Under the Spotlight

Whether it’s giving up smoking or simply getting your life in order, nearly everyone sets themselves a goal for the New Year. Something to improve your lifestyle or get your life back on track.

It’s more than likely that most people have more than one thing they need to change, so we have compiled a list of 12 popular New Year Resolutions for you to choose from.

And we all know it’s never easy! Most of us give up in the first week! So to give you a little guidance and support, we have matched each resolution with a handy title. Hopefully they will provide that much-needed encouragement to stick with it!

Take a look at the 12 New Year Resolutions we have chosen and visit the subject list click here.

Good Luck!

Costa Book Awards 2008 Shortlist

The Shortlist for the Costa Book Awards 2008 is as follows -

Costa First Novel Award

Poppy Adams' The Behaviour of Moths
Sadie Jones' The Outcast
Jenny Rooney's Inside the Whale
Tom Rob Smith's Child

Costa Novel Award
Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture
Chris Cleave's The Other Hand
Louis De Bernieres A Partisan's Daughter
Patrick McGrath's Trauma

Costa Biography Award
Diana Athill's Somewhere Towards The End
Judith Mackrell's Bloomsbury Ballerina
Sathnam Sanghera's If You Don't Know Me By Now

Jackie Wullschlager's Chagall

Costa Poetry Award
Ciaran Carson's For All We Know
Adam Foulds' The Broken Word
Kathryn Simmonds' Sunday at the Skin Launderette

Greta Stoddart's Salvation Jane

Costa Children's Book Award
Keith Gray's Ostrich Boys
Saci Lloyd's The Carbon Diaries 2015

Michelle Magorian's Just Henry
Jenny Valentine's Broken Soup

One winner will be chosen from each catogory on the 6th January 2009 and will win £5,000 prize. An overall winner will then be decided on 27th January collecting the title and £25,000 in prize money!

Order your Quick Reads now!

The line-up for Quick Reads 2009 has now been announced and it's time to get your orders in!

The Adults' Quick Reads have 10 TITLES.

The list is as follows -

9780552775298 - The Dare by John Boyne
9781906373610 Black - Eyed Devils by Catrin Collier
9780007299331 - Dragon's Den: Your Road to Success by the Dragons
9781846076435 - Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games by Jacqueline Garner
9780330464345 - The Tannery by Sherrie Hewson
9780007297184 - Reaching for the Stars by Lola Jane
9780752884509 - The Cave by Kate Mosse
9780141039923 - All These Lonely People by Gervase Phinn
9780752884493 - A Coll Head by Ian Rankin
9781842996713 - 101 Ways to Get Your Child to Read by Patience Thomson

The Children's World Book Day collection includes 11 TITLES (6 BOOKS). For more info on the children's titles please visit the Holt Junior website.

What's more, we will also be offering complimentary promotional materials to highlight the arrival of adult Quick Reads in your library! (Please note: stocks are limited and these will be provided on a first come, first served basis).

To guarantee prompt arrival of titles in time for World Book Day, Quick Reads orders will be prioritised at all stages.

To place your order, please complete this form and return to Chris Stedman by Friday 19th December 2008. ANY ORDERS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE WILL BE TREATED AS STANDARD.

This promotion is only available if full sets of titles are ordered.

Which Potter reader are you?

The Daily Telegraph has reported that research conducted by an academic has revealed that Harry Potter readers can be split into 4 categories, and each relates to the 4 houses of Hogwarts.

Hufflepuff readers tend to read at a slow, steady and systematic pace and will enjoy reading it again and again.
Gryffindor are eager, energetic and will complete a book quickly, but soon move on to other things.
Ravenclaw take the tales with a pinch of salt; a books a book.
Slytherin are uninterested in the books and prefer the films.

As the academic points out, it is an interesting time in the world of the Potter, as the stories have ended (except for The Tales of Beedle the Bard of course!) and the anticipation and mysticism of Harry’s next adventure has gone, only loyal Hufflepuffs will continue the ‘Potter Brand’

So, which one are you?!

