Emily Rhodes 
The Special power of the printed word
A few weeks ago, three colossal boxes of new books from Penguin arrived in the bookshop. I made myself a strong cup of tea and then began the lengthy task… Continue reading
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Life’s too short to read tedious books
‘My friend and I were working out how many more books we’ll read before we die,’ a customer said to me in the bookshop, the other day. ‘We read a… Continue reading
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The Exiles Return by Elisabeth de Waal – review
The Exiles Return has been published as a beautiful Persephone Book, with smart dove-grey covers and a riotously colourful endpaper. Before this glorious incarnation, it existed for many years as… Continue reading
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Books do furnish a room
The first time you run out of space for your books is a rite of passage for booklovers. It’s the moment that you realise the extent of your addiction to… Continue reading
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Writing of walking
At 3pm this afternoon Radio 4’s Ramblings with Clare Balding will broadcast a programme about The Walking Book Club, to which Emily Rhodes belongs. ‘I love walking in London,’ said… Continue reading
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Some literary thirteens for 2013
I suspect I might not be the only one who finds it unnerving to be at the start of a year that features, so prominently, the number thirteen. 2013 –… Continue reading
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Suzanne Collins, J.K. Rowling and the albatross of success
Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games, has announced that her next book will be a picture book. Rather than writing a follow-up dystopian adventure for her teenage readers, she… Continue reading
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When ‘boycott’ isn’t quite the right word
Boycott Amazon was the message from Margaret Hodge MP in last weekend’s Observer. This comes in the wake of new revelations about just how little UK tax is paid by… Continue reading
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Poppy appeal
As Remembrance Sunday draws closer and we pin poppies to our coats, we can also see them adorning the jackets of books. This powerful symbol of remembrance features on the… Continue reading
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Everyone loves a Penguin
Markus Dohle, Chief Executive of Random House, must have had a long hard think about what a booklover could possibly treasure more than a Kindle. The answer is, of course,… Continue reading
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Something wholesale
I suspect that few – if any – of you have heard of Bertram Books. You could be forgiven for thinking that they are a lesser-known series of P.G. Wodehouse… Continue reading
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China bans Haruki Murakami’s ’1Q84′: George Orwell would have seen the irony
Books – or lack thereof – are the latest manifestation of anti-Japanese sentiment in China. The escalating dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands has provoked some Beijing bookshops to remove Japanese… Continue reading
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What comes after Fifty Shades?
After the record-breaking success of the Fifty Shades trilogy, publishers are desperately trying to answer the multi-million dollar question, what comes next? What will all those millions of readers who… Continue reading
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Second to the right, and straight on till morning
Much has already been written of the breathtaking, brilliant and slightly bonkers Olympics opening ceremony, but there is one more thing to say on a literary note. Just after we… Continue reading
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Staycation reading
When it comes to choosing good books to read on holiday, I am a great believer in selecting reading matter to match the destination. What better to read in Sicily… Continue reading
7 CommentsTravelling tales
I happened to be with some family friends the other day. The daughter, just out of school, is soon to go travelling to various far-flung destinations and to this end… Continue reading
2 CommentsRainy day reading
I am beginning to lose my patience with the weather. I suspect I am not alone in feeling utterly dispirited by this endless onslaught of rain. We have just come… Continue reading
3 CommentsInside books: Long live the classics!
Classics were predicted to be one of the first things to fall at the feet of eBooks. Traditional booksellers — like me — have been in a perpetual cold sweat,… Continue reading
2 CommentsInside Books: Surveying The Hunger Games
Chances are you’ve read, seen, or at least heard about The Hunger Games, the young-adult book and film sensation by Suzanne Collins. The crux of the story centres on The… Continue reading
2 CommentsInside Books: In praise of paperbacks
Lately, I have been giving rather a lot of thought to the humble paperback. I say humble, for this is a format with no pretensions of grandeur, no fancy binding,… Continue reading
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