Friday round-up and a note to authors

    -    I'm so glad that the choice of Jane Eyre as the book group's April book has proved a popular one - thus far, at least! Several people have mentioned Jean Rhys' 'prequel' Wide Sargasso Sea which would make good further reading if you're so inclined.

    -    For anyone looking to buy a copy of A Work of Beauty: Alexander McCall Smith's Edinburgh, from which I quoted the other day, I'm told by Booksource that it should be back in stock in bookshops and with online retailers early next week.

    -    Those who commented on the British and American covers of Anne Tyler's new novel are all in favour of the latter design; no votes, as I write, for the less distinctive UK one. I'd love to know the thinking behind both, and ask jacket design teams why they so often opt for the bland and generic over something more imaginative.

    -    Since news of Harper Lee's 'new' novel broke last week there has been much talk in the press and online about the author's capacity, the likely quality of the work - given that it was in essence a rejected piece on which she built her classic, and the rights and wrongs of publishing it. Comment has rangesd from the cynical to the trusting and optimistic, with Miss Lee herself reported as saying she's "alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions to [the novel]". Regardless of of the book's merits or demerits - and we'll discover them in July - I hope that the author is indeed as strong as she indicates, and that her judgement in this matter is clear-sighted and serves her well.

-    Lastly, an important note to authors: if you haven't already signed up for PLR, or if you haven't recently updated the books/editions of yours which are registered, do so to ensure that you don't miss out on any payments which would be due to you. On the subject of libraries, the latest library loan statistics have just been published (for more statistics and regional variations follow the links here).

Comments

[Julie]

I won't be reading Harper Lee's new book. If I understand correctly, it will be about an older Scout and Atticus. Ray Bradbury absolutely destroyed Dandelion Wine for me by bringing out another book with Doug as an adolescent. I don't want Mockingbird destroyed for me too.

[LizF]

The library loan statistics make for depressing but not entirely surprising reading.
Here in North Yorkshire the library system has taken a real battering with funding cuts and the closure of a lot of the local libraries unless a sufficient number of volunteers could be found to run them.
Luckily for me, the main library in town is categorised as one of the hub libraries so isn't under threat at the moment but since a very expensive re-vamp a few years ago, there are definitely fewer books on offer and much more emphasis on the computers and ancillary offerings.
Everything is light and bright and spacious but from conversations I have had with other library users and the staff I have got to know over the years, I don't think I am the only person with a hankering for the solid wooden bookshelves packed full of a wide selection of books of all ages - many no longer available anywhere else - which were discarded in the modernisation.