The Crime Writers’ Association has announced the shortlists for their prestigious Dagger awards. Nominees for the top prize – the Gold Dagger Award for the Best Crime Novel of the Year – are:
Royal Society: One Culture
26 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
To celebrate their library’s 350th anniversary The Royal Society has announced the One Culture festival will be taking place later this year. Scientists. writers and historians will be coming together in a series of events on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October to explore the relationship between science and culture.
The most inappropriate book ever?
24 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
In my old life I was heavily involved in politics. Thankfully I’ve managed to escape and move on…
James Patterson is the world’s highest paid author
23 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
Crime writer James Patterson is the world’s best paid author according to Forbes magazine. Creator the Detective Alex Cross and the Women’s Murder Club, Patterson earned a mind-blowing £50.9 million last year ($84 million). Second placed writer was romance queen Danielle Steel who looks like a pauper in comparison, having earned a paltry £21 million. Other familiar names on the list include Stephen King, John Grisham and Stephanie Meyer, creator of the Twilight series. I think I’m going to get into this writing lark. £50 million a year sounds like a nice little earner – just about enough to keep up with my movie and book habit…
Mr Men celebrate 40 magnificent years
17 August 2011 by 1 Comment
The Mr Men series by Roger Hargreaves celebrated its 40th birthday this month. Mr Tickle, the first character, was inspired by a question from Hargreaves’ son Adam who asked what a tickle looked like. I loved the Mr Men books as a child, although never quite such a big fan of the Little Misses. It pleases me immensely to find out that Roger Hargreaves has become the third best selling British author and more than 75 million Mr Men and Little Miss books have been sold in the UK alone.
Birmingham for Tariq Jahan
17 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
The UK seems to be returning to some sort of normality after last week’s riots, although for some families it will take much longer than a few days to recover. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has written a poem dedicated to Tariq Jahan, whose son Haroon was one of three brave young men killed while trying to protect their local community.
We Need To Talk About Kevin Film Trailer Released
17 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
Lionel Shriver’s brilliant and shocking Orange Prize-winning novel We Need To Talk About Kevin has been adapted for the big screen. The film stars Tilda Swinton and John C Reilly as the couple whose son Kevin murders students and teachers at his high school. The Guardian has a sneak peek at the trailer. The book is outstanding but I’m unsure how appealing a film with quite so many unattractive characters will be for cinema audiences.
Colwyn Bay bookshop to become a library
17 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
Swanlake Bookshop in Colwyn Bay is set to become a library. The shop’s owner Dr Sibani Roy is concerned about the impact on the community of council cost-cutting and library closures and is working with the North Wales Association for Multicultural Integration on how to create this new library. It’s an intriguing idea and I wonder if this could become a new way for independent booksellers to save their ailing businesses.
Books, Borders & Bikes Literary Festival
17 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
Traquair House in Peebleshire is hosting an interesting sounding literary festival this coming weekend. Mixing books and bicycle riding in the Scottish Borders (the mind very much boggles) this event is likely to attract extra interest due to the appearance of historian David Starkey. Starkey’s recent comments on race and the UK riots have caused a storm of controversy and it seems unlikely the conversation will stay on the topic of his latest book.
Barbara Cartland “stole” plots and characters
10 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
News emerged this week of a rift between the grande dame of romantic fiction Barbara Cartland and historical novelist Georgette Heyer. Heyer accused Cartland of stealing character names and situations from her novels and using them in a “common minded, salacious and illiterate” manner. Miaow. I’ve read a few Barbara Cartland books in my time, I don’t know know if she plagerised Heyer but she certainly copied from herself, over and over and over again!