26 NEW POPULAR PENGUINS (and one lucky customer will receive them all, gratis)

Posted on August 31, 2011 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

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Penguin Books has released 26 new Popular Penguins, taking the total number of books in this much-loved series to 200. I am slowly collecting them all. I’ve read about forty but I am sure there are plenty of people who have read more than me. (How many have you read?)

Today I am personally recommending five of the twenty-six new titles (see below) but of the others, well, you and I will just have to trust in Penguin’s good taste. And really, when have they ever been wide of the mark?

Every house needs a bookcase full of the iconic orange and white covers.

Whoah! I almost forgot…. (more…)

Filed under: Bargains, Literary Classic, Review | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

The last word on our Popular Penguin competition

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Toni Whitmont

Well, I had no idea the affection with which the  Popular Penguin is held, and the special place people reserve for it in their lives. Our recent competition broke all of our records. We received hundreds and hundreds of  entries.  Please excuse me as it certainly wasn’t possible to answer all of your, often very personal and revealing, emails.

I can finally announce the names of all four of the lucky readers. They each now have a very fabulous 20 volume library OF THEIR CHOICE comprising those alluring orange and cream classics.

The winners are Faye O’Brien of Sandhurst VIC, Maggie Kenworthy of Seven Mile Beach TAS,  Felicity Kerkham of Waitara, NSW and Tanya Fischer of Lavington, NSW.

To enter the competition, each person had to explain which Popular Penguin they were most looking forward to reading. The most witty answer was from Tanya Fischer with this gem.

Anticipating

Skilled synopsis:  ‘One Hundred

Great Books in Haiku‘.

As for the most poetic, it would have to be Melissa Angelo from (more…)

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, Booktopia, Fiction, Literary Classic, Literature, Non Fiction, Philosophy, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

What our customers think of Popular Penguins

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Toni Whitmont

One week down and three weeks to go in our fantastic Popular Penguin promotion and up for grabs are four Popular Penguin libraries. Yep, one set of 20 books of your choice are going off each week.

All the details are here. It is not too late to enter the competition.

Meanwhile, here are some comments from  some of our entrants so far. Having read through all of their wishlists, I reckon I should be curled up with one of those orange and cream beauties rather than writing this now! What a way to whet my appetite!

So the question Booktopia readers were asked was “which Popular Penguin book are you most looking forward to reading?” (more…)

Filed under: Fiction | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Win 20 POPULAR PENGUINS! How? Read on…

Posted on July 2, 2010 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru


75 new POPULAR PENGUINS are here to intrigue, delight, entertain and inform us.

There are now more than 170 of these timeless books, with their iconic classic orange and white jackets, all at our stunning low prices. You’ll never get a better opportunity to build a really good collection of excellent titles – and all of them are books you know will last the distance.

Now the best part…

Penguin Australia has very kindly given us 80 Popular Penguins – worth a whopping $800 – to give away to Booktopia customers. That means that four lucky people will each soon have 20 books ($200 worth) absolutely free. Best of all, the choice of titles is theirs alone. How good is that?

To enter,

  1. Order at least one Popular Penguin
  2. Add twenty Popular Penguins titles to your wish list through your Booktopia account. (If you win, we need to know what to send you).
  3. Answer the following question – Which Popular Penguin title are you most looking forward to reading?
    Send your order number and answer to: penguinpromo@booktopia.com.au

    4. Competition ends July 31, 2010. Only orders placed after the 29th June, 2010 till July 31st, 2010 are eligible and your order number must be provided with your answer.

    The winners will be announced in the August 2010 Booktopia Buzz.

    Click here to return to the Popular Penguins selection.

