Even thought it is winter time in the Emerald Isles, New Zealand’s book world is really hot. It has just been announced that New Zealand will be the Guest of Honor at the next Frankfurt International Book Fair. They will have their own pavilion, featuring the best of the best in their Art world, representing over 60 authors and 100 performers. It is a rightly deserved honor as there is a plethora of great talent in a country with a population of only a few million. Hence, it is not surprisingly that New Zealand books do not get …
Last week the 2012 shortlist for The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award was announced. As I looked at the description of the six nominees, I asked myself a question I have been asking myself for some time. Why don’t we read more short stories? The answer to this question puzzles me because in today’s world of bite size news and everybody rushing everywhere, short stories should provide a solution for those so time poor they don’t have time to bury themselves deep in a novel. Yet, it is very rare that one sees collections of short stories on best-seller …
This giveaway had ended. For more chances to win FREE BOOKS, click here! Once again we have some great giveaways this month. For your chance to win simply recommend these titles to a friend. Back by popular demand – yes, we continue to receive a lot of comments and posts asking us for more suggestions for dystopian fiction, particularly for Young Adults. We have another treat for you this month with Slated by Teri Terry This new title is intelligent, intriguing, well paced, and even though it is set in Great Britain about 50 years from now, it will …
Thanks to everybody who entered our voting for the reader’s choice for The 2012 Orange Prize. Special thanks to all of you who posted reviews and comments on the book profile pages of all the longlisted and shortlisted titles. Here at TheReadingRoom.com we also had a hard time deciding on just one winner for The Orange Prize this year – the list of the candidates was fantastic. We just finished adding up all the votes and here is how the members of TheReadingRoom.com voted: Half Blood Blues received 26% of all votes; second was State of Wonder with 24% …
The overall winner of the Commonwealth Prize for writers will not be announced till the 9th of June 2012, but five winners of Regional Prizes have been announced. If you are looking for some great reads, then read on…….… Here are five great books from five very distinctive voices “novels with memorable characters, unpredictable situations, a sense of humour, books that give insights into cultures and histories not our own, crafted by writers who care about language, and its ability to renew and enrich our view of the world.” (Quote from the 2012 jury) WINNER …
