NW by Zadie Smith

Narrating the lives of two best friends, bound together by a single dramatic event in their formative years, NW is hard to describe, diffuse and brilliantly real. It’s also hard to get into, with its truncated syntax and disconnected sentences, but it grew on me and really got under my skin.

Leah and Keisha grew up in a North-West London council estate and were inseparable as girls. Now adults, the two women lead very different lives but remain close. Leah has a husband she loves, who wants to start a family. Leah doesn’t want children and is torn between her loyalty to him and her own feelings and fears. Keisha has reinvented herself as Natalie the Barrister, with a beautiful husband and children, and a life that bores her into taking drastic action.

Also featuring their husbands and mothers, and an assorted motley crew of characters, the women’s stories are separated by incongruous forays into other people’s lives. The final chapters represent something of a return to childhood, tinged with nostalgia and melancholia. There is no dénouement, climax, or any kind of closure on what has preceded.

It’s not like any novel I’ve ever read; I have wanted to read the multi-award winning White Teeth for years but came across NW and thought I would give it a go. I particularly liked the way the format and style of the chapters echoed the voice of the character telling the story, which helped to delineate each character arc and add depth to the novel.

I felt the author identified with Natalie more than any other character as the reader is given much more insight into her background and inner-most thoughts, and of the eight or so recurring characters, Natalie is certainly the one that has stayed with me the most. I read her section of the book almost in one sitting; with other sections I felt like I had to work harder to get into the story.

NW is beautifully descriptive and engrossing, making you feel like you’re peering through a window into someone else’s existence. I really enjoyed the read and looked forward to picking up the story each evening, and I will definitely read more of Zadie Smith’s work if I can lay my hands on White Teeth.

NW is available from Hastings District Libraries in standard print and large print.

Posted by RJB

Catalogue link: NW

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

Another great crime caper in the Cormoran Strike series by story-teller extraordinaire, JK Rowling.

When a severed limb is sent to the now-famous detective’s office, care of his long suffering colleague Robin, the duo set to tracking down the sender – not to mention the owner of the leg. Strike has narrowed down the list of suspects to three likely culprits but he and Robin must work through the clues quickly to catch the offender before any further crimes are committed.

Whereas The Cuckoo’s Calling was a classic whodunit which skirted around the gore and violence of the actual murder, and The Silkworm gave us the feeling that Rowling was flexing her thriller-writing muscles, and having a lot of fun with her grisly narrative, Career of Evil takes the depictions of crimes to another level.

Focusing on three sinister characters from Strike’s past, the book covers seriously unpleasant themes such as domestic violence, drug addiction, torture and child abuse, making it faintly reminiscent of Rowling’s first adult title, The Casual Vacancy. The identity of the killer is a surprise (although not necessarily in the way you might expect) with plenty of obligatory red herrings thrown into the mix.

Whilst I very much enjoyed the journey, what has stayed with me from this book is the development of the relationship between the two protagonists, Strike and Robin. I was left feeling a bit like a child watching her parents kiss – a bit uncomfortable and not sure I liked it! It’s not that I worry Strike and Robin’s eventual embrace might affect the dynamic of the story (which it undoubtedly would), it’s more that the two just aren’t believable as a couple. Forcing two such incompatible characters together would smack of predictability and a lack of imagination, and would bother me enough to prevent me reading another installment.

However, if Rowling resists the urge, this series has the potential to become a modern-day classic and, like Harry Potter before it, one that I will enjoy reading again and again.

Posted by RJB

Catalogue Link: Career of Evil

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

At the height of the New Zealand Gold Rush a Scottish traveller, Walter Moody, journeys across the globe to make his fortune on the gold fields of the West Coast. Upon landing in Hokitika, he stumbles across a clandestine meeting in a tavern, where 12 local men have gathered to discuss recent unsolved crimes in the area. Moody hears the individual tales of each man, which interlace to form a tangled lattice of three seemingly unconnected events: the discovery of a dead man and his fortune, the disappearance of a young entrepreneur, and the failed suicide of the town’s lady of the night.

