug 2019 02:33:23 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-chain-and-beyond-reasonable-doubt/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-chain-and-beyond-reasonable-doubt/ The Chain by Adrian McGinty. Bizarre premise, but it works – a kidnapping ring is at work. If they take your child, you have to kidnap someone else’s in order to get your own released. I know, I know, hardly plausible but it’s a very good edge of your seat thriller. Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Gary Bell, QC. Start of a new series set, no surprises, in the law. Elliott Rook is considered to be one of the greatest barristers of his generation – he fits in really well with the old Eton clique of London lawyers – but what they don’t know is that he has a criminal past, and isn’t actually qualified. Manages to keep it all secret until one day he’s summonsed back to where he grew up by one of the thugs he hung out with back in the day, who’s accused of murder and says that if Elliott Rook doesn’t represent him, he’ll expose his past. Good stuff. Sun, 11 Aug 2019 02:33:16 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-sweet-sorrow-and-how-to-escape-from-prison/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-sweet-sorrow-and-how-to-escape-from-prison/ Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls who wrote a book called One Day which was huge in its time and made into a big movie. Loved by thousands of readers. This new one is about a hot UK summer with two young people who fall in love for the first time – very sweet, he just nails it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43188104-sweet-sorrow?from_search=true How to Escape from Prison by Dr Paul Wood. Andrew might know about this one as the author has been on the media circuit recently. NZ guy who went to prison for murder at the age of 18, got an education and redeemed himself. http://www.harpercollins.co.nz/9781775491507/how-to-escape-from-prison/     Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:07:51 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-last-widow-and-the-other-half-of-augusta-hope/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-last-widow-and-the-other-half-of-augusta-hope/ The Other Half of Augusta Hope by Joanna Glen. Novel that will appeal to the very many people who have read and loved Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine. It’s about a girl growing up in an incredibly conservative English family who is curious and wants to know more about the world. She falls in love with Burundi (found in an atlas, likes the word) and then some years later meets a refugee from there and that relationship changes her life. https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=the+other+half+of+augusta+hope&se The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter She writes a series with the characters Sara Linton and Will Trent, and this is # 9 in that series. A scientist from the Centre for Disease Control is kidnapped and then a month later there’s a couple of massive explosions in downtown Atlanta. Our heroes rush to the scene, and straight into the heart of a deadly conspiracy which is putting thousands of innocent lives at risk. Great stuff! Slaughter (so aptly named) does these books really well. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42599605-the-last-widow?from_search=true         Sun, 07 Jul 2019 03:16:27 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-whisper-man-and-city-of-girls/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-whisper-man-and-city-of-girls/ The Whisper Man by Alex North.  A recently widowed ad and his young son move to a new town to try and start a new life – a place where many years ago some kids went missing but they thought that was all behind them. But when they arrive they find that’s not quite the case…..being reviewed internationally with a lot of excitement, for people who like this genre it’s a genuinely chilling thriller. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41940236-the-whisper-man?from_search=true  City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. Fiction again, from the author best known for Eat, Pray, Love – and the themes of this are not a million miles away from  that one. Novel set in 1940’s about a young naive country girl who goes to NYC and gets caught up with a theatre troupe and discovers a way of life (thespian) that she never knew existed. She’s a good writer and it’s a lot of fun.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42135029-city-of-girls?from_search=true           Sun, 07 Jul 2019 03:16:09 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-never-game-and-the-farm/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-never-game-and-the-farm/ The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver First book in a new series by Jeffery Deaver – and less dark than some of his earlier books. Lead character is a guy called Colter Shaw who tracks down missing people so he can claim the rewards. But in this case what seems a simple investigation quickly thrusts him into the dark heart of America's tech hub and the cutthroat billion-dollar video-gaming industry.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41960011-the-never-game?from_search=true  The Farm by Joanne Ramos. Has been compared to The Handmaid’s Tale – it’s about a company which operate surrogacy farms and the women who carry babies for richer, usually whiter women – and what happens when one of the surrogates decides she’s had enough. https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=the+farm+joanne+ramos       Sun, 07 Jul 2019 03:16:01 Z /lifestyle/books/catherine-raynes-the-note-through-the-wire-and-redemption/ /lifestyle/books/catherine-raynes-the-note-through-the-wire-and-redemption/ The Note Through the Wire - Doug Gold An extraordinary true story of a love that emerged, against all odds, between two young people from opposite sides of the globe fighting for freedom during World War II.In the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe, two people meet fleetingly in a chance encounter. One is an underground resistance fighter; the other a prisoner of war. A crumpled note passes between these two strangers and sets them on a course that will change their lives forever.The Note Through The Wire is the true story of Josefine Lobnik, a Yugoslav partisan heroine, and Bruce Murray, a New Zealand soldier, who, due to a succession of near-impossible coincidences, discover love in the midst of a brutal war. Woven through their tales of great bravery, daring escapes, betrayal, torture and retaliation is their remarkable love story that survived against all odds. This is an extraordinary account of two ordinary people living through the unimaginable hardship of Hitler's barbaric regime.  