Under the Spotlight

Screen Reads is November’s NYR theme, and we thought it would be fun to see the favourite books of people in the Holt Jackson office that have been made into films. I think you’ll be surprised at the variation!

Because of the success of last months Under the Spotlight, Screen Reads will only run for two weeks, but the subject list will remain on COTW for you to visit anytime. To view the list click here. To see images of book covers and movie posters, take a look here.

There are so many titles, too many to mention! Is your favourite there? If not, why not tell us what it is?

Man Booker Prize 2008 - Winner Announced!

Aravind Adiga’s debut novel The White Tiger has won this year's Man Booker Prize.

He has beaten favourite Sebastian Barry to the £50,000 prize.

Chairman of the judges Michael Portillo, said "The novel is in many ways perfect. It is quite difficult to find any structural flaws with it."

Was this your Booker winner or did you have another favourite?

NYR Library Membership Campaign

Due to the reported success of April’s Library Membership Campaign, the National Year of Reading is launching a second library membership drive this month. The campaign, called "Do Something Different!" will run for 2 weeks from 18th October to 1st November, coinciding with the school half term.

Libraries up and down the country will be putting on events, which will be supported by News of the World and local radio. There is even talk of making it an annual event with the possibility of linking with World Book Day.

Are you holding an event? Why not tell us all about it. And don’t forget, look out for Balloon Man on COTW as he’ll tell you that there’s promotional material available. It’s free and will help any event look the business!

For more information contact Gemma Fiorello on gfiorello@holtjackson.co.uk

Richard & Judy's The Daily Mail New Writers Book Club

The first three titles have been announced for the new Richard & Judy/Daily Mail New Writers Book Club. They are Mudbound by Hillary Jordan, which will appear in the October slot, The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama for November and Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, scheduled for December.

The programme starts on the 7th October on UKTV channel Watch, and each title will be publicised monthly in the Daily Mail, with a double-page spread.

For more details on the selected titles, click here

Dylan Thomas Prize - Shortlist Announced

It’s one of the highest paying literary awards in the world, and yesterday, the shortlist for the £60,000 Dylan Thomas Prize was announced. The six listed were selected from a 16-strong longlist that was unveiled in July.

Caroline Bird - Trouble Came to the Turnip (9781857548877)
Ross Raisin - God's Own Country (9780141033525)

Ceridwen Dovey - Blood Kin (9781843546580)

Edward Hogan – Blackmoor (9781847370983)

Nam Le - The Boat (9781847671608)

Dinaw Mengestu - Children of the Revolution (9780099502739)

The award is open globally and has been designed to encourage talented new writers under the age of 30.

Peter Florence, chair of judges said that they are "confident that this will be a vintage" and that the shortlist will "produce a winner worthy of Dylan Thomas"

Richard & Judy's The Daily Mail New Writers Book Club

Richard and Judy are moving to UKTV this autumn, and they’re taking the book club with them! The Best Read, Summer Read and Christmas books show will have their regular slots, but the producers have announced a new venture, a search for new writers. The Daily Mail New Writers Book Club will attempt to discover 12 new writing stars over the course of the year.

This new book club will be covered on UKTV’s new Watch channel. One title will be featured every month and will receive on-air reviews and author film. The Daily Mail will run a double-page spread before the show interviews, articles and celebrity reviews.

The first three books (October – December) will be announced soon, so watch this space!!!

Under the Spotlight

Holt Junior and Walker books have worked together to create a wonderful collection of 15 new picture book titles and a whole host of free goodies. All this, and a dumpbin to showcase your books!

The titles can be viewed on COTW, and why not take a look at last years Walker book promotion list while you’re there. Also, over the coming weeks, our children’s department will be reviewing all the titles on COTW and we would encourage you to write your own!

