Michael Foot (1913-2010)

Faber Finds Editor John Seaton on the giant of the British Left, who died last week at the age of 96.

Independent Bookseller of the Month: Kemptown Bookshop, Brighton, West Sussex

Every month we feature a different bookshop – we ask them to tell us what makes them special and what they like most about what they do. This month it’s the turn of the Kemptown Bookshop in Brighton.

More Than Words

Canongate stalwarts Dan Rhodes and Louise Welsh talk new novels, flat pack furniture and knob gags.

Sir John Lister Kaye on his definition of nature writing

Naturalist and conservationist Sir John Lister Kaye on what it means to him to be a nature writer.

Alexander Maitland on Speke and the Discovery of the Source of the Nile

John Hanning Speke was among the greatest British explorers of the Victorian era, whose greatest achievement was the discovery of the source of the White Nile – the holy grail of Victorian exploration. Following expeditions with Sir Richard Burton, Speke died in mysterious circumstances, at the age of 37.

February crime round-up

The best of the latest crime fiction from Bookhugger’s publishers…

Paul Binding on My Cousin the Writer

‘Hoorah! A dazzling new novel has appeared featuring a subject hitherto unknown to quality fiction, radio soap opera’, began the review in the Spectator before calling it a ‘masterpiece’. For the Independent, ‘this tale of a radio soap makes post-war Britain sparkle’.

From Russia With Love

What’s it like to have your novel turned into an Oscar-tipped blockbuster?

Jay Parini describes the experience of adapting his novel The Last Station into a screenplay, and about what happened after that…

Peter Carey Q&A

Peter Carey discusses Parrot and Olivier in America, the dazzling, complex and highly enjoyable eleventh novel from the twice-winner of the Booker Prize.

The Age of Absurdity

The good news is that the great thinkers from history have proposed the same strategies for happiness. The bad news is that these turn out to be the very things most discouraged by contemporary culture. Michael Foley has written an investigation into how the desirable states of wellbeing and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life.

Best of the Web: Neil Cross

Neil Cross is one of the most exciting crime authors publishing today. Not only has he just unleashed his latest novel, Captured, but he’s also written the forthcoming BBC drama, Luther; and was lead writer on the ever popular spy series, Spooks.

The Lieutenant: author’s note

Kate Grenville penned an author’s note at the end of The Lieutenant, published in Feburary 2009.

Irene Sabatini: The Book That…

What do writers read? Irene Sabatini, whose debut novel The Boy Next Door has just been published, tells us about the books that have made her laugh, cry, kept her awake at night, and more.

Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter – a note from the author

“When I talk to readers about my book I often lead with a joke that goes something like this: My last book Vows, was about how my father the Catholic priest met my mother the Catholic nun, so it was inevitable that my next book would be about Yiddish.”

The Candle Problem

‘The Candle Problem’ is a classic experiment created by the Austrian psychiatrist Karl Duncker in 1945.

We ask science writers Jonah Lehrer and Daniel Pink to explain what this exercise can teach us about creativity, motivation and decision making.

Independent Bookseller of the Month: Camden Lock Books, Old Street Station, London

Every month we feature a different bookshop – we ask them to tell us what makes them special and what they like most about what they do. This month it’s the turn of Camden Lock Books, located in Old Street Station in London.

The Booklist – Winter Warmer

Curl up in front of the fire, and spend some time with a loner in the woods, his cabin insulated by his books; explore the Canadian Northwest with an anthropologist gone native; warm yourself with a wonderful tales from WWII and the Napoleonic Wars; then witness explorers pushing themselves to the limit, all from the comfort of your armchair!

Best of the Web: Inspector Pekkala

It is the time of the Great Terror. Inspector Pekkala – known as the Emerald Eye – was once the most famous detective in all Russia, the favourite of the Tsar. Now he is the prisoner of the men he once hunted.

Steven Asma’s monster gallery

George Miller talks to Stephen Asma about On Monsters, his wide-ranging cultural and conceptual history of monsters, and we have an exclusive gallery of illustrations from the book too.

Listen now

Broken your New Year’s Resolution? Here’s how to get back on track….

In this Bookhugger exclusive, the authors of You Need This Book to Get What You Want, Mark Palmer and Scott Solder, help you get your New Year’s Resolutions back on course.

Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life

We present an excerpt from Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life, by Howard Sounes. The Pleasures of the Damned, a ‘best of the best’ collection of Bukowski’s poetry, is published this month.

What Canongate are excited about in 2010

A few of Canongate’s staff shared the books they’re excited about in 2010.