Borders are holding emergency talks to secure their future.
Store bosses are concerned the firm do not have enough cash to make it through the key Christmas trading season. They are suffering because of rising competition from supermarkets and online book sellers. The group, who also run the Books Etc brand, are said to be in discussions with firms including Waterstone’s parent HMV as fears mount… Continue reading | 2 Comments
Thursday saw the long awaited release of New Moon; the second film adaption of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series.
While fans generally won’t be let down, does the movie live up to all the monumental hype? Does it do the book justice?
Based on 162 reviews collected by the film aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, New Moon has received a “Rotten” rating of 30%, with a weighted average score of 4.8 out of 10.
Digital… Continue reading | 6 Comments
The phrase phrase “mad as a hatter” means to be completely and utterly insane.
There are many theories regarding the origin of this simile. Perhaps the most intriguing and also the most plausible theory was offered in “The Journal of the American Medical Association” (vol. 155, no. 3).
Once, it was common to use Mercury in the manufacture of felt hats. In those days the toxic nature of quicksilver… Continue reading | 3 Comments
A first edition copy of Charles Darwin’s seminal “On the Origin of Species” will be sold this week after it was found in a family’s toilet in southern Britain, an auction house said Sunday.
The book, which was first printed in 1859, was bought by a family for just a few shillings… Continue reading
You really do have to wonder how serious the Rudd Government was about knocking down the Australian book publishing industry’s import protection wall.
In choosing the Productivity Commission to examine the industry, the Government ignored the obvious candidate, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
As a result, it got a report that was a political orphan and easy to reject, as it did on Wednesday after a concerted… Continue reading
“Perhaps there can be no perfection. Only levels of imperfection”
Peter Goldsworthy’s novel Maestro is a wistfully beautiful bildungsroman that is set in Darwin, Australia from 1967 to 1977.
Maestro was chosen for the “One town – One book” project, is part of the HSC curriculum, and in 2003 it appeared at #22 on the Australian… Continue reading
The toilet is something we all take for granted; but imagine life without them!
The toilet has many names; including:
The origin of the… Continue reading | 3 Comments
Chinese writer Su Tong has won Asia’s top literary prize with a bleak novel about a disgraced Communist Party official’s attempts to rebuild his life, trumping a clutch of Indian writers on the shortlist.
Su’s novel, “The Boat to Redemption” is about a womanizing Party official who castrates himself after being banished to a river barge… Continue reading | 3 Comments
Australia’s premier literary prize has been awarded to Nam Le, says a Sydney Morning Herald report. The Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction, which comes with a $100,000 purse, went to Le for The Boat.
According to the SMH, “The much-awarded debut collection of short stories by Le, 30, who came to Australia as a Vietnamese refugee, covers… Continue reading
Yesterday came the bittersweet news that renowned newspaper industry personality Ed Darling is retiring, after a prolific career spanning more than four decades. According to The Associated Press, Darling says he “will now pursue interests in community service”.
Thirty five years of the print media giant’s career has been dedicated to serving as publisher for community newspapers in the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
In Mississippi; Darling… Continue reading | 1 Comment
