Obama Gets a Nibbie

There's lots of book award news needs blogging, but perhaps the best headline was the one in The Bookseller : Obama Takes Home a Nibbie.

Yes, Mr. President won one of Britain's 2009 Galaxy British Book Awards ("The Nibbies") which highlight more popular titles. Dreams from My Father was awarded the Tesco Biography of the Year. Kate Summerscale who won two seperate awards (Galaxy Book of the Year and Play.com Popular Non-Fiction Award) for The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

Aravind Adiga who seems to be showing up on every fiction award going, won the Borders Author of the Year for The White Tiger. Tom Rob Smith was named Waterstones' New Writer of the Year for Child 44 and Richard and Judy's Best Read of the Year was Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News.

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson was awarded the Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year, while Sebastian Faulks won the Sainsbury's Book of the Year Award for his Bond novel Devil May Care, and Stehenie Meyer took the W.H. Smith Children's Book of the Year award for Breaking Dawn.

Michael Palin was awarded an outstanding achievement award which I think he thoroughly deserves. As TV presenters Richard and Judy said at the ceremony, he is a :

... modern day Renaissance man – a successful actor, comedian, playwright, diarist, documentary maker, charity founder, explorer and, of course, author.

North-South Divide in Reading Tastes

I was really quite intrigued to learn that what's termed The North-South Divide in Britain extends to choices in fiction too :

...with southerners slavishly following the recommendations of chatshow hosts Richard & Judy while northerners studiously ignore them ...

The Daily Telegraph reports that:

A study of (library) lending habits shows that Richard Madeley and his co-presenter and wife Judy Finnigan have had a "profound" effect on the books people choose to read. But while libraries across the south of England illustrate a dogged following of the couple's advice, further north, readers prefer crime thrillers and traditional romance novels. ... Books recommended by Richard & Judy accounted for more than 50 per cent of titles appearing in the list of the top 10 most borrowed books in London, the south east, south west and east Midlands. But none of the books they suggested appeared in the top 10 for Wales, the north east, northern Ireland, north west or Scotland. Readers in these areas preferred crime novels and thrillers by authors such as the American crime writers James Patterson and Michael Connelly.

But as Jack Malven in The Times points out, the power of Richard and Judy as arbiters of literary taste is on the wane :

During their heyday on Channel 4 they commanded the attention of 3 million viewers, but their move last year to Watch, a non-terrestrial channel, has reduced their audience to as little as 12,000 — fewer than a programme about train journeys in Switzerland.

Richard and Judy's Reads for 2009

The announcement TV hosts Richard and Judy's booklist is a much awaited annual event for many British booklovers, and the titles selected usually going on to be bestsellers. (The BBC points out that Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, which featured in 2006, went on to become the UK's fastest-selling paperback of all-time. ) The show previously aired by Channel 4, is now on digital channel Watch.*

These then are their chosen reads for 2009 (I've added Amazon links so you can have a browse see if you might enjoy them too) :

Explore a mystery in the world of contemporary art and find out that all is not as it seems in Jesse Kellerman's brilliant The Brutal Art, then journey back in time with Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, an engaging exploration of a crime that shocked the whole of England in the 1860s. Become engrossed in Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News?, a riveting crime story following popular private investigator Jackson Brody and delve into The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff where there has been a brutal murder within the polygamist mormon community. Then wind down with The Gargoyle, Andrew Davidson's complex and riveting debut novel and explore a romance that transcends both time and space.

Delve into the lives of Wilson and Ruth Carter, whose daughter Isabelle is immersed in a silence from which she is finding it difficult to emerge. Find out how the family cope with this bewildering crisis in Elizabeth H. Winthrop's deeply engaging December. Then meet two women whose lives are affected by scandal as they enter into illicit affairs. Beatrice Colin's The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite introduces you to Lilly an orphan in decadent Berlin who becomes caught up in an affair with a Russian director - an affair that will cost her everything. Leading a similar scandalised life is Idina Sackville whose thrilling life is documented in the intriguing biography The Bolter by her granddaughter Frances Osborne. Then journey to a war-torn world with Steven Galloway's extremely powerful novel The Cellist of Sarajevo, remembering to stop in a post 9/11 New York City to discover Hans, a man who must rebuild a life for himself, meeting a friend involved with dark activities and ambitions. Joseph O'Neill's remarkable novel Netherland completes this thoroughly engaging set of ten books that have truly earned the Richard and Judy seal of approval!

