Books News
War tops shortlist for non-fiction prize
Published: 04 May 2007
The fortified Green Zone inhabited by coalition and Iraqi government forces in Iraq is the subject of a book short-listed for a prestigious prize for non-fiction.
'Independent' Foreign Fiction Prize won by Angolan writer
Published: 02 May 2007
Britain's most valuable honour for literature in translation, The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, has been won by the Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa.
Tale of love in Cairo named romantic novel of the year
Published: 28 April 2007
A family saga blending the hedonistic world of Second World War Cairo with the harsh realities of a mixed-religion relationship in modern-day Egypt has been named the Romantic Novel of the Year.
Heroes and heroin: the 10 greatest novels for children
Published: 20 April 2007
One is a cosy bedtime read about a family of tiny people who live beneath the floor; another takes you into the world of a 14-year-old heroin user; and a third enacts an elaborate fantasy of demons and witch-clans.
Book written in 'bad English' shortlisted for Orange Prize
Published: 18 April 2007
A Chinese author who deliberately wrote in "bad English", a first-time novelist who nearly lost heart and a Booker Prize winner have all been shortlisted for the prestigious Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction.
Off his trolley? The author who won 'oddest book' award
Published: 14 April 2007
Julian Montague spent six years roaming the streets of America, photographing an integral element of the industrialised world: the stray shopping trolley.
International Booker shortlist crosses over to the 'dark' side
Published: 13 April 2007
Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Doris Lessing are among 15 of the world's most acclaimed authors to be shortlisted for the prestigious International Man Booker prize, it was announced yesterday.
Gervais triumphs over Pratchett in British Book Awards
Published: 29 March 2007
Peter Kay and Ricky Gervais are accustomed to receiving acclaim at awards ceremonies. But it was for their literary efforts, not their wit, that they were named winners last night at the Galaxy British Book Awards, the UK's biggest celebration of publishing.
Tolkien Jr completes Lord of Rings
Published: 25 March 2007
Britain's only gay bookshop faces threat of closure
Published: 24 March 2007
Its fans claim it is far more than just a bookshop. Since Gay's the Word - the UK's only dedicated lesbian and gay bookshop - opened in 1979, it has acted as a social centre, information service and advice shop.
Publish and be damned: A defender of free speech
Published: 21 March 2007
Former psychiatric patient's first novel makes Orange list
Published: 20 March 2007
A first-time novelist whose work was inspired by spending a third of her life as a psychiatric patient is in the running for the £30,000 Orange Prize alongside the winners of the Man Booker and Costa awards.
The secret horror story of Stephen King Jnr
Published: 20 March 2007
For 10 years, Joe Hill was just another struggling, unpublished writer coming up with one book project after another only to have them rejected. Now, though, he has a bestseller on his hands - an efficient horror thriller entitled Heart Shaped Box - and a secret to reveal. He is, in fact, the son of Stephen King, the master of American popular horror fiction.
Booked! Premier League stars list their favourite reads
Published: 17 March 2007
They are hardly renowned as bookworms. But at least some footballers have managed to subvert the stereotype in a list of Premiership stars' favourite reads.
Unfinished masterpieces: Beckham joins Joyce on list of books we never complete
Published: 12 March 2007
For years, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking was said to be the book that everyone owned but few had read.
The dark side of comics: horror writer Stephen King turns to cartoons
Published: 10 March 2007
Twenty years ago, Stephen King surprised a lot of his fans by taking a leave of absence from the horror genre that had made him rich and famous and embarking on the fantasy series Dark Tower.
Unpublished Winterson novel found at Tube station
Published: 10 March 2007
An unpublished novel by Jeanette Winterson has been found at an Underground station in south London.
There's nothing stranger than non-fiction
Published: 09 March 2007
They are not the kind of titles that are likely to top the books bestseller charts. But half a dozen bizarre tomes including a guide to stray shopping trolleys and a history of a Coventry ice-cream business may win their 15 minutes of fame as contenders for the Oddest Book Title of the Year.
Kay and Gervais in running for book award
Published: 08 March 2007
They are best known for their comic performances, but yesterday two of Britain's best-loved comedians, Ricky Gervais and Peter Kay, were shortlisted for the British Book Awards.
Mis Lit: Misery is book world's biggest boom sector
Published: 04 March 2007
Pride and Prejudice keeps place in our affections
Published: 01 March 2007
The plot itself is pretty basic: boy meets girl, they hate each other at first sight but, after time, each realises that the other is marvellous. And then they get married.
Found: Tolstoy's short version of 'War and Peace'
Published: 25 February 2007
Ooh la la: blogger sacked from Paris job signs six-figure deal
Published: 20 February 2007
When Catherine Sanderson's life as a single mother and Paris-based secretary was turned upside down by a few sentences on her blog, she mused that writing a book about the ordeal would be the "silver lining to a cloud".
Writes, prints and seethes: Queen of grammar in broadside against authors and publishers
Published: 11 February 2007
Her irritation at bad grammar took Lynne Truss to the top of the literary bestseller lists with Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Now, however, that irritation has turned to anger and disdain over a slew of parodies aimed at capitalising on her success.
Children's Laureate says libraries are guilty of letting down young readers
Published: 09 February 2007
The Children's Laureate, Jacqueline Wilson, has warned that British libraries are failing to offer children the range of books that inspired her as a youngster, after being named the most borrowed author for the fourth year in succession.