At first glance, The Luminaries promises to be a good old fashioned mystery, but fans of this genre may be left wanting. Expansively written, evoking memories of classic literature, the book deals with the wider themes of betterment, love and secrets. With astrological concepts woven throughout (the term ‘celestials’ refers to the Chinese miners after ‘The Celestial Empire’, a Western euphemism for China at the time), the author paints a vivid picture of life on the goldfields and all its struggles.

The New Zealand scenery is evoked with exquisite realism and the fully rounded, often unpleasant, characters from far and wide are given rich back stories which gives the story credibility and draws the reader in further. As long and wending as this book is, the plot doesn’t reveal itself until the very end, making the 800-page tome a little unwieldy in parts.

Eleanor Catton won the 2013 Man Booker Prize with The Luminaries, only the second New Zealander ever to do so. Superlatives abound as the book is also the longest, and Catton the youngest, ever winner of the prestigious prize.

Described as “a dazzling work, luminous, vast” by the chair of judges, The Luminaries is a true tour-de-force of New Zealand literature which stays with you long after finishing, leaving you confused but content.

Catalogue link: The Luminaries

Posted by RJB

Books we got (and gave) for Christmas

Working at a library, you might think we see enough books to last a lifetime, and that receiving them as gifts is a bit of a busman’s holiday. Not for us! We really can’t get enough of them and we think we have the best job in the world; working in a library is like being a kid in a sweet shop so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that most of us here found at least one book in our stockings come Christmas morn, and we gave as good as we got!

The sleuth

Judith is in mystery mode this month, having used a gift voucher to pick up a copy of Wolf Winter by Ceclila Ekback – a chilly, Nordic mystery that looked interesting and a nice respite from the heat of summer. It is set in 1700s Lapland; a family of settlers arrive to eek a living out of a bleak and inhospitable climate, when the 14 year old daughter stumbles upon a body. The death is put down to mauling by wolves, but young Frederikia and her mother aren’t so sure and set out to find out the truth. Judith liked the eerie and atmospheric look of the story, plus the writing is good, vividly drawing you in. She also bought an eBook online, the first in The Detective’s Daughter series by Lesley Thompson. We have one of the later books at the Libraries' and it looked so good, Judith wanted to read this one first. It’s pretty good too – quirky peculiar amateur detective who decides to solve the case that obsessed her late father.

Catalogue Link: The Detective's Secret

The gastronome

This wasn’t strictly a gift but I’ve included it anyway as it was given at Christmas – even if Carla had to arrange it herself! A lover of modern gastronomy, both cooking and eating out, a subscription to Cuisine magazine was the perfect self-indulgent present for our Carla who loves both fine dining and good kai at home. Cuisine features try-at-home recipes and restaurant reviews and is available to borrow free of charge from the Hastings District Libraries.

Catalogue Link: Cuisine

The humanitarian

Kristen is the Childrens Librarian at Hastings War Memorial Library and always has a smile on her face and a kind word for anyone. She was given the Humans of New York storybook for Christmas which is filled with inspirational people with often heart-breaking (but uplifting) stories to tell. In 2010 photographer Brandon Stanton set out to create a photographic census of New York City. Armed with his camera, he began crisscrossing the city, covering thousands of miles on foot, all in an attempt to capture New Yorkers and their stories. The result of these efforts was a vibrant blog he called Humans of New York. If you haven’t come across this phenomenon yet, take a look at the Facebook page. Humans of New York is available to download free of charge as an eBook from Hastings District Libraries.

Catalogue Link: Humans of New York

The neophyte

I call myself a lifelong learner. I’m always into something new and I’m forever studying some topic or other. I’m also a very keen traveller but I am, however, a terrible photographer. I even bought myself a bridge camera last year in the belief that it was my tiny point-and-shoot that was letting me down. It turned out not to be my equipment but rather my lack of talent that was holding me back (“a bad workman blames his tools” and all that). So I was pretty chuffed to receive not only a copy of Cities: Explore 100 Fascinating and Iconic Cities by Falko Brenner, but the very practical Complete Photography Manual by Weldon Owen, which promises to turn me into the next David Bailey, or at least Instagram-superstar Taylor Swift. Hastings District Libraries holds large collections of both travel guides and photography how-to manuals available to borrow.

