A Fortnight in the company of McSwiss

And a wonderful fortnight it was too!  Reading two first class collections of short stories: Regi Claire’s Fighting It! and Ron Butlin’s Vivaldi and the Number 3, in preparation for a live event at Wishaw library, part of the North Lanarkshire Words 2011 festival, and the first event I have ever chaired!  I think that calls for a picture. [...]

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Wednesdays are wunderbar: Caroline’s selection and a personal highlight

This week my co-host, Caroline of Beautyisasleeping, has selected 3 of her favourite books to giveaway. The giveaway is international and winners can choose whether they wish to receive the book in English or in German. This time next week, German literature month will have begun and the giveaways will continue, throughout the month.  (Publishers really have been extraordinarily [...]

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From Cockroach to Cat: Revisiting Kafka

When I left university, I was so relieved never to have to read Kafka again.  Not if his were the only book in the world, I thought! It would appear that I am mellowing, though that has been a long, slow process which started only about 3 years ago, when I discovered that Kafka loved Munich.  At [...]

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Wednesdays are wunderbar: Contemporary German Fiction

The following giveaway is for UK residents only.  International readers can hop to Caroline at Beauty is A Sleeping Cat for a chance to grab something for themselves. Please do – German Literature Month is only a fortnight away! So UK people, what goodies do we have to offer today? 1 lucky person will bag [...]

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Xfactor judges the Booker Prize

Just imagine, the increasingly popular literary event that is the Booker Prize is to be televised in the Xfactor studio.  The host takes to the stage to introduce the proceedings: Dermot O’Leary: This is it!  The biggest night of the year starts right here!  You’ve participated like never before.  You’ve  bought more of these books than ever before and some of you have zipped through [...]

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Booker Shortlist 2011: Pigeon English – Stephen Kelman

There’s something missing from Stephen Kelman’s Booker shortlisted novel – a glossary of Ghanese slang. Believe me, if I had found this prior to page 150 (or thereabouts) I would have been much less irritated.  Call me slow on the uptake but I persisted until I worked out the meanings of dope-fine (nothing to do [...]

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Booker Shortlist 2011 – Jamrach’s Menagerie

Jamrach’s Menagerie is not the book Carol Birch was intending to write.  She was researching another novel at the time she stumbled across the story of Jamrach, his Victorian menagerie and the escaped tiger roaming around London’s docklands.  So looking her gift tiger squarely in the mouth (sorry …), she began her 11th novel. Jamrach’s menagerie is a framing device; the hook [...]

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Wednesdays are wunderbar: Heinrich von Kleist giveaway

Heinrich von Kleist died on 21 November 1811.  It’s this bicentennial which led to the timing of German Literature Month and the inclusion of  Kleist and Other Classics week in the itinerary.  To accompany it,  we have the two Kleist titles from the Melville House Press Art of the Novella series as this week’s giveaway. I’ve already reviewed [...]

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Wigtown Book Festival 2011

It’s still book festival season here in Lanarkshire.  Edinburgh International Book Festival in August is followed by Wigtown Book Festival in September  and the North Lanarkshire Words Festival in October.  (And next year, I’ll be adding the new Bloody Scotland International Crime Festival in Stirling  to the itinerary …. I simply cannot wait for that - if the organisers are listening, (pretty) [...]

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German Literature Month: Effi Briest Readalong Sign Up and Giveaway Results

I’m delighted by the enthusiasm for this readalong title.  There were 11 entrants for the giveaway.  So I’ve just asked Rossetti (i.e Mr LizzySiddal) to pick 3 numbers between 1 and 11.  He chose numbers 3, 5 and 11. So congratulations to Michelle, EveryBookHasASoul and Andrew Blackmann!  Please email address details to lizzysiddal at yahoo [...]

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