Filed under: Booktopia, Crime/Thriller, Fantasy, Fiction, Gift Books, Historical Romance, Limited Editions, Literary memorabilia, Literary Prizes, Literature, Non Fiction, Publishing, Romance, Young Adult | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

July’s Booktopia Buzz – The Passage, Popular Penguins, Sizzling Sixteen – great deals, great books

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Toni Whitmont

Hello Booktopia Readers,

I’ve got a winter warming selection for you this month, starting (of course) with a great deal on Janet Evanovich and another one on the hardback 50th anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird.

There is also $800 worth of Popular Penguins to give away – more particularly, four 20 volume collections, a choose-your-own library adventure!

Darren Groth’s Kindling is my book of the month and you certainly won’t be disappointed if you take a risk on this little known Canadian living ex-pat. Peter FitzSimons is back with his own memoir and for a block buster that is set to blow everyone away, stand by for The Passage. In fiction, I present everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Lynda la Plante. There are reds under the beds (The Family File) and a dead author society (the biography of Stieg Larsson),EVIL IN THE SUBURBS, stand over tactics and interesting things to do with pubic hair. I’ve covered the world’s best architect, an iconic Australian brewery and werewolves (vampires are so yesterday). Who says that reading is boring?

This July issue is a beauty. Enjoy!

Toni Whitmont

Editor-in-chief

Booktopia Buzz

To read the full issue of Booktopia Buzz for July, click here.

Filed under: Bargains, Booktopia, Fiction, Non Fiction | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

A chance to star in a Popular Penguins photo shoot

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Toni Whitmont

Calling all Darwin and Canberra residents. The first 75 of you to register, will have a shot at five minutes of fame. Yep, your YouTube debut may be just around the corner.

As part of Penguin’s 75th birthday, Penguin is releasing another 75 books each dressed in those comfy orange and cream jackets. The books come out in July but the range will not be revealed until March 16. On that day, there will be a photo shoot where 75 people from locations all around Australia do the orange and cream thing in front of the cameras.

The registration form, and preliminary shooting dates for Darwin and Canberra, are available here. There are still a few places left in Hobart. The other capital city spots have all been snaffled.

Meanwhile, if you just need a popular Penguin fix and you can’t wait until July, click here. And at under $10 each they are so much better value than those ridiculously expensive popular Penguin mugs that are floating around!


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July new releases – my absolute favourites

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Toni Whitmont

I’M just putting the finishing touches on July’s Booktopia Buzz. Here is a heads up on the new books that have stolen my heart. For the rest of them, you’ll have to wait until the newsletter goes up on the site on Tuesday. If you want to get it automatically, you need to create an account. No obligations. Its all free.

Number one

Popular Penguins. Who can resist? Cheap as chips and guaranteed good reads.  How good is that?

The next batch of 50 were released on July 1 so go to the site and start browsing. If you want to read extracts and blurbs, have a play with the widget below.

Number Two

9780330424912The Lost Art of Sleep by Michael McGirr.

Its whimsical, its funny, it back and forth through the centuries and it is all about sleep but it is so fascinating and eccentric that there is no way you can nod off reading it.

Number Three

9781741965476In The Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White. Check out my earlier post here.

Actually there are two other books that I loved but I have terrific give aways with them – free art work from the illustrator for one and signed copies flown in from the UK for the other – but I don’t want to spoil the suprise just now. You’ll just have to wait until Tuesday.

Hope you like the orange font! I’ve gone all Popular Penguin this time round.

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, Fiction, Non Fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Popular Penguins…the Next 50

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Toni Whitmont

There is something extremely reassuring about those orange jackets and that little bird. Put the two together and you know you are looking at great writing and great value.

Following on from the first release of these extremely well priced gems last September, the good people at Penguin have added another 50 to the Popular Penguin range of  great classic and contemporary writing. The books retail for $9.95. Our price is $8.96.

Have a browse through the list here. All 100 of the books are listed. The most recent ones are displayed with their publication date of June 29 clearly showing. There are blurbs and extracts so take your time. Then go to our site and start clicking. Its that simple!

Filed under: Fiction, Non Fiction | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

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