Catalogue Link: Travel guides
Catalogue Link: Photography Manuals

The baker

Viv, our Assistant Customer Services Team Leader, is an enthusiastic cook and loves whipping up puddings, pies and cakes for her delighted family and colleagues. She did actually receive a few cook books as presents but she gave a few as well! She chose Simon & Alison Holst’s Everyday Easy cookbooks as gifts for all FOUR of her sons as a sort of tongue-in-cheek present, but it turns out they love them! Everyday Easy is designed to help you prepare healthy, delicious food everyday with easy to follow recipes, ideas and inspiration, and all with affordable, readily available ingredients. We have an enormous collection of Simon and Alison Holst’s brilliant cook books at Hastings District Libraries.

Catalogue Link: Simon Holst books

The fanatic

If you’ve been keeping an eye on our microvlog series, you might have spotted Kim, the Local History Librarian at Havelock North Library, giving his opinion on Jerome Kaino’s autobiography. Kim’s reading habits reveal he’s a total fanatic who can’t get enough of the game, as he received not one but three books about rugby. First up is Sir Graham Henry celebrates The World Cups 1987 to 2015, by Sir Graham himself. Kim has always wanted to read this as he was fascinated by the World Cup. A slightly left-field entry, but rugby-themed nonetheless, was Rugby Pantry: Healthy Measures and Guilty Pleasures by Daisy Dagg, the wife of All Black Israel Dagg. It’s an awesome cookbook of great rugby food. Kim’s final (for now!) rugby read was Dan Carter’s My Story. Another book on Kim’s wish list, Dan was an awesome All Black and the book is a great read which showed us what makes him tick and the mischief he got up to as a child and an All Black. All three books are available to borrow from Hastings District Libraries.

Catalogue Link: Sir Graham Henry celebrates The World Cups! 1987 to 2015
Catalogue Link: Rugby Pantry: Healthy Measures and Guilty Pleasures
Catalogue Link: Dan Carter: My Story

The eclectic

Katrina, one of our Library Assistants at Havelock North Library, also chose to give Dan Carter’s My Story to the man in her life (for the gossips among you… this is not Kim!). He loves rugby but will only read one or two books a year so this was an inspired gift. Katrina’s 12 year old requested the YA classic, The Maze Runner by James Dashner after a friend recommended it, which sent Katrina on a treasure hunt of her own, only tracking down a copy after visiting her third book shop. After all this excitement, Katrina treated herself to a couple of self-indulgent reads. First off, the best-selling Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. This is a great series and so far, in Katrina’s opinion, this one is the best yet. Lastly, she picked up a copy of Homemade Happiness by Chelsea Winter, a cookbook which has the most amazing looking custard square recipe which she is attempting this weekend! Again, all three books are available to borrow from Hastings District Libraries.

Catalogue Link: The Maze Runner
Catalogue Link: Career of Evil
Catalogue Link: Homemade Happiness

A tale of woe: books wounded in action

In the season of goodwill, spare a thought for those books which fail to make it through life without the occasional mishap; from the all-too-common drink spill to the lesser-spotted animal attack, we’ve compiled a tongue-in-cheek list of some of the rich pickings to be had amongst the great returns bin in the sky…

It’s worth pointing out that some of these mishaps happened to members of staff, so don’t feel too bad!

Water damage and spilt drinks

By far the most common scenario we come across when books are returned with damage is through exposure to water, often in the form of drinks bottles inside bags. The condensation on the outside of the bottle can seep into the book causing the pages to wrinkle, crease and become brittle when they dry out. Sticky soft drinks can also cause pages to stick together which rip when opened. One way to avoid this is to keep your books in a separate carrier bag when you need to transport them.

