Dulwich Books Newsblog

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

2009-04-06T07:02:00.002+01:00

The critics had a bit of a field day with Geoff Dyer's latest novel (first for 11 years) Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi. Two books in one, they wondered - engaging and funny, for the Venice section but the Varanasi section "bizarrely welded on"..."indulgently aimless, beautifully written"..."funny and insightful". Let us know what you think.

Short Story Competition

2009-04-06T06:56:00.002+01:00

Do you fancy yourself as a short story writer? Then think about the BBC National Short Story Award. As it says on the BBC R4 website:
"...(the) Award celebrates the best of the contemporary British short story. Now in its fourth year, the Award continues to raise the profile of the short story. The inaugural award went to James Lasdun for his short story An Anxious Man; in 2007 it was awarded to Julian Gough for his comic tale The Orphan and the Mob; and in 2008 the winner was Clare Wigfall for Numbers which appeared in her debut collection The Loudest Sound and Nothing published by Faber. Visit the BBC website for more details

Sebastian Barry in conversation

2009-03-30T07:06:00.003+01:00

The Secret Scripture was one of the best books published last year and you might like to hear from the author directly about the book. Sebastian Barry will be in conversation with John Mullan (Professor of English at UCL) on 8th April at The Guardian. Doors open at 6.30pm and tickets cost £8.00 and can be obtained from book.club@guardian.co.uk or tel: 020 3353 2881

Academic Social Network Site

2009-03-27T06:52:00.000Z

Academic books and journals publisher Sage has launched a social networking site centred around research methods, as part of its year-long focus on the topic.

Methodspace.com went live today (26th March), although it has been beta-tested since February. Sage is expecting the site to "bring together researchers from across the academic spectrum" for advice and support, or just to discuss methodology issues and controversies.

Registered users also have access to free book chapters and journal articles, and will be told about relevant conferences and events.

Best Selling Children's Authors in 2008

2009-03-23T15:43:00.001Z

Somehow I find it a comfort that, based on publisher sales revenue, Enid Blyton sits at No 6 in the top ten bestselling children's authors in 2008. The top ten accounted for over 10m copies and £50m of sales. No prized for guessing who was number one, but who would have bet on Stephanie Meyer being No 2!

The Book of the TV Series

2009-03-23T15:41:00.001Z

Many viewers certainly thought that Jeremy Paxman's TV series on the Victorians was good viewing, how well did it translate into a book? The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age is currently doing well in the bestsellers list.
As was revealed this week, readers should note that the book owes its existence to one Neil Hegarty. Hegarty is described as "a young Irish writer" who it turns out pulled together all of Paxman's scripts and notes and wrote all the bits to make it sit together. "Well done Neil" we say!

Best Sports Book Awards

2009-03-23T15:38:00.001Z

And the winners are:
Black and Blue by Paul Canoville - best autobiography (Footballer)
Regga: Clay Regazzoni by Christopher Hilton, best biography (motor racing driver)
Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson, best football book
The Way it Was by Stephen Chalke - best cricket book
Seeing Red: Twelve Tumultuous Years in Welsh Rugby by Alun Carter - you've guessed it - best rugby book

Bestselling Authors in 2008

2009-03-20T12:53:00.002Z

Have you often wondered which authors sell the most, who makes the money from books? The official bestselling authors for 2008 has just been announced as follows:
Jamie is tops with £11.5m, followed by Khaled Hosseini at £10.7m and then James Patterson with £9.8m and JK Rowling only comes in with £8.1m. So maybe it's time to get out the cooking utensils and start practicing eh!

Awards, Awards, Awards

2009-03-17T06:47:00.005Z

Galaxy Book Awards - Shortlist:
Barack Obama has both is books on the shortlist, The Audacity of Hope for Best Author and Dreams from My Father for Biography of the year. Other titles on the various shortlists includes White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry and Diana Athill's Towards the End. Awards night is April 3rd so keep an eye out for the winners.

Talking of winners Alastair Sawday walked off with three prizes at the Independent Publishers Guild Awards. The Special Places series publisher was recognised at Trade Publisher of the Year, Overall Publisher of the Year and the IPG Environment Award.

