Under the Spotlight - Kazuo Ishiguro

With the recent publication of Nocturnes, Holt Jackson has once again joined with Faber to promote the fantastic work of Kazuo Ishiguro.

To celebrate, Faber are running a review competition for reading groups. Simply submit the review and if it is used on the Faber website www.faber.co.uk, the reviewer will receive a complete set of Ishiguro novels! Reviews should be sent to gemmal@faber.co.uk

For full details on all the titles visit our homepage http://www.holjackson.co.uk/ and click on the promotions page

Scottish Book of the Year - Winner Announced

James Kelman has won Book of the Year 2009 in the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards for his novel Kieron Smith, boy.

Commenting on his award James Kelman said ‘There are good writers working in this country and it is an honour to be awarded the SMIT-SAC Book of the Year 2009. '

Along with the award he takes away the £30,000 prize.

Wales Book of the Year 2009 - Winner Announced

Deborah Kay Davies has won the Wales Book of the Year 2009 for her debut collection of short stories Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful.

She received the £10,000 prize from judge Mike Parker.

Orange Prize for Fiction - Winner Announced!

Marilynne Robinson, an American author, has won the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Home.

Chair of judges, Fi Glover has said 'This year's Orange Prize winner has a luminous quality to it that has drawn all of the judges to a unanimous decision. The profound nature of the writing stood out, as has the ability of writer to draw the reader into a world of hope expectation, misunderstanding, love and kindness.'

Robinson accepted a cheque for £30,000 at the Royal Festival Hall in London after the jury praised her work as a “kind, wise, enriching novel, exquisitely crafted”.

Victoria Hislop visits Holt Jackson

Best selling author Victoria Hislop ‘popped in’ to Holt Jackson during a visit to the north-west on Thursday.

Arriving at midday and after a short tour of the building, Victoria sat down for an exclusive book signing! Staff were given the opportunity to get their copies of The Island and The Return personally signed. She spent some time chatting about her current books and we got a sneak preview of her thoughts for the next novel.

On leaving, Victoria wrote in the Holt Jackson Showroom visitors book "Thank you for making me so welcome! I have very much enjoyed meeting everyone. I hope to ‘Return’!"

A fantastic afternoon had by all. Thanks to Jim Gross for organising it.

And, we have signed copies to give away, so watch this space!

Richard & Judy Summer Reads 2009

It’s that time of year again………

If lucky enough to be going to sunnier climes or just getting away, then Richard and Judy Summer Reads are one of the best ways to make the most of your free time.

This years titles are –

Mystery Man - Colin Bateman
Guernica - Dave Boling
Palace council - Stephen Carter
The great lover - Jill Dawson
Mr Toppit - Charles Elton
Past imperfect - Julian Fellowes
The piano teacher - Janice Lee
The Senator's Wife - Sue Miller

For more information on all the titles, visit the COTW list here. or contact Jim Bickerstaffe on Jbickerstaffe@holtjackson.co.uk

Under the Spotlight - Faber Firsts

Holt Jackson is celebrating with Faber and Faber during their 80th anniversary year!

They are showcasing a delightful collection of ten outstanding first novels, all with new covers designed to reflect classic eras of Faber’s design history. There are reading guides for all the books and reading groups will have the chance to win limited edition Faber bags full of books plus every novel Faber is publishing in this anniversary year.

Download the competion details here for a chance to win.

Have a look at the titles on this flyer, and you can visit the list on COTW here.

If you would like any further information, contact Gemma Fiorello on gfiorello@holtjackson.co.uk, or visit the Faber and Faber website at http://www.faber.co.uk/

Join the celebrations and order your new copies today!

Under the Spotlight - For Dummies!

Holt Jackson has teamed up with Wiley to offer you a fantastic mix of books For Dummies!

There’s something for everyone, and you can have any of the titles listed in any combination, it’s totally up to you!

Simply pick at least 15 volumes from the titles on the flyer and you will receive your FREE For Dummies dumpbin and poster along with pens, notepads, post-it-notes and bags to put all the goodies in!

Download the form here, fill it in and send it back to Gemma Fiorello at gfiorello@holtjackson.co.uk and we’ll do the rest!

For more information click here, and you can visit the list on COTW here.

Under the Spotlight

The Big day is nearly here, the 5th of March marks World Book Day 2009!

To support the current list of World Book Day Quick Read titles we have provided the backlist for you to promote.

There’s something to suit all tastes that will hopefully encourage everyone to pick up a book!

To take a look at the huge list of titles, click here!

Costa Book Award - Overall winner announced!

This year’s Costa Book of the Year has been awarded to Sebastian Barry for his novel The Secret Scripture.

He has scooped the £25,000 prize money after missing out on the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in October last year.

Chair of the final judges, Matthew Parris, said: "Sebastian Barry has created one of the great narrative voices in contemporary fiction in The Secret Scripture. It is a book of great brilliance, powerfully and beautifully written."

The Holt Jackson Quarterly Newsletter!

Due to the great response to the National Year of Reading quarterly newsletter, we have decided to carry it on!

The Holt Jackson’s newsletter will be released every 3 months, and will provide recommended reads, important dates and activities for the coming months.

We hope that you’ll find them useful!

For the January/February newsletter, click here.

Richard & Judy Book Club 2009

The first book in Richard and Judy’s new Book List for 2009, Jesse Kellerman’s The Brutal Art will be featured on 21st January. The other nine titles will be featured on a weekly basis.

Richard Madeley said: "Judy and I are always intrigued by each new list, we really enjoy reading along with the public. We're very proud of the Book Club and we're delighted it has made the transition with us to Watch."

Here is a full list of featured titles:

Kate Atkinson - When Will There Be Good News?

Beatrice Colin - The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite

Andrew Davidson - The Gargoyle

David Ebershoff - The 19th Wife

Steven Galloway - The Cellist of Sarajevo

Jesse Kellerman - The Brutal Art

Joseph O'Neill - Netherland
Frances Osbourne - The Bolter

Kate Summerscale - The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Elizabeth H Winthrop - December

For more details please visit the subject list on COTW by clicking here.

Costa Book Award – Winners Announced

The winners of the five categories for this years Costa Book Awards have been revealed. Each winner has been shortlisted for the grand prize announced later this month.

The category winners are –

Biography: Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill
Poetry: The Broken Word, by Adam Foulds
Children's: Just Henry, by Michelle Magorian
Novel: The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry
First novel: The Outcast, by Sadie Jones

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