Left outside

Almost as common, and as unlikely as it sounds, we see quite a few books that have been left outside and been exposed to all the NZ weather gods can throw at them. This has the same effect as spilling drinks as pages get wet and then become fragile when they dry out. If the book is not allowed to dry, it may become moldy which presents a health risk to the reader. The other problem with leaving them outside is that rain water is not very clean so the books are exposed to salt and pollutants trapped in raindrops. We’ve also had the occasional book returned with slug trails on it!

Washed!

Accidents happen, and once in a while we see a book that’s definitely been through the ringer! Books can get bundled up into laundry if they’re near the bed, or put down absently-mindedly near the washing machine. Sadly, these books are well beyond repair – and identification as well! A tumble in the machine isn’t the only way to clean up a book… we hear of plenty of books that have taken a dunk in the tub at bath time along with their readers.

Repairs

We love that our customers love our books as much as we do, but if a books is damaged while out on loan please don’t be tempted to repair it yourself. Sticky tape can cause lasting damage when the acid in the glue seeps into the pages of the book. At the libraries we use special, acid-free tape to repair small tears and we have staff that are specially trained in the repair and restoration of books.

Too much love

Books can often be more than just a way to pass the time; some become treasured objects that invoke powerful feelings and memories in the reader. Some are handed down through the family and some are constant companions, read and re-read over and again. It’s these books which suffer from too much love as they become worn and weary, and tattered and torn.

My dog/little brother ate it!

More often heard in classrooms around the country, we’ve seen the odd dog-eared book come across our desk. Sadly most of these books are irreparable and we have no choice to but to dispose of them and replace them.

Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay

A man walks down a New York street, looking into the windows of shop and cafes, and taking in his surroundings. He happens to glance upwards and catches sight of something out of place in one of the upper windows – it looks like a mannequin with a plastic bag over its head. But wait – the mannequin is very lifelike and it even looks like it might be screaming.

Thomas is sure he’s witnessed a murder, but the chances of anyone believing him are slim. Thomas is a map-obsessed schizophrenic who believes he’s working for the CIA, and he’s not even on the street in question – he’s viewing the image on his screen on Google Earth-type software, Whirl360, which could have been taken any number of years ago. Thomas’ brother, Ray, who has returned to the family home following the tragic death of their father is drawn into the mystery which unfolds with many a surprising development.

Trust Your Eyes features so many twists it doesn’t let up for a second. It is a little slow to get going, particularly as I didn’t like any of the main characters in the first three or four chapters, but once Ray starts to believe Thomas the story starts to draw you in. There are quite a few plot reveals towards the end – at least two of which I did not see coming. It’s an enjoyable easy read which builds plenty of anticipation and keeps you hooked, and guessing, until the very end.

Posted by RJB

Catalogue link: Trust Your Eyes

The Steady Running of the Hour by Justin Go

My subject of choice when it comes to fiction is a good old mystery. I devour these books and often finish them in one or two sittings. I particularly love stories featuring some kind of treasure hunt as I’m a sucker for the Big Reveal. It’s for these reasons that I picked up a copy of The Steady Running of the Hour by Justin Go.

I’m also partial to a little World War I literature. As anyone with an interest in this genre will have already spotted, the title of this book is a direct reference to Wilfred Owen’s Strange Meeting – an unsettling poem in which Owen talks with a soldier he has killed.

Justin Go is also clearly influenced by these writers as The Steady Running of the Hour draws deeply from giants of the genre such as Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong in particular, but there are also echoes of Pat Barker’s Regeneration and Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth.

The Steady Running of the Hour’s American protagonist, Tristan Campbell, learns he may be the sole heir of a Will written in Britain in the 1920s. It turns out Tristan’s family history may not be what he thought as he travels to Europe to unravel the mystery before his time runs out and the estate is donated to charity. During his journey of exploration, we learn about a forbidden affair, the lovers’ secret and the horrors of the trenches.

