Category Archives: Books

April 12, 2012 · 6:08 pm

Rowling’s post-Potter book revealed

The Casual Vacancy is Rowling's first post-Potter book

The title of J.K. Rowling’s new novel has been revealed as The Casual Vacancy.

The book will be the author’s first book since her massively successful Harry Potter series and the first she has written specifically for adults.

Publisher Little, Brown confirmed the news on 12 April, issuing a press release which revealed the title and brief plot summary:

“When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

“Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

“Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils… Pagford is not what it first seems.

“And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?”

The Casual Vacancy is set for release on 27 September 2012.

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January 25, 2012 · 2:52 pm

Miller wins Costa Book prize

Pure is Andrew's sixth novel

Novelist Andrew Miller has been awarded the Costa Book of the Year prize for his novel, Pure.

As well as winning the prestigious award, Miller also received £30,000 in prize money.

Set in pre-revolutionary Paris in 1785, Pure is the story of an ambitious young engineer, who is assigned the task of emptying the noxious, overflowing Parisian cemetery Les Innocents, and of demolishing its church.

Miller won the overall prize over bookies favourite Matthew Hollis, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Christie Watson and Moira Young.

The judging panel, which included London Evening Standard editor Georgie Greig, novelist Patrick Gale and actors Hugh Dennis and Dervla Kirwan, spend 90 minutes ahead of the ceremony coming to a decision.

Greig described the process of deciding who should win as a “forceful wrangle”, saying that having to choose between works from different genres – such as biography, children’s literature and biography – was like “comparing bananas to chicken curry”.

The Costa Book shortlist was announced back in November last year, with the five category winners – each receiving £5,000 in prize money – revealed on 3 January.

Formerly the Whitbread Book Awards, The Costa Book Awards, were established in 1971 to encourage, promote and celebrate the best contemporary British writing.

Due to its unique category system, has seen 187 awards being given to writers since its launch, including literary giants such as Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney and Michael Morpurgo.

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October 27, 2011 · 1:21 pm

Talk About Kevin wins BFI prize

'Kevin' wins BFI award

We Need to Talk About Kevin has won Best Movie at this year’s BFI London Film Festival Awards.

The film, based on Lionel Shriver’s best-selling book, follows a mother’s troubled relationship with her wayward son, Kevin.

Director Lynne Ramsay said that the award with the “light at the end of the tunnel”:

“We worked really hard on this one. The script was intricate and really well-crafted – we had to do it that way with only 30 days to shoot.

“It’s a really major achievement for us; we have been wanting this for years.”

The film stars Erza Miller as Kevin and Tilda Swinton as his mother, Eva, who struggles with how her life changes after giving birth to a troubled son.

We Need to Talk About Kevin beat Venice Film Festival winner Fraust, The Descendants and Shame to the title, with judge Gillian Anderson saying the panel had to “battle it out” to decide on a winner.

The festival closes on Thursday with a screening of Terence Davies’ adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz.

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October 19, 2011 · 12:21 pm

Julian Barnes wins Booker Prize

Julian had been shortlisted three times before

Author Julian Barnes has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for his novel, The Sense of an Ending.

The bookies favourite, Barnes succeeded in winning the £50,000 prize this year, having been shortlisted three times before.

Chair of the Judges and Ex-MI5 boss, Dame Stella Rimington, made the announcement at the awards dinner held at London’s Guildhall last night.

She commented:

“Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending has the markings of a classic of English Literature. It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading.”

The winning novel tells the tale of a seemingly ordinary man who, when revisiting his past in later life, discovers that the memories he holds are less than perfect.

In his acceptance speech, Barnes said:

“I’d like to thank the judges – whom I won’t hear a word against – for their wisdom. And the sponsors for their cheque.”

This year’s other nominees were Carol Birch for Jamrach’s Menagerie; Patrick deWitt with The Sisters Brothers; Esi Edugyan for Half Blood Blues; and debut authors Stephen Kelman with Pigeon English and AD Miller for Snowdrops.

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year.

This year’s shortlist has already been the best-selling in Booker history, with sales of the shortlisted novels up 127 per cent on last year.

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October 1, 2011 · 9:04 am

King to release Shining sequel

Shining sequel confirmed

Shining sequel confirmed

It became one of the most-read horrors and eerily haunting films around, but it looks like Steven King hasn’t finished with The Shining just yet.

The 64-year-old novelist has announced that he is penning a sequel to the tale, entitled Dr Sleep, which follows caretaker Jack Torrance’s grown-up son, Danny.

King read excerpts from his work-in-progress novel at a book festival at George Mason University near Washington D.C. last week, explaining to the audience:

“I’ve always wondered what happened to that kid in The Shining and this story started to form.”

The novel follows a still clairvoyant Danny, who is now a hospice worker helping people to die painlessly.

King  first suggested the idea of Dr Sleep on his website back in 2009, asking fans if they would prefer a sequel to The Shining or another book in his Dark Tower series.

Released in 1977, The Shining was King’s third book and was later adapted into a film starring Jack Nicolson and Shelley Duvall.

Despite a slow start at the Box Office, it has since achieved cult status and now regularly ranks highly on Best Horror Film lists.

King is said to be close to finishing the manuscript, however no publication date has been set for the novel.

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