Also this week the winners of the Europe and South Asian region Commonweatlth Writers Prize included Jhumpa Lahiri for Unaccustomed Earth and Mohammed Hanif with A Case of Exploding Mangoes.

This weekend saw the major reviews of Julie Myerson's hugely contentious The Lost Child. The book is now in stock in the bookshop so get a copy for yourself and decide!

Five new novels in stock now

2009-03-07T07:38:00.004Z

The Women, T C Boyle
'Boyle is a master of structure, his stories beautifully engineered machines which he spray-paints with graffiti' Independent

'Boyle is one of the most intelligent and well-respected writers of his generation, continually flexing a literary muscle most writers don't even know they have' The Times

'No-one better than TC Boyle can hoover a sentence out of the gods' imaginations, and set it in glitter on the page ' Scotsman

In a rural backwater in Wisconsin lies the rambling estate of Taliesin. Here, tempestuous affairs rage behind closed doors, broken hearts are tossed aside and fires have ripped through the wings of the house. Paparazzi lie in wait outside the front door, hounding for the latest scandal, the latest tragedy in this never-ending drama. For this is the home of the great architect of the twentieth century, Frank Lloyd Wright, a man of extremes in both his work and his private life: at once a force of nature - arrogant and infuriating - and an avalanche of need and emotion that sweeps aside everything in its path. This is the story of the wives and mistresses who fall under Frank's spell. Sharp, savage and subtle in equal measure, The Women plumbs the chaos, horrors and uncontainable passions of a fascinating American icon. [Hardback]

The Manual of Detection, Jedediah Berry
In this tightly plotted yet mind-expanding debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed with only an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people's dreams.
In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin is a humble file clerk working for a huge and imperious detective agency, and all he knows about solving mysteries comes from filing reports for the illustrious investigator Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing, and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren't so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound "Manual of Detection".
"The Manual of Detection" will draw comparison to every work of imaginative fiction that ever blew a reader's mind. But, ultimately, it defies comparison; it is a brilliantly conceived, meticulously realised novel that will change what you think about how you think. [Hardback]

Yesterday’s Weather, Anne Enright
Now in paperback
In "Yesterday's Weather", Booker Prize-winning author Anne Enright presents a series of deeply moving stories about women stirred, bothered, or fascinated by men they cannot understand, or understand too well.
Enright's characters are haunted by the ghosts of the lives they might have led - lit by new flames, old flames, and flames that are guttering out. A woman's one night stand is illuminated by dreams of a young boy on a cliff road, another's is thwarted by a swarm of somnolent bees. A pregnant woman is stuck in a slow lift with a tactile American stranger, a naked mother changes a nappy in a hotel bedroom, and waits for her husband to come back from the bar.

These are sharp, vivid stories of loss and yearning, of surrender to responsibilities or to unexpected delight; all share the unsettling, dislocated reality, the subversive wit and awkward tenderness that have marked Anne Enright as one of our most thrillingly gifted writers.

His Illegal Self, Peter Carey
Now in paperback
Raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, Che, the precocious son of 60s radicals, just wants to see his parents. But first he must become an outlaw himself, fleeing to a hippy commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland, where he is forced to slowly, bravely, confront his life. "His Illegal Self" is an achingly beautiful and emotional story of the love between a young woman and a little boy, and a wonderful journey of self-discovery.

John Preston, Daily Telegraph writes 'A richly absorbing novel which can be relished for the beauties of its prose and the pertinence of its themes, as well as for the progressively taut pull that it exerts on the emotions.'

White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
Now in paperback
Winning the Man Booker prize is something that most authors dream of, although -- ironically -- the reputation of the prize itself was under siege a few years ago. Books that won the award were acquiring a reputation of being difficult and inaccessible, but those days appear to be over -- and unarguable proof may be found in the 2008 winner, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Apart from its considerable literary merit, the novel is the most compelling of pageturners (in the old-fashioned sense of that phrase) and offers a picture of modern India that is as evocative as it is unflattering. The protagonist, too, is drawn in the most masterly of fashion.