En route, Tristan makes two significant acquaintances who reappear throughout the book. The first, Pritchard, is the lawyer dealing with the case and the other, Mereille, a mysterious French girl he meets in a Parisian bar. Both are mildly irritating characters that pull Tristan in opposite directions. Pritchard is sure Tristan is following the wrong leads and Mereille thinks the whole thing is a waste of time. Their continual attempts to put him off track don’t ring true and left me feeling bewildered. I suppose Pritchard represents Tristan’s head (as opposed to his heart) and his relationship with Mereille heavily mirrors that of the doomed war-time lovers Tristan is trying to track down.

The Steady Running of the Hour is beautifully written in places and left me so choked up after chapters in the trenches that I had to simply sit and absorb the words before I could move on. The modern-day element is fast-paced and intriguing, and provides some relief from the gruesome war-time narrative. The latter part of the novel is full of surprising twists and turns, although I was left feeling somewhat dissatisfied at the end. As I said before, I like a good plot reveal but this book left me wanting.

I picked this book up because of the ‘treasure hunt’ theme and I was happy to see it handling the topic through the lens of devastating conflict and loss, a concept which reverberates throughout the book.

Posted by RJB

Catalogue link: The Steady Running of the Hour

Six of the best free image editing sites that don’t require any design skills

One of the things I love best about my job is that I get to play with beautiful pictures for our social media updates. The old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” remains as true today as it always has been – if not more so, with the continual surge in the use of visually rich, image-based social networking.

For anyone working in the digital arena, finding appropriate and eye-catching images to sit alongside your text can be a long and expensive process if you’re using stock imagery sites like iStock or photos.com. And once you’ve found your perfect snap, editing it to fit your needs exactly can be a bit of a nightmare if you’re short on design experience or a bottomless wallet! Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are brilliant if you have a degree in Graphic Design but for us mere mortals, we need something quicker, easier and cheaper!

Cue my very short list of image resources that I use on a daily basis to beautify our Facebook and Twitter feed…

Pic Monkey

Pic Monkey is my go-to editor for user-friendly, intuitive edits that require absolutely no design experience. Although it’s free to use, you have the option of upgrading to a paid account which unlocks more features. I find the free options are more than enough for everyday usage.

The navigation menu on the left uses icons and images which do exactly what they say on the tin. Cropping, rotating, brightening and resizing are easily dealt with in just the click of a button and you can compare the original image with the changes by holding a button on the top menu. There are loads of great filters to make your pics Instagram-worthy and you can also add fun stamps and themes to make them even more festive/hilarious.

Canva

Canva is great for adding text and stamps to images. As opposed to an image editor, it’s more of a graphic design platform which is great for websites, blogs, invitations, posters and any other occasion when you might need a smart graphic or image. Don’t be put off by the term ‘graphic design’ as it really is as easy to use as Pic Monkey – just drag and drop!

Canva has pre-formatted templates for different uses so you can simply choose the one that suits your needs best and get cracking. Just click on the template and then edit as required.Filters can be added to make the image more interesting and the Elements tab provides illustrations you can drag and drop right onto your picture. The Text tab again offers loads of pre-formatted word stamps that you can plonk onto the image and edit away to your heart’s content. You can also upload your own image if you can find one that doesn’t work for you.

Note: you have to create a free account to use the site – as with Pic Monkey, there is an option to upgrade to a paid account and some of the features are only available once you start handing over cash!

Pixlr

The Pixlr editor is a stripped down, browser-based version of Adobe Photoshop so is great for those who have some experience of this platform. You can work with layers, masks and a lot of the basic tools, filters and adjustments available in PhotoShop. For quick and comprehensive free image editor I think it’s one of the best (it certainly beats Gimp which I find a bit awkward, especially when working with layers).

Now I’m going to cheat slightly as these aren’t image editing sites but they are a fantastic free image resource. I’ve often found it really hard to source the perfect free-of-charge and free-of-copyright image just by googling ‘free image site’. These sites take some of the pain out of my never-ending quest and Hootsuite posted a great blogpost suggesting even more free image sites.

