Something for the weekend?

Books fly off the shelves after getting picked for the Summer Read for the Richard and Judy Book Club, with some titles experiencing a 3000% increase in sales. They have announced the following titles as their summer reads
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Relentless by Simon Kernick
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon
Richard Madeley said: "A cracking read can be the ultimate antidote for a summer's day, and Summer Read hands viewers eight engaging and exciting books on a plate.


RendezVous Crime announced that Barbara Fradkin has just won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel 2007 for her novel Honour Among Men. Her achievement is all the more remarkable because it is the first time than an author has won for two consecutive books. Barbara also won the same award in 2005 for her previous novel, Fifth Son. The Arthur Ellis Awards are sponsored by the Crime Writers of Canada and represent the best in Canadian crime writing.

Quercus’ biography of Richard Nixon, Richard Milhous Nixon; The Invincible Quest, was reviewed early in the Evening Standard by Tom Bower, who is, of course, the author of the hostile biography of Conrad Black and his wife, Barbara Amiel, (Outrageous Fortune: The Rise and Ruin of Conrad and Lady Black ) which may result in legal action if Black is acquitted of fraud in the next couple of weeks. Tom Bower is married to Veronica Wadley, the editor of the Evening Standard.


Every festival needs a fringe and what organisers claim is the capital's first ever literary festival is no exception. While Nobel laureates and children's laureates gather at the South Bank Centre next week for the official London literary festival, an underground literary adventure is under way, courtesy of an enterprising collective of London bloggers.

Just when you thought that all the controversy over Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code was over more than a year after its premiere, the film version is being investigated by Italian state attorneys on the grounds that it is "obscene" from a religious perspective. Earlier this year, a complaint against the film was filed by a group of clergy near the Italian village of Civitavecchia, where the state prosecutor said it would open a criminal investigation into the film. The complaint says the film violates Article 528 of Italy's Penal Code.


The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Crime shortlist announced

The 6 strong shortlist was voted for by the public and is as follows:
Christopher Brookmyre - All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye (Little, Brown)
Stuart MacBride - Cold Granite (HarperCollins)
Stephen Booth - The Dead Place (HarperCollins)
Allan Guthrie - Two Way Split (Birlinn),
Graham Hurley - Blood and Honey (Orion)
Michael Jecks - The Death Ship of Dartmouth (Headline).
The winner will be announced Thursday 19th July on the opening night of the festival and will receive £3,000 and a beer barrel from sponsors Theakstons Old Peculier.