Visit the Holt Junior website for further information on this exciting new promotion.

Man Booker Prize 2008 - Shortlist Announced

This years Man Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist has been announced and is as follows -

Aravind Adiga - The White Tiger

Sebastian Barry - The Secret Scripture
Amitav Ghosh - Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant - The Clothes on Their Backs
Philip Hensher - The Northern Clemency

Steve Toltz - A Fraction of the Whole

The winner of this year's £50,000 prize will be announced on 14 October.

BA's Independent Booksellers Book Prize 2008 – Shortlist Announced

Indies have picked ten adult and ten children’s titles for the Booksellers Association's Independent Booksellers Book Prize 2008.

Customers can vote at these independent booksellers using voting postcard.

The shortlists are as follows –

Adult
The Gathering - Anne Enright (9780099501633)

A History of Modern Britain - Andrew Marr (9780330439831)

I Before E (Except After C): Old-School Ways to Remember Stuff - Judy Parkinson (9781843172499)

Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones (9780719569944)

Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters - Charlotte Mosley (9781841157740)

Notes from an Exhibition - Patrick Gale (9780007254668)

Spilling the Beans - Clarissa Dickson-Wright (9780340933893)

The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett (9781846681332)

The Wild Places - Robert Macfarlane (9781847080189)

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale (9780747599227)

Children
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling (9780747595830)

Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman - Francesca Simon (9781842550700)

Hurricane Gold: Young Bond - Charlie Higson (9780141322049)

I'm Really Ever So Not Well: Charlie & Lola - Lauren Child (9780141500812)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick (9781407103488)

Mr Gum and the Power Crystals - Andy Stanton/David Tazzyman (9781405228176)

Paddington Here and Now - Michael Bond (9780007269402)

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire - Derek Landy (9780007241620)

The Sleepwalker: (CHERUB) - Robert Muchamore (9780340931837)

Snakehead - Anthony Horowitz (9781406310399)

The deadline for vote entries is 24th October and the winner will be announced on 31st October.

Enid Blyton named best-loved author of all time

Enid Blyton, creator of arguably the most famous and successful children’s stories of the 20th century, has been named the best-loved author of all time.

She has beaten the likes of Dahl and Rowling to the top spot.

2000 adults were asked to name their favourite authors as part of a research programme commissioned to mark the 2008 Costa Book Awards.

The top ten looks like this -
1. Enid Blyton
2. Roald Dahl
3. J.K. Rowling
4. Jane Austen
5. William Shakespeare
6. Charles Dickens
7. J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Agatha Christie
9. Stephen King
10. Beatrix Potter

For a full list of the top 50 best-loved authors, visit the Daily Mail article here.

ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Shortlist Announced

The shortlists for the three categories in the ITV3’s Crime Thriller Awards are as follows –

Breakthrough Author Award
Chelsea Cain – Heart sick (9780230015890)
Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin (9780007193189)
Michael Robotham - Shatter (9780751537314)
Anne Zouroudi - The Messenger of Athens (9780747592754)

International Author of the Year
Jeffery Deaver - The Sleeping Doll (9780340833865)
Stieg Larsson - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (9781847245458)
Karin Slaughter - Skin Privilege (9780099481843)
PJ Tracy - Snow Blind (9780141019222)

Author of the Year
Lee Child - Bad Luck and Trouble (9780553818109)
Robert Harris - The Ghost (9780091796242)
Peter James - Not Dead Enough (9780330446129)
Ian Rankin - Exit Music (9780752893518)


The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 3rd October, which will be broadcast on ITV3 on the 6th.

Under the Spotlight

August is National Year of Reading’s sporting theme and the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and to honour the great Games we have selected a fantastic collection of 12 Olympic titles.

You can learn all about their ancient beginnings to the modern events, with all the bits in between. And you never know; it might even inspire you to join in and go for gold!

Take a look at these sporting titles click here, or visit the Holt Jackson website.