Postscript :

*David Barnett on the Guardian blog questions the wisdom of this move which has seen programme ratings plummet - and at a time when the show is needed as a shot in the arm for the British publishing industry more than ever.

Bucket and Spade and Books

It's that time of year again when the British newspapers start to feature lists of summer reads for folks pack into their holiday suitcases.

Here's a list of the 50 Best from The Independent with some excellent reading suggestions, both fiction and non-fiction.

Richard and Judy who host Britain's TV Book Club unveil their reading recommendations for Summer 2008 . What this duo selects usually invariably makes the best seller lists - what Ciar Byrnes refers to in The Independent refers to as :

... a literary lottery

This Summer's picks are :

• Sadie Jones - The Outcast
• Linwood Barclay - No Time for Goodbye
• Julia Gregson - East of the Sun
• John Hart - Down River
• Margaret Cezair - The Pirate's Daughter
• Rebecca Miller - The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
• Toni Jordan - Addition
• James Bradley - The Resurrectionist

More on all these titles can be found here.

Incidentally, have you noticed how many novels these days seem to have be about somebody's "wife", or somebody's "daughter"? (Never, oddly enough, somebody's "husband" or somebody's "son", as if women are defined by the men in their lives, perish the thought.) I thought of compiling a list, but don't think I have the energy.

Now for the Nibbies ...

And now it's time for the Nibbies, as the British Book Awards are affectionately known, a whole cluster of awards decided by publishers, booksellers and the general public, and reflecting (i think it's fair to say) more popular, rather than rarefied literary, taste.

Among the winners :

Ian McEwan picks up the Galaxy Book of the Year for On Chesil Beach, and Reader's Digest make him Author of the Year.

Richard and Judy vote Khaled Hossieni's A Thousand Splendid Suns, their Book of the Year.

Catherine O'Flynn is Waterstones' Newcomer of the Year.

Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter wins Sainsbury's Book of the Year.

And J.K. Rowling gets the Book People Outstanding Achievement Award.

The complete list of awards and shortlisted titles here.

Lindsay Irvine takes a look at this year's awards in the Guardian.

Richard and Judy's Picks

Richard and Judy, who host Britain's answer to Oprah's Bookclub have announced their list of reads for 2008, thus conferring, if past years are anything to go by, great sales on the authors.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
Random Acts of Heroic Love Danny Scheinmann
The Rose of Sebastopol Katharine McMahon
A Quiet Belief in Angels R J Ellory
Notes from an Exhibition Patrick Gale
Then We Came to the End Joshua Ferris
The Visible World Mark Slouka
Mister Pip Lloyd Jones
Blood River Tim Butcher
The Welsh Girl Peter Ho Davies

Thoughts - I'm very happy to see Lloyd Jones and Peter Ho Davis on the list (yes, I still have to write about The Welsh Girl). Am kicking myself that I didn't buy a copy of Notes From an Exhibition and get Patrick Gale* to sign it when I was in Ubud - I really want to read it. Want to read the Joshua Ferris and Khaled Hosseini novels. I haven't heard of the others (she says shamefacedly) but if they are as strong as the rest of the list, they're worth a look.

Guilt - those books I wanted to read on Richard and Judy's 2007 list, I still haven't got round to, though they are sitting on my bookshelves! Really, I'm hopeless.

*Suitcase weight, cost and the bookseller not accepting credit cards at the festival forces tragically tough choices!

