Give a book: Christmas Gifts round-up – Part One
That time of the year is creeping up on us once again! Bookhugger asked its publishers to suggest a few choice items for your consideration during this hectic period.
Celebrate: The Art of the Special Occasion, by Lucie van der Post
The queen of style leads us through a year of celebrations. Pushing the boat out for a special occasion takes time, planning and a touch of magic. Author of Things I Wish Mother Had Told Me, Lucia van der Post, will show you how to make the most of events such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas.
Life is too short not to make those key moments as special as possible. Whether you are organising a picnic in the park, a day at Ascot or a Bonfire night extravaganza, Celebrate is a wonderful source of inspiration and practical advice.
The Country Diaries, edited by Alan Taylor
4 July, 1877 [Dorset] ‘Country life at Sturminster. Vegetables pass from growing to boiling, fruit from the bushes to pudding, without a moment’s halt, and the gooseberries that were ripening on the twigs at noon are in a tart an hour later.’ Thomas Hardy
The unique beauty of the British countryside has been celebrated down the ages through music, poetry, and art. It has also been celebrated in countless private diaries. This delightful treasury gathers together the very finest – from Rev Gilbert White’s journal of life at his famous home in Selborne, to Beatrix Potter’s holiday diaries from Perthshire. Elsewhere, the thoughts of Dorothy Wordsworth and John Fowles rub shoulders with the words of Alan Clark and Queen Victoria. Together these private records paint a rich and surprising picture of a landscape and a way of life we think we know so well.
Monty Python Live!, edited by Eric Idle
Despite its evergreen, cross-generational fan base, there hasn’t been a new Monty Python book by all the (surviving) Pythons in thirty years. On their fortieth anniversary, Monty Python Live! focuses primarily on their stage show and includes original material written for the book — oral histories, essays — from all living members, as well as much archival material never before in print.
Books, DVDs and other Python paraphernalia have remained bestsellers for the last four decades, and fans are always eager for something new. Eric Idle — who is editing and designing — has commited to 5-7 days of live events, radio and TV tapings, digital promotion, and more. Cleese, Gilliam, Jones, and Palin will also participate if they’re available. They are all excited about this book (and about still being around after forty years) and want to help however they can. Read an extract.
Shouting at the Telly, by John Grindrod
Is Freddie from Scooby-Doo a colossal pervert?
What does Howards’ Way tell us about the eighties?
How do you win America’s Next Top Model?
Which programmes do you only watch when you’re off sick?
And if you play the theme from Inspector Gadget in a nightclub, will people dance?
A host of comedians, actors and writers wrestle with these and other weighty issues in Shouting at the Telly, a book of funny and heartfelt rants and raves on everything from soaps to sitcoms, sci-fi to reality shows, HBO to QVC.
All of TV is here: the age-old rift between BBC and ITV that tore families apart; the secret shame of crying at adverts; and those significant moments in life when television has made for an unforgettable backdrop. Richard Herring has a controversial new theory about Goodnight Sweetheart, Boyd Hilton shares his all-time comedy top ten and Rebecca Front demolishes the clichés of news reading. They’re joined by a list of fellow telly addicts with axes to grind, including Jim Shelley, Andrew Collins, Kevin Eldon and David Quantick.
So, if you have ever rooted for the most offensive candidates in The Apprentice or repeatedly corrected Supernanny Jo Frost’s pronounciation of ‘unacceptable’ then this book will give you and your spleen many happy memories of the hours you’ve spent shouting at the telly. Listen to an interview with the Editor, John Grindrod.
Simon’s Cat, by Simon Tofield
With over 20 million hits on YouTube in little over a year, Simon’s Cat, is a genuine word-of-mouth phenomenon. Fans from all over the world have fallen for this adorable but anarchic feline who will do just about anything to be fed.
This autumn, Simon Tofield’s beautiful drawings and warm humour come alive on the page in the first of a series of irresistible stocking-filler humour books.
Dear Me: A Letter To My Sixteen Year-Old Self, edited by Joseph Galliano
If you were to write a letter to your 16-year-old self, what would it say? In Dear Me, some of the world’s best loved personalities have written just such a letter.
Dear Me includes letters from three knights, a handful of Oscar winners, a bevy of Baftas, an intrepid explorer, a few teenage pop stars, an avid horticulturalist, pages and pages of bestselling authors, a dishy doctor, a full credit of film directors, a lovey of top actors, a giggle of comedians and an Archbishop!
The letters range from the compassionate to the shocking via hilarity and heartbreak, but they all have one thing in common: they offer a unique insight into the teenager who would grow up to be…. Stephen Fry, Annie Lennox, Paul O’Grady, Jackie Collins, Fay Weldon, Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Debbie Harry, Brenda Blethyn , Jonathan Ross, Liz Smith, Will Young, Alison Moyet, Rosanne Cash, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Yoko Ono, Emma Thompson… to name but a few. It is the PERFECT GIFT for your mum and dad, sister or brother, gran or granddad or someone who is a teenager, even turning 16… Read an extract.
The Hell Of It All, by Charlie Brooker
‘Mankind clearly peaked about 40 years ago. It’s been downhill ever since. For all this talk of our dazzling modern age, the two biggest advances of the past decade are Wi-Fi and Nando’s. That’s the best we can do.’
In his latest laugh-out-loud collection of misanthropic scribblings, hideous Q-list celebrity failure Charlie Brooker tackles everything from the misery of nightclubs to the death of Michael Jackson, making room for Sir Alan Sugar, potato crisps, global financial meltdown, conspiracy theories and Hole in the Wall along the way. The collapse of civilisation has never felt this funny (unless you’re a sociopath, in which case it’s been an uninterrupted laugh riot since the days of the Somme).
This book is guaranteed to brighten your life, put a spring in your step, and lie to you on its back cover.
Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection, by Don Roff and Chris Lane
The year is 2011, and what starts as a pervasive and inexplicable illness ends up as a zombie infestation that devastates the world’s population. Taking the form of an illustrated journal found in the aftermath of the attack, this pulse-pounding, suspenseful tale of zombie apocalypse follows biologist Dr Robert Twombly as he flees from city to countryside and heads north to Canada, where — he hopes — the living dead will be slowed by the colder climate. Encountering scattered humans and scores of the infected along the way, he fills his notebook with graphic drawings of zombies and careful observations of their behaviour, along with terrifying tales of survival. This frightening new contribution to the massively popular zombie resurgence will keep fans on the edge of their seats right up to the very end.
Star Wars: The Complete Vader, by Ryder Windham and Peter Vilmur
Ever since the first Star Wars film was screened in 1977, fans have been drawn to Darth Vader — the only character who links all six Star Wars films. Many books, both fiction and non fiction, have been written about the Dark Lord — but only this one tells the complete story of the galaxy’s consummate villain. From his early development by George Lucas, to the new legends created in comics and novels, The Complete Vader provides an overview of the character in all his incarnations. Going beyond the films to cover his further adventures in the Expanded Universe and beyond, the text combines new insight with collected interviews from pivotal behind-the-scenes figures, while more than 170 images illustrate our endless fascination with the Darth Vader and his story. Combining the epic sweep of the myths surrounding the character with his powerful visual impact, this is a must-have for fans and collectors everywhere.