Man Booker Longlist Announced

The following 13 titles are in the running for this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction:

Aravind Adiga - The White Tiger (9781843547204)
Gaynor Arnold - Girl in a Blue Dress (9780955647611)

Sebastian Barry - The Secret Scripture (9780571215287)

John Berger - From A to X (9781844672882)

Michelle de Kretser - The Lost Dog (9780701182106)

Amitav Ghosh - Sea of Poppies (9780719568954)

Linda Grant - The Clothes on Their Backs (9781844085415)

Mohammed Hanif - A Case of Exploding Mangoes (9780224082044)

Philip Hensher - The Northern Clemency (9780007174799)

Joseph O'Neill - Netherland (9780007269068)

Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence (9780224061636)

Tom Rob Smith - Child 44 (9781847371263)

Steve Toltz - A Fraction of the Whole (9780241143902)

Michael Portillo, Chair of judges said that the panel ‘are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK’ and that the ‘list covers an extraordinary variety of writing’

The shortlist will be announced on 9th September, and the winner named on 14th October.

2008 BBC National Short Story Award Winner Announced

Clare Wigfall has won the £15,000 prize for the BBC National Short Story Award for The Numbers

Jane Gardam received the runner up prize of £3,000 for The People on Privilege Hill

Chair of the judges, broadcaster and writer Martha Kearney, said that the standard and diversity of the shortlist was proof that 'short story is alive and well'.

Rushdie Wins Best of the Booker

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children has been awarded the Best of the Booker prize, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the awards.

The shortlist comprised of five other previous Booker winners, Pat Barker’s The Ghost Road, Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, J M Coetzee’s Disgrace, J G Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur and Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist.

This comes as the third Booker award for Rushdie, who is ‘absolutely delighted’ and graciously thanked ‘all those readers around the world who voted for Midnight's Children’.

Panalist Victoria Glendinning said that the novel had won by a "quite a large margin".

BBC National Short Story Award Shortlist Announced

It’s the world’s biggest award for a single short story with a prize of £15,000 for the winning author.

The shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award is as follows -

Richard Beard - Guidelines Measures to Cope with Disgraceful and Other Events
Jane Gardam - The People on Privilege Hill
Erin Soros - Surge
Adam Thorpe - The Names
Clare Wigfall - The Numbers

The winner and runner-up will be announced on Monday 14 July

The Desmond Elliot Prize 2008 Winner Announced

Nikita Lalwani has been awarded the 2008 Desmond Elliot Prize for her book Gifted (ISBN: 9780670917075).

The prize for a 'sparkling good read' is worth £10,000 to the winner.

Chair of the Judges, Penny Vincenzi said Gifted has a "wonderfully bittersweet charm" and is a "book of extraordinary range" which "Desmond Elliot would have loved".

For more information, please visit www.desmondelliottprize.com

Under the Spotlight

To coincide with the National Year of Reading theme, Rhythm & Rhyme, and Michael Rosen’s 2008 Poetry Tour, we are promoting a special collection children’s poetry titles.

It’s a fantastic collection of 21 books, including Rosen’s Book of very silly poems and You wait till I’m older than you!, with an exclusive collection of free promotional gifts for everyone to enjoy!

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To view the complete list of titles, click here.

Library Membership Campaign a Huge Success

'Join a Library Day' could become an annual event after the success of the National Year of Reading initiative this April.

National library membership saw a 24 per cent increase on figures from last April, prompting the idea of an annual drive on attracting new members.

Honor Wilson-Fletcher, NYR project director, said, "We set a target for the eight months of 350,000 new library members and we hit that target in less than two months."

Wilson-Fletcher attributes the success to "a mix of local activity and national campaigning" and says it doesn't stop there; "we will be doing more work to support libraries in reaching our target audiences both with the Summer Reading Challenge and with adult learning enrolment in the autumn."

