News and views

-    Looking ahead to January 2016 (!), Sally Gardner will be publishing her first novel for adults. "The Pearl Hand is set in the brothels and theatres of Georgian London, focusing on a spirited young girl in a less-than-respectable world." Editor Gail Paten says, "Sally Gardner is a literary tour de force. Her writing is unlike anyone else’s: earthy, clever, tricksy and magical." I'm looking forward to it.

-    The Yorkshire town of Harrogate hosts the very popular Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival every year, and it's now extending its reach by putting on a History Festival in October. Click there for details, where you'll see that Rose Tremain is among the authors appearing.

-    In her comment here, Barbara raises the very interesting topic of the availability of books, both in bricks-and-mortar shops and in libraries. Has anyone else had difficulty getting hold of books - as Barbara has - and if so, would you kindly tell us what they were and where you were trying to get them?

-    Going off at a bit of a tangent, if you're following the news of the purchase of The Washington Post by Jeff Bezos and want to know more about the paper's background and 'recent' history, I can recommend Katharine Graham's Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Personal History.

Comments

[Di McDougall]

re finding books:

I am in South Africa so my problem in getting hold of books is a thing to itself. Bookshops here have limited stock by UK standards AND our books are taxed so I am afraid that I do worship at the Amazon altar....ebooks have meant that i can pretty much read whatever I want and at a more affordable cost than buying locally in hardcopy. Got my first e reader when I was living on a small island off the Nigerian coast and hyperventilating at being so far removed from reading material!

[Sue]

January 2016! It's hard enough waiting until next month for the new Nigel Slater.

[Cornflower]

Yes, we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves!
(Very much looking forward to the new NS, though.)

[Cornflower]

All things considered, we in Britain are well off for bookshops, etc., but the Kindle and similar devices must be, as you say, Di, a godsend for people who don't have easy access to well-stocked shops and libraries.

[LizF]

Having read and loved Sally Gardner's books for young adults, I am sure that her first book for adults will be well worth waiting for - though I am not sure I am thinking that far ahead as yet!
Thanks for the heads-up about the Harrogate history festival. I have had a look at the programme and earmarked the Rose Tremain and Lindsey Davis events and I would also be interested in seeing Imogen Robertson too as I have loved all the books she has written so far. Will have to make sure that I book my tickets in time though as I always manage to be too late for the crime festival events I want to see despite living in the town!