Unsplash

Unsplash offers really beautiful Instagram-style, high resolution imagery. I sometimes put a filter on top if I want to create a particular theme but often the images are so beautiful I don’t bother. There is a search function but I suspect most of the images are not robustly keyworded so it often returns only a few results. I can waste hours lost in thought scrolling through the gallery as there are literally hundreds of pics to choose from.

Pixabay 

This is a great, free shutterstock-style platform with a good search function. The images are generally pretty nice with only a few really bad staged ones! A note of caution: be careful which images you click on as it sneaks in adverts from the fee-charging Shutterstock site!

Negative Space

This site has a large selection of photos and a decent search function. Some of the images are beautiful but some are really cringey, and not very well keyworded so the search can sometimes return bizarre results (eg: a search for ‘tree’ yielded not one, but two images of people playing bagpipes – worth it for the comedy value!).

So, know you know my secrets - go forth and create! Happy editing :) 

Pretty Girl Thirteen by Liz Coley

When Angie returns home from a school camping trip, she can’t understand why her parents are acting so strangely. She’s only been gone a few days – what’s their problem? For her parents, though, the wait has been agony.

In reality, Angie has been missing, presumed dead, for three years after she disappeared in the night from her tent. Angie thinks they’ve gone crazy, or are trying to freak her out, even though she can’t understand why.

Angie has no memory of the last three years at all. It’s true that her body has changed and no longer feels like her’s, and her friends have all grown up. She has become the centre of attention at school and in her neighbourhood as people around her realise she’s the girl from the news.

Her parents are concerned about her health, so she is taken to hospital for an examination. She’s referred to a psychologist who works with Angie to reclaim those lost years, and finds that she developed a complex coping mechanism to deal with the horrors she’s faced throughout her life – both during her disappearance and before.

Pretty Girl Thirteen is a fascinating exploration of dissociative identity disorder. At times harrowing, at others heart-breakingly sad, Pretty Girl Thirteen is disturbing but touching journey into the mind of someone desperately trying to deal with a lifetime of sickening experiences. It’s very good young adult fiction which will broaden the mind of the teenage reader.

Posted by RJB

Catalogue link: Pretty Girl Thirteen

Shakespeare’s Mistress by Karen Harper

It’s widely known that Shakespeare lived an entirely separate life to that of his wife, whom he left behind in Stratford upon Avon when he went to London to make his fortune and fame as a playwright and actor. And it’s a matter of historical record that, days before he married Anne Hathaway, a man bearing his name was recorded in Worcestershire parish records as bound to marry one Anne Whately.

So, what happened in those few days that convinced Shakespeare to marry another woman? And what happened to Anne Whately? Some have argued that Shakespeare continued to court her and even lived with her in London as his wife and mistress.

In Shakespeare’s Mistress, Karen Harper takes this fascinating glimpse into the personal life of the world’s most famous playwright and draws it out into a twisting and tormenting tale of love, loss and longing.

Our heroine, Anne Whately, is at turns both hard-headed and business-like, and whimsical and simpering. The continual change of heart of our protagonist leaves the reader feeling frustrated and stuck in a rut. The frequent vague leaps forward in time are hard to grapple with and occasional inconsistencies jar. The character of Shakespeare was unsatisfying and unpleasant, and left me wondering why anyone would pine after him the way Anne Whately does. Shakespeare’s Mistress is a disappointing, if well-intentioned, read.

Posted by RJB

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

There’s something sinister lurking in London’s criminal underbelly. A malicious spirit hell-bent on instigating riot and rebellion amongst ordinary, law-abiding citizens.

Abnormally violent and disturbing assaults have been reported all over the city and it’s up to Constable Peter Grant to identify the common link and halt the uprising. The grotesque, usually fatal, injuries of the perpetrators hint at something supernatural. A suspicion confirmed by a witness who claims he died 120 years ago, and the revelations of his mentor Inspector Thomas Nightingale.