Harper Lee All Time Favourite

To Kill A Mockingbird has taken the top spot in a new survery of 2000 people to find the greatest book of all time.

The poll, conducted by online retailer Play.com, saw the classic novel beat off competition from recent favourites The Da Vinci Code and the Harry Potter series.

The top 10 titles were:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
7. Animal Farm by George Orwell
8. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling
10. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini were among some of the other modern classics making it into the top 50.

Richard & Judy Summer Reads Line-up Announced

This year's Summer Reads have now been announced - the titles are as follows:

The Outcast - Sadie Jones

No Time For Goodbye - Linwood Barclay

East of the Sun - Julia Gregson

Down River - John Hart

The Pirate's Daughter - Margaret Cezair-Thompson

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Rebecca Miller

Addition - Toni Jordan

The Ressurectionist - James Bradley


For more information on the selected titles, please click here.

Tremain Wins Orange Prize

Rose Tremain has won the 2008 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction for her novel The Road Home (9780701177935).

Awarded yesterday, the judges described the book as "a powerfully imagined story and a wonderful feat of emotional empathy told with great warmth and humour".

Joanna Kavenna won the Award for New Writers for her novel Inglorious (9780571232611).

Established in 1996 as a celebration of fiction written by women, the Orange Prize is frequently met with criticism linking to sex discrimination. Shortlisted author Sadie Jones has backed calls for a men's prize, suggesting it would help promote reading among boys. She said: "Anything that adds interest or glamour for boys can only be good sense."

Under the Spotlight

Escape this summer with a timeless classic from Oxford University Press.

Drawing on the influence of the NYR's June theme Reading Escapes, for this month's Under the Spotlight, we're suggesting you grab one of the 11 great titles launched this month as part of the Escape collection.

Whether reading to escape, or escaping to read, lose yourself in the intense thoughts of Mrs Dalloway, take a Journey to the Centre of the Earth or experience the adventures of The Counte of Monte Cristo.

For more details on the other titles available, visit our homepage or view the titles here.

Richard & Judy Summer Reads

Finally the holiday season is upon us - grab your sunscreen, shades and the hottest read of the summer...struggling for inspiration? There's only one place to look!

Yes, it's that time of year again when Richard and Judy feature a selection of beach reads almost guaranteed surefire success.

Past titles highlighted by the Richard and Judy Summer Reads feature have included The Island, The Memory Keeper's Daughter and The House at Riverton.

This year, there will be eight titles selected, which will be announced on the show during the week commencing 16th June. The book club will focus on one title per week thereafter, eventually announcing the winning title during week commencing 18th August.

The titles are strictly top secret at this point in time - but to be sure you're well stocked to meet the demand, you can pre-order the titles now!

Please contact Jim Bickerstaffe at jbickerstaffe@holtjackson.co.uk

Happy Families is Learners' Favourite

Adele Parks's Happy Families (9780141034911) has won the Quick Reads Learners' Favourite Award.

Announced as part of Adult Learners Week, the winner was voted for by a wide range of readers including adult literacy groups, Union Learning Representatives and the general public.

Happy Families was one of ten Quick Reads released this year, which included titles by Gordon Ramsay, Josephine Cox and a new Doctor Who story.

Accepting the award, Parks said: "Everybody who gets involved in Quick Reads is committed, we all want to make a difference, and so I'd like to accept this award on behalf of everyone working on this project."

New Prize Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for this brand new prize for 'sparkling fiction' has now been announced and comprises:

Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith

Gifted - Nikita Lalwani

Sunday at the Cross Bones - John Walsh

Bestselling author Penny Vincenzi, chairing the judging panel, said:
" These three books are true page-turners, they are all intelligent and thought-provoking, and they cover a very broad range. And all three have that crucial quality for a successful book - word-of-mouth appeal."

The winner of the Desmond Elliot Prize 2008 will be announced on 26th June.

Draw a crowd with an author event...