March and only 6 weeks to Easter!

2009-03-03T08:16:00.006Z

I am not sure if I believe this but we have just heard from the book trade market intelligence company, Nielsen, that book sales are holding their own in this dire economic climate. We hear that Stephanie Myers’ books are helping out Hachette and that Bloomsbury and HarperCollins claim to have stand out best sellers including Endal, by Allen and Sandra Parton and Wetlands by Charlotte Roche.

Watch out for a mobile phone voting event. The Galaxy British Book Awards will be appealing to readers to use the mobile phone voting service to vote for their favourite tile and download sample chapters. Let us know how you get on. Begins on March 10^th.

Cookery book fans will be delighted to have the chance to choose between Gordon Ramsay and Delia Smith when their latest offerings go on sale on the same day. That is Delia’s Complete How to Cook from the BBC at £30 and Gordan Ramsay’s Great British Pub Food from HarperCollins at £20.00 – buyers please note the Ramsay book is actually put together by the wonderful Mark Sargeant the rather good head chef at Claridges, some pub!

Look out for the new imprint from Penguin “Particular Books” It launches in July and promises seven titles this year that will be perfect gift books. One of the first titles will be the republishing of a lost “classic” from the 1960’s (doesn’t that make you feel old?) The Shell Country Alphabet by Geoffrey Grigson, yes Sophie’s dad.

By the way crime fans have you picked up on Kate Summerscale’s The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. It is a true detective tale written in the style of a country house whodunit. It will keep you guessing to the end.

Another new award was announced last month, the Warwick Prize for Writing, Warwick as in Warwick University. The winner was Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine. Chair of Judges said

''Every book on the shortlist was exceptional, but of course it had, ultimately, to come down to one. Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine is a brilliant, provocative, outstandingly written investigation into some of the great outrages of our time. It has started many debates, and will start many more, and we're delighted to award it the first Warwick Prize for Writing.”

January and it's getting warmer, yeah!!

2009-01-09T15:45:00.002Z

So Christmas is all over and we are recovering from the New Year, and wow it is already the 9th January. How does time fly, I am beginning to sound like my Mother!
Our sale has begun and we are reviewing all our stock and sadly - for the authors, we are sending back books to the publishers that did not sell.
But on the up side there are lots of new books being published, even this early in the month, so pop in and see our new stock.
See you soon

Last Sunday before Christmas

2008-12-21T14:16:00.002Z

and we are working hard in the bookshop, listening to Johnny Cash singing Silent Night. Our bestselling books so far this Christmas is the 2008 Private Eye Annual, closely followed by Dreams of My Father by Barak Obama then Beedle the Bard, Lyttleton's Britain & Musicophila. Even more reassuring for us is that we've loads of stock because as booksellers we spend quite a bit of time trying to guess the bestselling books and ensuring we have stock - sometimes a very tricky task!
So with another three days to go before the 25th with deliveries every day we are looking forward to the next few days, so pop along and join us:)

Another rainy Sunday but it's shining inside the bookshop!

2008-11-30T11:53:00.003Z

For about the fifth Sunday in a row it's raining. That might be depressing, but with a brilliant selection of books and wonderful music there's no better place to be, I feel, then in the bookshop. Right now we have lots of customers browsing and it feeling nice and warm. All the major books for Christmas are now published and there is such a wide choice I am even unsure of what I might read myself! Last month our reading group read "I'll Take You There" by Joyce Carol Oates and I have now started that with the aim of catching up with them.

Sunday & we are open

2008-11-16T11:38:00.003Z

It might be a grey day outside, but the sun is shining in Dulwich Books! We now have lots of signed copies of Double Cross, the latest Malorie Blackman book. Also we have signed copies of Necropolis the fourth book from Anthony Horowitz, which features Scarlett Adams, who lives in Dulwich!!
Also we have signed copies of the following books: The Dirty South by Alex Wheatle, The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shiver, Past Imperfect by Jullian Fellowes, To Love, Honour and Betray by Kathy Letter and The Room of Lost Things by Stella Duffy. If you would like a copy of any of these great books please call 020 8670 1920 and we can reserve a copy for you.