Redemption- David Baldacci Detective Amos Decker discovers that a mistake he made as a rookie detective may have led to deadly consequences in the latest Memory Man thriller in David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestselling series.Amos Decker and his FBI partner Alex Jamison are visiting his hometown of Burlington, Ohio, when he's approached by an unfamiliar man. But he instantly recognises the man's name: Meryl Hawkins. He's the first person Decker ever arrested for murder back when he was a young detective. Though a dozen years in prison have left Hawkins unrecognizably aged and terminally ill, one thing hasn't changed: He maintains he never committed the murders. Could it be possible that Decker made a mistake all those years ago? As he starts digging into the old case, Decker finds a startling connection to a new crime that he may be able to prevent, if only he can put the pieces together quickly enough...    Sat, 18 May 2019 01:05:33 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-butterfly-room-and-when-it-all-went-to-custard/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-butterfly-room-and-when-it-all-went-to-custard/ When it all Went to Custard by Danielle Hawkins After Jenny’s husband cheats on her as the marriage falls apart she finds herself having to run a farm with no practical experience. The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and raised her own children, Posy knows she must make an agonising decision. Despite the memories the house holds, and the exquisite garden she has spent twenty-five years creating, the house is crumbling around her, and Posy knows the time has come to sell it. Then a face appears from the past - Freddie, her first love, who abandoned her and left her heartbroken fifty years ago. Sat, 18 May 2019 01:05:18 Z /lifestyle/books/catherine-raynes-bad-mother-s-book-club-and-the-deaths-of-stella-fortuna/ /lifestyle/books/catherine-raynes-bad-mother-s-book-club-and-the-deaths-of-stella-fortuna/ The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna - Juliet Grames For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents—moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted. In her rugged Italian village, Stella is considered an oddity—beautiful and smart, insolent and cold. Stella uses her peculiar toughness to protect her slower, plainer baby sister Tina from life’s harshest realities. But she also provokes the ire of her father Antonio: a man who demands subservience from women and whose greatest gift to his family is his absence. When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and Tina must come of age side-by-side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them. Soon Stella learns that her survival is worthless without the one thing her family will deny her at any cost: her independence. In present-day Connecticut, one family member tells this heartrending story, determined to understand the persisting rift between the now-elderly Stella and Tina. A richly told debut, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is a tale of family transgressions as ancient and twisted as the olive branch that could heal them. The Bad Mother’s Book Club - Keris Staunton Since moving to the seaside for her husband's job (in Liverpool), Emma Chance's life is all about long walks on the beach (with the dog), early nights (with the kids), and Netflix (no chill). She's bored. And lonely.When a school gate mum and almost-friend tells Emma about an exclusive book club - hosted by Head of the PTA (and wife of a footballer, but NOT a Footballer's Wife) Jools Jackson - she thinks it could be the perfect solution, but she doesn't like Jools and Jools doesn't seem to like her either. So she's surprised when Jools invites her along. And it's fine. It's not quite what Emma was looking for - she doesn't have much in common with the other mums and the book club meetings have too much focus on the books and not enough on, say, wine and gossip - but it's better than nothing.After a couple of awkward months, an accident with a glass of red wine on a white carpet, and Jools's daughter learning the word "fucknugget", Jools tells Emma she's no longer welcome in her club. Emma is at first self-righteous, then embarrassed - and curious about why Jools's husband was crying in his car - but eventually settles back into boredom and loneliness again.But Emma's blacklisting by Jools seems to endear her to the other school mums. They all have a Jools story, along with their own tales of shame and humiliation. Long (sometimes whispered) chats at the school gates, become even longer, laughter-filled, conversations in the small library at the bottom of School Lane, until Emma realises she can start her own book club - no cleaners, polite conversation or, realistically, reading required: The Bad Mothers' Book Club is born.    