Bookhugger needs Real Readers!

We’re looking for contemporary fiction and non-fiction fans for our exciting new Real Readers programme.

The Booker Prize longlist is announced

The initial thirteen contenders for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction have been announced today, with several titles from Bookhugger publishers making the prestigious list.

Barbara Kingsolver wins the Orange Prize for Fiction

With her novel The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver won this year’s Orange Prize, the result of which was announced on Wednesday night. Read the first chapter here on Bookhugger.

Take the kids on a visit to Grubtown

Faber and Faber have launched ‘Visit Grubtown’ (www.visitgrubtown.com), an exciting new online home for Philip Ardagh’s Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winning Grubtown Tales series, drawing on the weird and wonderful characters and settings from all six Grubtown books.

Make Live Art!

Inspired by the boundless imagination of author David Mitchell comes a day of interactive, innovative art. Join Sceptre and Subject to Change in the top gallery at Candid Arts Trust and participate in the construction of your own miniature community.

Get the White Queen on your iPhone

With the paperback of Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen out next week, readers can download a free iPhone app to get loads of additional information behind the book.

Welcome to Windmill Books

Bookhugger is proud as punch to announce the addition of Windmill Books to our roster of quality publishers.

100 Stories for Haiti: From Concept to Book in Six Weeks!

On the morning of January 19, days after a devastating earthquake struck near Haiti’s capital, author Greg McQueen posted a video on his blog: “Dear Twitterverse, I can’t keep watching the news about Haiti on television or trending on Twitter without doing something. I woke up this morning with the idea that together we could make a book and donate all royalties to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.”

Today is World Book Day

Today is World Book Day in the UK – a celebration and promotion of books and reading. Look out for Quick Reads and a programme of exciting events in bookshops and schools all around the country.

World Book Day is approaching

World Book Day is the biggest annual celebration of books and reading in the UK and Ireland – and it’s a week from today!

Festival preview: Jewish Book Week, 27 February to 7 March

Don’t miss London’s longest running and most eclectic festival of ideas and writers, 27 February to 7 March, just off Russell Square, at the Royal National Hotel. And remember, you don’t need to be Jewish to enjoy Jewish Book Week!

Independent Thinking, from Foyles and Faber

‘Independent Thinking’ is a programme of events in which experts from a range of fields present new ideas and perspectives on the subjects close to their heart. Each month one author will outline their take on a subject in a short manifesto which will be followed up at the end of the month with a thought-provoking talk or debate.

Win a pair of tickets to Literary Death Match, part of YARNfest 2010 [closed]

It’s literature’s answer to the X-Factor, a titanic struggle of (t)wits to see who can triumph, it can only be… Opium’s Literary Death Match. It’s back in London, and we have a pair of tickets to be won!

Festival preview: The London Word Festival, 7 March – 1 April 2010

London’s pioneering celebration of words, text and language returns for a third year, playing host to the most adventurous programme yet. Bringing to light the finest array of artists working with words.

100 Stories for Haiti

100 Stories for Haiti is a collection of short stories sold to raise money for relief efforts in disaster-striken Haiti. All proceeds go to the Red Cross.

Bookhugger sponsors YARNfest – celebrating story and storytelling

We are proud to announce that we are sponsoring the first YARNfest, a festival of storytelling that will take place in London between February 20th and 24th at The Book Club and the Queen of Hoxton, East London.

Catcher in the Rye author JD Salinger dies, aged 91

Reclusive novelist JD Salinger died of natural causes at his home.

Read full details on the BBC website

Merry Christmas from Bookhugger!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Bookhugger Crew and all of our publishers! We hope you have enjoyed the site this year and we look forward to bringing you the best books and authors in 2010.

Feeding the 5,000 – an interview with Tristram Stuart

On Wednesday 16th December 2009, Trafalgar Square will host a free feast of biblical proportions: a modern day Feeding the 5000. In this short film, Tristram Stuart, author of Waste, explains the problem – and outlines the solutions.

The Crusades – download an exclusive extract

Download an exclusive extract from Thomas Asbridge’s The Crusades, which is published in January 2010.

Short Story Collection Wins Guardian First Book Award 2009

An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah, published by Faber, has won the Guardian First Book Award 2009, in association with Waterstone’s.

Listen to an interview with Petina Gappah

Read an extract from An Elegy for Easterly

See Going West brought to life

A scalpel has brought to life a classic Kiwi novel in a compelling ad produced for The New Zealand Book Council.