Moved my book blog to blog-city
Topic: new blog: Bookglutton
I decided to move my book blog to blog-city. I also changed the name of my blog from Everything About Books to Bookglutton.

My new url is:

http://bookglutton.blog-city.com/

I would appreciate it if you'd please change it if you've bookmarked Everything About Books. Thank you!

Psychoraag by G.P -shortlisted for James Tait Black Award.
Psychoraag, a novel by Dr Suhayl Saadi, a former general practitioner (GP) has just been short-listed for Britain's oldest literary award - The James Tait Black Award.

The short listed novels are:
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Psychoraag by Suhayl Saadi
GB84 by David Peace
Havoc in its Third Year by Ronan Bennett
The Afterglow by Anthony Cartwright

The competition winner will be announced in May.

Dr. Suhayl Saadi has also written a poem for the 500th anniversary of the Royal College of Surgeons in Scotland, drawing on experiences as a student.

fired blogger gets headhunted by different bookshop/Oxfam gets help from crime authors
There are two interesting reports of book news today in the UK via Publishing News.

The first news is about how a former employee of Waterstones bookshop who was fired for views he posted on his blog has been headhunted by a comic book chain called Forbidden Planet. What makes this so remarkable is that the people at Forbidden Planet noticed him because of his blog entries and that they have offered him a managerial job with more money! It truly is a Happy ending for fired book shop 'blogger' .

The other news in the UK is about how Authors join forces with Oxfam to Make Crime Pay . The Oxfam charity bookshops are asking people to donate their crime, mystery and detective books to help meet the very high demand for the popular genre. Some authors have agreed to help the charity by making personal appearances:

"Crime fiction authors throughout the country are supporting the scheme with book readings and signings in Oxfam bookshops over the coming months. These include Colin Dexter in Oxfam's oldest bookshop in Morse's hometown of Oxford, and Michael Jecks, the chair of the Crime Writers Association, in Tavistock."

Penguin launches its Premium range in the US this summer
US publishers attempt to arrest falling readership by making books bigger.

I'm very surprised to learn that book sales are down in America and that the reason might be the size of the books! Call me cynical but I'm more likely to believe that the book industry is simply looking for a new spin on how to make more money.

Book Review: She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Topic: She's Come Undone
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb is a novel about a girl called Dolores Price and her numerous trauamatic experiences growing up and how they affected her. She is an amazing character and even more so considering she was created by a male author.

A couple years ago I read, I Know This Much is True by the same author and I loved it. I was expecting another good book when I read She's Come Undone and I wasn't disappointed. This was Wally Lamb's first novel and certainly deserves all the accolades it won. This novel is incredibly powerful. I felt an immediate attachment to the character, Dolores, and felt like I was with her as she had to fight her personal demons and discover answers within herself. As her life unravels around her and she finally gets professional help, I felt like cheering. It's a book about mental illness and depression but it's not a depressing story. In fact, it's uplifting because of the way Dolores changes and copes with everything thrown at her.

This advice from the psychiatrist treating Dolores is quite profound I think:
" You orchestrate happiness, Dolores - you work at it. You don't catch it as it hurls towards you like a football."

Dolores is an unforgettable character. I grew to love her and care for her. She's Come Undone is a wonderful novel, alternating between powerful gut-wrenching scenes and laugh out-loud moments. It's poignant, engrossing and thought-provoking. A real gem.

Radio 4 Open Book Mariella Frostrup talks to Ron McLarty
This afternoon, I listened to an interviw on BBC Radio 4-Open Book with Mariella Frostrup talking to Ron McLarty about his newly published novel, The Memory of Running. It seems like this book is following me everywhere! First I felt compelled to buy it even though I knew nothing about it at the time and then today I hear this interview on the radio. I will just have to move it ahead of my other books on my TBR tower and read it very soon.

Book Reviews in 5 words or less
This is an amusing blog with Book reviews in 5 words or less via a link from Twin Cities Babelogue.

Pride & Prejudice--most romantic novel
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is the most romantic novel of all time

The top five selected by members of the Romantic Novelists' Association

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The fascinating story behind a book's success
Memory of Running by Ron McLarty is a book that I saw on a table in our local bookshop and felt drawn to. I bought it on impulse and only after I looked up a few reviews when I got home did I find out the fascinating story behind it's success. The story behind the story is just as amazing as the novel promises to be.

Please bear with me if you alrready know the fascinating and true story of how a book called The Memory of Running became a hit. It started as an audiobook--the first audio of an unpublished novel. The author, Ron McLarty is an actor and narrates audiobooks and narrated his own book. It became very popular and was praised by Stephen King. That's when publishers took notice. This is after the author had been trying to get the book published for 17 years! The book became a hit in the US and there is a deal with Warner Bros. for a movie. What an amazing story!

Chinese New Year , London Libraries, Rooster Reads
Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year and it's London China Week with all sorts of special activities and events during the week. It's the Year of the Rooster. Since today is a school/work day, the big New Year celebratons will be in London on Sunday, Feb. 13th.

Throughout February there ia a programme organised by the London Libraries Development Agency called Rooster Reads , special events celebrating Chinese literature, arts and culture in libraries across London.

You can read about the Year of the Rooster (or Cockerel) on this link from The British Library. and a Virtual Tour of the Chinese Printmaking Today Exhibiton.