By Sarah Shaffi
Journalist Nick Davies’ book on the hacking scandal and Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Belknap Press/Harvard University Press) are among the titles shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.
The £30,000 award is given to the most influential business book of the year, with the five shortlisted titles getting £10,000.
Click here to read the rest of this story
Paper Passion evokes the scent of fresh paper and comes packaged inside a real book.
A few months ago, we posted a video that explained where old books get their distinctive, musty smell that so many people love. Now, for people who prefer brand new books, there’s a perfume out that will let you keep their scent with you all day.
New York’s Daily News reports that fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld came up with the name Paper Passion, which launched on July 12 in Wallpaper magazine’s annual Handmade issue. It was actually at Wallpaper‘s Handmade exhibition in Milan last year that the idea for the perfume originated, when German publisher Gerhard Steidl remarked that his favorite scent was a “freshly printed book.”
Since then, Steidl has been working with perfumer Geze Schoen on perfecting the scent, using only four or five ingredients. Synthesizing paper’s unique aroma was apparently not an easy task. Schoen explained, “The smell of printed paper is dry and fatty; they are not notes you often work with.”
Click here to read the rest of this story
22.09.11 | Graeme Neill
Canongate has said it had “a financial imperative” to publish Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s memoir without his approval but also said the “fantastic” book was exactly what the publisher asked for when the contract was signed late last year.
The publisher released Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography today (22nd September) despite the author trying to get the contract cancelled. He attacked Canongate overnight, accusing it of “old-fashioned opportunism and duplicity”.
Speaking to The Bookseller, Canongate publishing director Nick Davies described the circumstances of an author trying to halt publication of his own autobiography as a “publishing first”. He said: “These are exceptional circumstances and we certainly won’t be making a habit of this with other authors. Given Julian was unwilling to finish the autobiography and we couldn’t find any way forward for him to complete it, we were left with no other option. Usually with authors we can find a way forward by republishing in a different way or walking away.”
Readersforum's Blog 