If you're in the USA, UK or Canada, look out for Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, publishing in hardcover in the next few days. It's a charming first novel by Helen Simonson starring retired Major Ernest Pettigrew and Mrs Jasmina Ali, widowed owner of the village shop. Set in a small country village in the south of England, the author absolutely nails the quintessentially English characters and setting, but the story evolves into something deeper than the anticipated microcosm of village life and prejudices.  While very different to The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society or The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, readers of either of these are likely to appreciate Major Pettigrew's outlook on life.

[More]

It's been snowing here since before Christmas. Not much for some parts of the world, admittedly (I sent a picture of my kids sledging to a friend in Canada and she emailed back 'nice frost') but, for us on the south coast of England, it's a totally new experience.

Things I like about the snow:

1. The quiet. No cars, no school run, just that all-enveloping white blanket. Comforting and scary at the same time.
2. The kids playing outside all day in a huge feral gang. This is what childhood should be like (this attitude gets me into trouble at parent/teacher evenings)
3. Not having to shop.
4. The beautifying effect. Our garden is full of rusty toys and dead plants – under the snow it looks like a winter wonderland.

[More]

This holiday, in between shopping for presents, I began reading an amazing book, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde. It is, in part, about the cultural meaning of gift exchange, and though my timing in reading it during Christmas was coincidental, the resonances were very welcome. By day, I would buy gifts and experience a familiar twinned pleasure and guilt at all the consumption. By night, I would read The Gift and find myself getting to the source of that dual emotion.

[More]

'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.' (from Alice and Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll)

Remember when summer stretched out endlessly before you, and kind people fixed you snacks while you sprawled on the floor in impossibly limber positions reading to your heart's content? Well I do, and even though I haven't taken a real summer vacation in my entire adult life, I still compile my reading list as if I'm heading off for a month-long sprawl in the Hamptons. With 23 books on my "shortlist" for this already-waning summer, even if I got on the Jitney right now I'd never finish them by Labor Day. Woe is me, woe to all of us readers who still race into a bookstore with the breathless hope of school children on holiday. Because I remember what it feels like to turn the last page under the same setting sun that rose that morning, and nothing can replace the feeling of being completely immersed in a story from beginning to end.

[More]

My book-loving friend Martin and I have a recurring conversation that usually starts with, "I'm going on vacation and can't figure out which book to take."  It's an interesting conundrum, and for us book addicts, a critically important decision that we begin pondering weeks before we actually leave town.

I suppose it partially depends on the type of vacation on which you're taking this treasured companion (and by that I'm referring to your book and not your spouse).  If your intent is a relaxing week at the beach, for example, you might pick something light and fun, perhaps romantic; the latest from Ann Brashares or Jude Devereaux might be your choice.  Those seeking to rekindle that special spark (and this time, I am talking about your spouse) might look for a steamier option, like Anne Rice's Beauty series or something by Jamie Denton (or perhaps no book at all!).   Still others may prefer perusing a longer or more complex book while on vacation, since it's rare for them to have a large block of time in which to read.

[More]

Davina Morgan-Witts, BookBrowse editor

Booklovers - mark your calendars for the impending arrival of the first novel by a masterful storyteller! Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese will be published in the USA by Knopf in February 3, 2009 and in the UK by Chatto & Windus in April. 

I was fortunate to be given a copy of Cutting For Stone last month and gorged myself on all 534 pages in less than two days.  Since then, I have passed my copy on to two friends (a difficult feat as it took some wrestling to separate the book from the first friend in order to pass it to the second!)

[More]