Until the night of the first murder, Grant is a common-or-garden, newly-qualified Police Constable trying to make it through the ranks. He is shocked to learn he has a gift for the ‘uncanny’ and has been drafted into Nightingale’s Economic and Specialist Crime Unit to begin his training as a wizard. And that’s when things really start to get interesting.

Rivers of London is a rip-roaring ride through the streets of London. Expertly written, with lively scenes and consistently humorous narrative, the book ends far too quickly. Peter Grant is an immediately likeable character and Inspector Nightingale is suitably mysterious and engaging. Surprising and expertly crafted reveals and plot twists make this an excellent first book from an exciting writing talent. I am already on the hunt for more books by this author.

Posted by RJB

Catalogue link: Rivers of London

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

Alena Graedon’s novel is set in a dystopian not-too-distant future in which everyone relies on tablet-like electronic devices, known as memes, to manage almost every aspect of their lives; from shopping and ordering taxis, to prompting the user when the meaning of an obscure word foxes them. The story revolves around the home of one of the last bastions of print – the North American Dictionary of the English Language, which, along with the OED, is the printing world’s swansong. 

The editor, Doug, has mysteriously vanished and it’s up to his daughter, Ana, to solve the clues to his disappearance and bring him home – all before she and everyone she cares about succumbs to the devastating effects of the insidious word flu propagated by the creators of the memes’ successor, the nautilus. 

The Word Exchange is fluidly written, and breathlessly faced-paced. Graedon interposes the ‘new’ words created by nautilus users into the recognisable syntax with ease and the reader is left in no doubt as to their intended meanings. The mysterious twists and turns leave the reader hooked until the end.

This book about words and meaning is a gratifyingly haunting homage to literature and language. Very entertaining.

Posted by RJB 

Catalogue link: The Word Exchange

A Brief History of Seven Killings wins 2015 Man Booker Prize for fiction

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James has been named as the winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. A Brief History of Seven Killings is published by Oneworld Publications. The 44-year-old, now resident in Minneapolis, is the first Jamaican author to win the prize in its 47-year history.

A Brief History of Seven Killings is a 686-page epic with over 75 characters and voices. Set in Kingston, where James was born, the book is a fictional history of the attempted murder of Bob Marley in 1976. Referring to Bob Marley only as ‘The Singer’ throughout, A Brief History of Seven Killings retells this near mythic assassination attempt through the myriad voices – from witnesses and FBI and CIA agents to killers, ghosts, beauty queens and Keith Richards’ drug dealer – to create a rich, polyphonic study of violence, politics and the musical legacy of Kingston of the 1970s.

This is the first Man Booker Prize winner for independent publisher, Oneworld Publications. Michael Wood, Chair of the judges, comments: ‘It is a crime novel that moves beyond the world of crime and takes us deep into a recent history we know far too little about. It moves at a terrific pace and will come to be seen as a classic of our times.’

In addition to his £50,000 prize and trophy, James also receives a designer bound edition of his book and a further £2,500 for being shortlisted.

Other recent winners have included Hilary Mantel (2012 and 2009), whose Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies have been adapted into award-winning adaptations on stage and screen, and Julian Barnes (2011), whose The Sense of an Ending will soon be adapted for film. Other winning novels that have gone on to have second or third lives as stage and screen adaptations include Schindler’s Ark (directed by Steven Spielberg as Schindler’s List), The Remains of the Day and The English Patient.

First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognised as the leading award for high quality literary fiction written in English. Its list of winners features many of the giants of the last four decades: from Salman Rushdie to Margaret Atwood, Iris Murdoch to JM Coetzee. This is the second year that the prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the UK. Previously, the prize was open only to authors from the UK & Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe.

Michael Wood was joined on the 2015 panel of judges by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, John Burnside, Sam Leith and Frances Osborne. The judges considered 156 books for this year’s prize, including a total of 18 call-ins.

There is more information on the award at the Man Booker Prize website.