Richard and Judy Reveal Shortlist

The Richard and Judy shortlist for 2007 has been announced. For anyone who skipped a beat, these guys host a television book club in the UK and the books they choose will almost certainly hit stratospheric sales figures. (The books on last year's Channel 4 programme shortlist sold 10m copies between them!)

I am much in favour of publicising books in this way, and wish we had an equivalent here. (A little celebrity endorsement would do wonders for books in the Malaysian context! Who would you choose in lieu of Richard and Judy?)

There are some interesting choices on the list, and at least three books on the list are ones I plan to read. The eight chosen books are:

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld,
The Girls by Lori Lansens,
Restless by William Boyd,
Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde,
Semi-Detached by Griff Rhys Jones,
This Book Will Save Your Life by AM Homes
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson

You can more read about the titles here.

Richard and Judy Go Forth

Richard and Judy are to British books what Oprah is to American. Described as "publishing's biggest star-makers" the duo host a weekly book club segment on their Channel 4 TV show. The show has been extremely successful in promoting reading and, naturally, selected writers see their sales soar.

The 10 titles chosen for 2006 choices has just been announced, the Guardian reports. It's a pretty eclectic list ("something for everyone") with recommendations that you would probably enjoy too:

THE HISTORY OF LOVE, by Nicole Krauss

At the age of 10, Leo Gursky fell in love with a young girl in his Polish village and wrote a book in honour of her. Now elderly and living in America, he believes that book long lost. Krauss tells what happens when Gursky's world collides with that of a young girl investigating her own mother's loneliness.

THE FARM, by Richard Benson

The first book from a former editor of The Face is the true story of the farm in Yorkshire where his family has farmed for 200 years. It is told through a combination of childhood memories and notes taken in the weeks before the farm is sold as no longer financially viable and the property developers move in.

THE CONJUROR'S BIRD, by Martin Davies

A debut novel from a BBC producer, this story of the search for a stuffed bird is a mix of detection, romance and history. Fitz, a scientist, becomes obsessed with tracking down the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, one of the specimens discovered by the real-life 18th-century explorer Joseph Banks.

ARTHUR AND GEORGE, by Julian Barnes

Shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize, this is based on the true story of a miscarriage of justice investigated by Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. George Edalji was jailed for attacks on horses but Doyle, believing Edalji to be a victim of racism and sloppy detective work, worked to clear his name.

THE LOST ART OF KEEPING SECRETS, by Eva Rice

Set in post-war England, this is the story of Penelope Wallace who longs to be grown-up and fall in love, but finds that various things - such as her eccentric family - keep on getting in the way. This is the fourth novel from the daughter of the songwriter Tim Rice.

LABYRINTH, by Kate Mosse

Best-selling novel by the co-founder of the Orange Prize, it blends the lives of two women, separated by 800 years. It is an adventure story steeped in the legends and history of the Cathars, the religious movement branded heretical by Roman Catholics, set in the medieval French town of Carcassonne.

THE LINCOLN LAWYER, by Michael Connelly

This is a crime thriller by a former Los Angeles Times police reporter. It is the story of Mickey Haller - a low-ranking criminal defence lawyer who gets his first wealthy client in years when a Beverley Hills rich boy is accused of beating a woman. However, the case starts to fall apart.

EMPRESS ORCHID, by Anchee Min

Min, a former actress who was born in Shanghai but has lived in America since 1984, bases her novel on the true story of China's last empress. She creates the world of the Forbidden City in Imperial China through the eyes of Orchid, a poor girl who beats rival concubines to the emperor's bed.

MARCH, by Geraldine Brooks

The recreation of the life of John March, the father who is away from the family in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. In Brooks's story, March emerges as an abolitionist and idealistic chaplain on the front lines of the American Civil War. Brooks, an Australian, lives in America and is a fellow at Harvard.

MOONDUST, by Andrew Smith

Smith, an Englishman who was raised in America and watched the Moon landings on TV from San Francisco, set out to interview all the astronauts still living who walked on the Moon to find out how their lives were changed by their experience. Smith, a journalist, now lives in Norfolk with his family.