Welcome to Bookstoker!
We’re here to help you find that book that you can’t put down, the book you’ll push on all your friends, the book that’ll change your life.
We read literary fiction, non-fiction, classics and children’s books, all genres and styles embraced in our aim to share the love. You’ll also find fabulous Bookstagrams and literary news.
A world of bookish delights!
Kirstin and Julie
James Wood’s annual list of new book discoveries seems shorter this year but his description of Joy Williams’ Ninety-Nine Stories of God made even me (not usually a short story fan) want to pick it up. Perhaps you too will find something here?
President Obama, interviewed by chief book critic of The New York Times Michiko Kakutani, talks about books and how they help ‘exercise the muscles’ that allow us to imagine what’s going on in the lives of other people. An interview worth reading.
Transcript of The New York Times Interview with President Obama
Kicking off the book prizes in 2017 are Costa Book Awards which just announced the winners in each of its five categories. Find out more here.
As much as I love Christmas, I’m not so sure about the shopping part of it. My heart sinks when I look at the number of Christmas presents I need to buy over the next few weeks. I do enjoy buying books for people though, and there’s nothing quite as satisfying as finding the perfect book for someone you love. We’ve been trawling the bookshops and the newspapers to find the most interesting or beautiful (or both) books out there, and hopefully help you find the perfect book for someone. Here’s what we found.
Merry Christmas!
Michele, Meg, Jane and Julie
Twenty books to choose from, four in each of the five categories: Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Books – there’s is definitely something for everybody on the Costa Book Awards short-list. And it’s a great place to start you Christmas shopping.
In the Novel category we have Sebastian Barry’s Days Without End, Maggie O’Farrell’s This Must Be the Place, Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent, which we loved, and Rose Tremain’s The Gustav Sonata which we weren’t so keen on (full reviews are in the links).
There are also some interesting debut novels to look out for: Susan Beale’s The Good Guy, Kit de Waal’s My Name is Leon, Guinevere Glasfurd’s The Words in My Hand and Francis Suppford’s Golden Hill.
Winners in each category will be announced 3 January and the overall winner of Costa Book of the Year on the 31 January.
I know I won’t be able to resist Taschen’s fabulously illustrated cookbook Les Diners de Gala by artist Salvador Dali and his wife, Gala. Reissued for the first time in 40 years, the book comes with suitably wacky recipes, and a stark warning to its readers…
I’m very excited to introduce Jane, our new book reviewer. Just like Meg and Michele, Jane has been handpicked for her impeccable taste in books. She also comes with a great deal of experience from the publishing industry and currently runs her own literary agency specialising in non-fiction books. Our Souls At Night is Jane’s first contribution. Welcome Jane!
Read more about Jane here.
I’m extremely pleased to tell you that we have a new book reviewer on our team. Apart from being an ex-publisher with tons of experience from the industry and an extensive network, London based Meg is a super bright and totally delightful person. She’s been obsessed about books since childhood and within minutes of meeting we were deep into book discussions. She has quietly been writing a few reviews for us already which are listed below. You can read more about Meg in the About section. Welcome Meg!
Lots to look forward to on the film front over the coming months. I can’t wait to bring my kids to see Mark Rylance as the BFG in Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book The BFG. I won’t be the last one to see Tom Hanks and Felicity Jones in Dan Brown’s Inferno either. Set in Florence, Venice and Istanbul, it should be worth it for the stunning locations alone! Emma Watson and Tom Hanks will star in the film version of Dave Eggers’ The Circle. Martin Scorsese is also making a film of Silence by Shusaku Endo, a story set in 17th century about Jesuit priests trying to bring Christianity to Japan. Will try to read that before it comes out. And there’s more…
More books being made into films