Bookshop is full!!

2008-11-15T15:33:00.002Z

Malorie Blackman is here signing copies of her new book: Double Cross, and the queue is out the door and everyone is really excited to be meeting her and getting their book signed. She is really a brilliant author to have for an event, fun, friendly and very patience with all her customers.
And even better we have beaten our sales target for the second week in a row...yippee!!

Best New Books

2008-10-25T13:06:00.003+01:00

Just a few of my favourites from the last few weeks - buy them!

Lyttleton's Britain - Iain Pattinson -a collection of the fantastic introductions given by the sadly-missed Humphrey Lyttleton at the beginning of episodes of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue', these are wonderful, laugh-out-loud funny. Best humour book of the year, definitely!

Bad Science - Ben Goldacre - The Guardian's excellent science writer on health scares, the ethics of medical companies, and the media's mis-representation of various issues, this is brilliant stuff, important and also very funny..

Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman - and one that I haven't even read yet! But the extraordinary Mr Gaiman never disappoints, so I'm going to go right ahead and recommend it anyway.. It has been published in two beautiful editions, the children's one illustrated by Chris Riddell, the adult's by Dave McKean..

The Universe expands...

2008-10-25T12:38:00.003+01:00

Will I ever stop talking about the universe? Probably not! As well as being a gorgeous piece of wrapping paper, it is a great map of our collective brain, one which will hopefully grow in different directions - and maybe, like all good universes, there'll be a sequel...

(if you haven't seen the image, its on the website (dulwichbooks.co.uk) & Facebook group page)

Wanted to start off talking (possibly to myself) about what's on there and why.. Starting with my favourite corner, which is - Fup by Jim Dodge, Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills and The Music of Chance by Paul Auster - the connection? Walls and fences.. Fup is about a duck, a wild pig, a very drunk man who may be immortal, and his fence-obsessed grandson. The latter two are about people being forced to build a fence and a wall respectively.. All very, very good!

Restraint of Beasts then leads to the similarly-themed Gold by Dan Rhodes (Lake District, isolation...), and Music of Chance leads to another Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy .. and then (to be continued..) ...

Perfect Credit Crunch Cure

2008-10-23T16:08:00.002+01:00

It is a well proven fact that reading is proven to reduce stress, so what better way to cope with the economic downturn and the "r" than to pick up a new book and lose yourself in it.

Today we are recommending White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. This brilliant book won the Man Booker prize last week and is the story of Balram Halwai - the smartest boy in his village. His family is too poor for him to afford for him to finish school and he has to work in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi.

Of course if you do want to stay within the finanical world, the FT's Business Book of the Year: When Markets Collide offers a cogent picture of the rapidly changing world financial system. A book that is sure to become an overnight investment classic, it gets you up to speed on the new economic and investing landscape and provides a detailed blueprint for capitalizing on the phenomenal opportunities now available in that new investment landscape, while minimizing the new and challenging set of risks.

Universe!

2008-10-14T16:38:00.002+01:00

Have you seen our fantastic Book Universe? A mind-map of some of our favourite books, linked by genre/type/subject, in the style of a star map - there are images of some of it on our website (dulwichbooks.co.uk), and you can buy the wrapping paper instore... Its very good!

Yes Sunday October 12th....

2008-10-12T12:43:00.004+01:00

In case you have not seen the posters, we are now open every Sunday until the end of the year. Doors open at 11.0pm and close at 4.00pm (unless you are buying lots of books and we need to stay a little longer).

Sunday Opening
11.00am - 4.00pm

11 & half weeks to Christmas!!

2008-10-06T07:26:00.000+01:00

OMG, being the first full week of October the realisation that Christmas is less than 12 weeks away is scary. Do we have enough books, can we display them properly, which book will go out of stock and the publisher unable to print enough in time.... and so on. I love it, these three months are very exciting in bookselling because they challenge you at all different level.