News from the UK: Costa book award: Andrew Miller wins for sixth novel, Pure

Posted on January 25, 2012 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

Vivid tale of life in pre-revolutionary Paris beats Matthew Hollis’s biography of Edward Thomas to £30,000 prize cheque writes Mark Brown in The Guardian A vividly told story of life in pre-revolutionary Paris on Tuesday won the 2011 Costa book award in what turned out to be a bitterly fought two-way tussle between fact and fiction. [...]

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, Literary Prizes, Historical Fiction, Book Recommendations | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

TRUE STORY: Gang of One by Gary Mulgrew

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Booktopia

GANG OF ONE is an explosive prison memoir with the gritty realism of Midnight Express and the emotional force of The Shawshank Redemption. Imagine you’re a 35 year old, white, British, middle-class business man sentenced to three years in Big Spring, one of America’s most notorious prisons. You’ve been told that if get into any [...]

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, True Crime | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

EDMUND DU WAAL, author of The Hare With Amber Eyes and The Pot Book, answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on December 11, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

The Booktopia Book Guru asks EDMUND DU WAAL author of The Hare With Amber Eyes and The Pot Book Ten Terrifying Questions ———————— 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? Nottingham, Lincoln and Canterbury. My father was a clergyman and we [...]

Filed under: Art, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Craft | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Books for the men in your life for Christmas

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Toni Whitmont

With historical must-reads from Peter FitzSimons on Sir Douglas Mawson, to the brilliant fiction that is Elliot Perlman’s The Street Sweeper, to highly anticipated autobiographies from cricket fast bowler Brett Lee and Tour de France Green Jersey winner Robbie McEwen you will have all your Christmas gifts covered

Filed under: Australian Author, Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations, Contemporary Literature, Fiction, Non Fiction, Sport | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

A Twitter Year: 365 Days in 140 Characters compiled by Kate Bussmann

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Booktopia

The first of its kind, A Twitter Year distills a year of conversation, argument, revelation and revolution into a ‘review of the year’ as written by the Twitter community. Where can you find first-hand accounts of the Arab Spring, Japan’s nuclear disaster or the Norwegian atrocities? Thousands flouting celebrity superinjunctions? X-rated snaps of politicians? A [...]

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, Current Affairs, History, Philosophy | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Joy McKean, author of I’ve Been There (and Back Again), answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on November 18, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Joy McKean author of I’ve Been There (and Back Again): Slim Dusty and Joy McKean’s Lifetime of Travel, Stories and Songs Ten Terrifying Questions ———————————— 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in Singleton in [...]

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Coffee Table Books, History, Music, Poetry, Writing Style, Writing tips | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Peter Popham, author of The Lady and the Peacock: the Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on November 16, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Peter Popham author of The Lady and the Peacock: the Life of Aung San Suu Kyi Ten Terrifying Questions ———————————- 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in a village in County Cork, [...]

Filed under: Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Current Affairs, Politics, Writing Style, Writing tips | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Monica McInerney : Five Favourites Books for 2011

Posted on November 14, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

Monica McInerney author of Lola’s Secret, A Taste for It, Upside Down Inside Out, Spin the Bottle, The Alphabet Sisters, Family Baggage, All Together Now, Those Faraday Girls and At Home with the Templetons reveals… The 5 best books I read this year are… How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran I have to [...]

Filed under: Australian Author, Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations, Contemporary Literature, Feminism, Rock'n'Roll, Young Adult | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Everything’s Coming Up Kardashian… (but I hear there’s a cream for it)

Posted on November 3, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

Humane sentiments are baseless, mad, and improper; they are incredibly feeble; never do they withstand the gainsaying passions, never do they resist bare necessity…

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, Feminism, Horror | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

On Melbourne Cup Day – Bart Cummings is The Master, according to Les Carlyon

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Booktopia

In the world of horse racing, Bart Cummings is the master. His astonishing tally of twelve Melbourne Cup wins arguably makes him the greatest trainer in Australia’s history and, by statistical measures, as freakish as Bradman. His laconic wit and indifference to the trappings of wealth and fame have seen him recognised as a national [...]

Filed under: Australian Author, Biography/Memoir, Sport | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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