Sat, 18 May 2019 01:05:07 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-aftermath-and-the-deaths-of-stella-fortuna/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-aftermath-and-the-deaths-of-stella-fortuna/ The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames. A big, epic novel about the 100 year life of Stella Fortuna who managed to defy death on – obviously – seven or eight occasions, each one being a kind of soundtrack to the narrative of her life. Born into a small, impoverished Calabrian village and having a very close, special bond with her sister Tina, a move to the US under the insistence of their wayward father changed almost everything about their lives – and not necessarily for the better. Over time an irretrievable rift developed between the sisters and a later generation tells us how, and why. Based on the author’s own family. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38192874-the-seven-or-eight-deaths-of-stella-fortuna?from_search=true The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook A UK Colonel is sent to Hamburg after WW2 to oversee the reconstruction of the city, and decided not to evict the owners of the house which has been requisitioned for his and his family’s use, but to co-exist side by side with them. A recipe for some very interesting dynamics, which has seen a new movie starring Alexander Skarsgard and Keira Knightley. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15823419-the-aftermath?from_search=true Sun, 05 May 2019 01:38:43 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-camino-island-the-ministry-of-utmost-happiness/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-camino-island-the-ministry-of-utmost-happiness/ Whitcoulls' head book buyer Joan Mackenzie discusses her top books of the week. She talks us through John Grisham's Camino Island and Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. LISTEN ABOVE: Joan Mackenzie speaks to Andrew Dickens Sun, 11 Jun 2017 01:27:50 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-sycamore-eleanor-oliphant-is-completely-fine/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-sycamore-eleanor-oliphant-is-completely-fine/ Joan Mackenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens with her favourite books of the week. This week she reviews Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Sun, 04 Jun 2017 01:19:37 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-behind-bars-good-night-stories-for-rebel-girls/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-behind-bars-good-night-stories-for-rebel-girls/ Joan Mackenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens with her favourite books of the week. This week she reviews Behind Bars by Anna Leask and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo. Sun, 28 May 2017 01:07:32 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-baltimore-boys-since-we-fell/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-baltimore-boys-since-we-fell/ Joan Mackenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens with her favourite books of the week. This week she reviews The Baltimore Boys by Joel Dicker and Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane. Sun, 21 May 2017 00:39:02 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-into-the-water/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-into-the-water/ Whitcoulls' Joan Mackenzie reviews Paula Hawkins' new book Into the Water and Anita Schreve's The Stars are Fire. Sun, 07 May 2017 01:46:45 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-thirst-larchfield/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-thirst-larchfield/ Whitcoulls' head book buyer Joan Mackenzie shares her thoughts on The Thirst by Jo Nesbo and Larchfield by Polly Clark. Sun, 23 Apr 2017 01:53:40 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-pussy-apple-tree-yard/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-pussy-apple-tree-yard/ Joan Mackenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens to review Pussy by Howard Jacobson, and Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty.  Sun, 16 Apr 2017 00:48:02 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-mississippi-blood-leap-of-faith/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-mississippi-blood-leap-of-faith/ Whitcoulls' Head Book Buyer Joan MacKenzie shares her favourite picks of the week - Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles and Leap of Faith by Jenny Pattrick. Sun, 09 Apr 2017 00:47:33 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-american-war-say-nothing/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-american-war-say-nothing/ Joan McKenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens to review American War by Omar El Akkad and Say Nothing by Brad Parks.  Sun, 02 Apr 2017 00:56:29 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-a-crime-in-the-family-chilbury-ladies-choir/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-a-crime-in-the-family-chilbury-ladies-choir/ Joan McKenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens to review A Crime in the Family by Sacha Batthyany and The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan. Sat, 18 Mar 2017 23:54:00 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-he-saidshe-said-a-harvest-of-thorns-choir/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-he-saidshe-said-a-harvest-of-thorns-choir/ Joan McKenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens to review 'He said/She said' by Erin Kelly and 'A Harvest of Thorns' by Corban Addison.           Sat, 11 Mar 2017 23:18:45 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-last-act-of-hattie-hoffman-the-hearts-invisible-furies/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-the-last-act-of-hattie-hoffman-the-hearts-invisible-furies/ Joan McKenzie of Whitcoulls joins Andrew Dickens to review 'The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman' by Mindy Mejia and 'The Heart's Invisible Furies' by John Boyne.    Sun, 26 Feb 2017 00:22:11 Z /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-spook-street-no-wall-too-high/ /lifestyle/books/joans-picks-spook-street-no-wall-too-high/ Joan McKenzie of Whitcoulls joins Kate Hawkesby to review Spook Street by Mick Heron, and No Wall Too High by Xu Hongci.  Sat, 18 Feb 2017 23:53:21 Z