If you're looking for an innovative, exciting new way to draw in readers and promote forthcoming titles, we may have the perfect solution for you with our author visit service.

An author event can be a magical experience for all those involved, as librarians, customers and school pupils alike get the chance to interact with a best-selling author.

Every event is different; from workshops with children's illustrator Liz Million, to "murder mystery" evenings with the talented authors from Creme de la Crime.

Our marketing team have an extensive list of contacts and, in the past, have secured visits from such acclaimed names as Kate Mosse, Peter Lovesey and Adele Geras. We are also able to arrange a selection of the featured author's books on a 'sale or return' basis so your audience can purchase a signed copy as a special memento of the event.

For more information on this exclusive service, please email cstedman@holtjackson.co.uk

Best of the Booker Shortlist Announced

As part of their 40th anniversary celebrations this year, the Man Booker Prize are awarding a one-off celebratory prize to determine the best winning title over the 40 years the Man Booker has been awarded.

The 'Best of the Booker' shortlist, as selected by a panel of judges, was announced today. The six contenders are:

Pat Barker - The Ghost Road

Peter Carey - Oscar and Lucinda

JM Coetzee - Disgrace

JG Farrell - The Siege of Krishnapur

Nadine Gordimer - The Conservationist

Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children

Victoria Glendinning, chairing the judging panel, said: "It was a great experience, revisiting all the Booker and Man Booker Prize winners, and very tough arriving at the shortlist - but we really feel that the six novels we picked represent the best fiction-writing of the past 40 years and that each one of them will stand the test of time."

The overall winner will be voted for by the public and announced on 10th July as part of the London Literature Festival.

Voting starts today - so visit www.themanbookerprize.com/news/vote and have your say!

Displays Attract More Readers

A new survey comissioned by The Bookseller has found that retail displays now take centre stage in attracting readers to new books and authors.

The survey, which questioned 1000 people nationwide, showed 26% people get information about new releases from displays, followed by press and TV/radio coverage at 14 and 13% respectively.

Recommendations from family and friends, once rated as the most popular method of discovering new titles, now lag behind with just 12% of votes.

Other formats of discovering new books and authors included internet recommendations, with 9% of the vote, and advice from shop staff and librarians - although only 2% of people claimed to respond to their recommendations.

Under the Spotlight...

This month the spotlight is shining on healthy living for the mind, body and spirit.

Taking inspiration from this month's National Year of Reading theme, we have a great selection of titles on offer and are also looking at two best-selling authors - top psychic Sylvia Browne and nutrition guru Patrick Holford.

To see what we have in store, be sure to visit our main website and COTW subject lists throughout May.

The Prize for Sparkling New Fiction...

"The Desmond Elliott Prize is a new biennial prize for a first novel written in English and published in the UK. Named in honour of literary agent and publisher Desmond Elliott, one of the most charismatic and successful men in recent publishing history who died in August 2003, the Prize is designed to celebrate sparkling new fiction and is worth £10,000 to the winner."

- www.desmondelliottprize.org

To view the first ever longlist for this new prize, please click here.

The Best Book in the World...

A new website, 'Poll the People' has been launched in a bid to find out what is truly the world's favourite book.

Poll the People allows you to enter your top five films, albums and books of all time to participate in this ongoing international poll.

According to Glenn Cooper, who launched the site, it "was borne out of frustration with the endless stream of magazines, TV and online polls where results were based on a very limited survey".

Currently topping the chart for best book is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Do you agree with this?

In the poll, recent successes such as Cecelia Ahern's P.S. I Love You, sit alongside classics such as Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice, but what do you think is the best book in the world....ever?!

Join a Library!

Saturday 26th April will be the first ever 'Join a Library Day'.

As part of the National Year of Reading's library recruitment campaign, libraries throughout England can expect a variety of new members as a universal joining form appears in the Daily Mirror.

