The Booklist: Out of Office

Sat at your desk dreaming of something different? A new life somewhere exotic? A job that’s not office-based drudgery? Take some inspiration from our publishers’ tales of new possibilities…

Before The Hedgehog

Following the success of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, French author Muriel Barbery’s first novel, The Gourmet, is published in English this month. Centring on an ailing food critic and his search for a perfect flavour from his youth, it features some of the same characters as The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Read an extract from The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

Read an extract from the first volume in Philippa Gregory’s new Cousins War series, set during the Wars of the Roses.

The White Queen reading group guide

This reading group guide for The White Queen includes discussion questions and a Q&A with author Philippa Gregory. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion.

The Book Doctor is in

It’s that time of the month where the Book Doctor opens the clinic doors and proffers assistance to the benighted, befuddled and bemused in their search for new and exciting reading material.

Miriam Toews on The Flying Troutmans

Miriam Toews grew up in a Mennonite community in Southern Manitoba. She now lives in Winnipeg with her family. Her previous novels include A Boy of Good Breeding and A Complicated Kindness, and her third, The Flying Troutmans, is available now in paperback.

Guardian First Book Award 2009 longlist announced

The longlist for the Guardian First Book Award 2009, in association with Waterstone’s, has been confirmed.

The Bookhugger Author Panel: Historical fiction

Bookhugger asked three writers of historical novels to talk to us about the finding the balance between historical accuracy and telling a damn fine tale.

August Reading Groups round-up

If you need ideas for what your reading group should tackle next, look no further than Bookhugger.

52 Poems from Faber

From great new voices to cherished classics, 52 Poems brings you a weekly dose of remarkable poetry. What poem will you discover this week?

Seamus Heaney reads The Underground

Seamus Heaney reads his poem The Underground at the offices of his publisher, Faber, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday and Faber’s eightieth.

Drugby Union, by Richard Milward

Drugs and music make a wonderful couple. Without wanting to sound like a soggy-eyed grandmother-in-law, it’s like they really were made for each other. The best drugs make the best sounds sound even better, like replacing your old worn-out ears with new, state-of-the-art surround-sound speakers for a few sacred hours.

Sympathy for the Devil

The Testament of Gideon Mack, The Death of Bunny Munro, The Gargoyle, The Devil’s Paintbrush — the devil seems to be making a comeback in our imaginative life. Richard Holloway, author of Between the Monster and the Saint, considers why he seems to be getting the best tunes.

David Peace on Occupied City

David Peace, author of the Red Riding quartet and The Damned Utd discusses the writing of his new novel Occupied City, second in the Tokyo Trilogy. Occupied City follows the notorious true story of the 1948 Teikoku Bank Massacre, where 16 bank employees were poisoned by an unknown man posing as a public health official.

August non-fiction round-up

Who needs fiction when you’ve got a much loved children’s author who turns out to be a Communist spy, a famous scientist who turned his hand to making money, the making of arguably the greatest-ever jazz album and the perpetual dissolution of one of the world’s maddest rock bands? It can only be our August non-fiction round-up!

Read an extract from In This Way I Was Saved, by Brian DeLeeuw

I pounded myself against the inside of his head, but it was useless. He couldn’t hear me; I was trapped. So, like any other prisoner, I waited. I bided my time.

An interview with Giles Foden, author of Turbulence

Giles Foden returns with his fourth novel Turbulence, a story about forecasting the weather on D-Day and the tale of one man’s attempt to find a scientific Holy Grail. Giles explains more about the book in this special interview

Listen now

August contemporary fiction round-up

Read on for the latest in contemporary fiction being released in August from Bookhugger’s lovely publishers…

Thomas Levenson Q&A

Thomas Levenson is the author of Newton and the Counterfeiter. Here, he sheds further light on why he felt compelled to write about Newton and ‘the scoundrel’, how much he enjoyed researching 18th-century London, and what new material the reader can expect to encounter in the book.

Read an extract of A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka

On the eve of World War II in a place called Half-Village, a man nicknamed the Pigeon falls in love with a girl fabled for her angelic looks. Using his ‘golden hands’ he decides to turn her family’s modest hut into a beautiful home, and build his way into her heart.

The August Competition [closed]

Another bumper haul of prizes, dear readers: three lucky winners will each get a selection of great new August titles from the Bookhugger publishers.

Sam Delaney on being a London Dad

Sam Delaney takes a humourous look at the pros and cons of raising a child in London.