Children's newspaper First News and local press nationwide will also offer their support to the campaign which will hopefully see thousands of people flocking to their libraries, where they will receive a 'Welcome to Your Library' joining pack. (350,000 have been produced.)

There is also an added incentive for young people to join as the first 235,000 new young members will receive a free copy of the NYR's Ultimate Book Guide, outlining the best children's and teen reads.

The National Year of Reading runs until December and aims to "help build a greater national passion for reading in England - for children, families and adult learners alike."

Leave a comment and let us know what you've got planned for national 'Join a Library Day'!

Orange Prize Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for this year's Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction has now been announced. The titles are as follows:

Fault Lines - Nancy Huston

The Outcast - Sadie Jones

When We Were Bad - Charlotte Mendelson

Lullabies for Little Criminals - Heather O'Neill

The Road Home - Rose Tremain

Lottery - Patricia Wood

The winner will be announced on 4th June.

More Than Words

This month we're loving the fantastic new range of Oxford World's Classics - featuring favourites such as Dickens, Shakespeare and the Brontes, alongside more unusual titles - there's an Oxford World's Classic for everyone!

The relaunch kicks off with the Dream and Desire collections - see our promotions page now for more information and to check when your favourite's due for release!

Galaxy British Book Awards Winners

JK Rowling and Ian McEwan were the big success stories at last night's Galaxy British Book Awards. The Harry Potter author celebrated the end of her bestselling series with the award for Outstanding Achievement. While McEwan won two of the awards, affectionately deemed the Nibbies, for his bestselling novella, On Chesil Beach.

Katie Price, who was controversially nominated for Children's Book of the Year for her title My Pony Care Book, lost out to Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman.

Here's the full list of winners:

Book of the Year - On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan
Outstanding Achievement - JK Rowling
Richard & Judy's Best Read of the Year - A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
Author of the Year - Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach
Biography of the Year - My Booky Wook, Russell Brand
Children's Book of the Year - Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman, Francesca Simon
Crime Thriller of the Year - Book of the Dead, Patricia Cornwell
Newcomer of the Year - What Was Lost, Catherine O'Flynn
Popular Fiction Award - The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
Popular Non-Fiction Award - Long Way Down, Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman.

Do you think JK Rowling's award was long overdue? Which was your favourite R&J read? Is your favourite author a winner? As always, let us know your thoughts - and be sure to tune in to Channel 4 at 4.40pm this Sunday to catch the whole ceremony!

Orange Broadband Award for New Writers Shortlist Announced

The shortlist of writers competing for this year's Orange Award for New Writers has now been announced.

The titles are:

Lauren Groff - The Monsters of Templeton

Joanna Kavenna - Inglorious

Lauren Liebenberg - The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam

The winner will be announced on 4th June and will be awarded £10,000 to help them pursue their writing career.

What do you think about the shortlist? Have you read any of the titles? Who should win? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts...

Welcome to the Holt Jackson blog!

Hi everyone and welcome to the brand new Holt Jackson blog.

We felt it was time we took note of the phenomenal popularity of blogging and social networking - and launching our very own blog seemed like the best way to do it!

Our blog will work very much in the same way as our 'Latest News' section always has; offering you the latest industry, and company, news. However, the format of the blog will allow for more extensive postings and also has a great advantage of allowing interaction.

Blogging is about comment and information so, while we inform you of the latest happenings (and perhaps drop a little bit of commentary in there!), we'll encourage you to get involved too. Read what we have to say and add your own comments, whether you agree or disagree, it's a great way for you to have your say!

Another exciting feature of our blog is Book of the Week. Each week, we will be detailing a new title that we think has something special. Largely by new, upcoming authors, our Books of the Week are selected by our buyers and promise to be excellent reads - literary gems of the future! (Be sure to check out this week's hot title - The Palace of Strange Girls.)

We hope you'll agree that the HJ blog will prove a great new communication tool, and we look forward to hearing your comments!

Best wishes,

HJ