#Canongate Books

[booksiverecentlyread]

77: How To Stop Time [2017]

by: Matt Haig

[jenmedsbookreviews]

A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

Today I am sharing a review of A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, longlisted for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize @ayobamidebayo @dylanthomasprize @midascampaigns #sudtp24 #books #bookreview #aspellofgoodthings #bookstagram

Today I am sharing my thoughts on A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, which has been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2024. My thanks to Henrietta Richardson of Midas for inviting me to be a part of the longlist celebrations and to publisher Canongate for the copy of the book for review. The short list titles are being announced on 21st March – good luck Ayọ̀bámi. Source: Review…

[weinberl]

The House of Doors

No tree is every ugly Willy, but I must say I prefer the name the Malays give it, did you know they call it the whispering tree?”“Really, why?”“They say that if you stand under a casuarina when the moon is at its fullest you can hear its leaves whispering to you.”“And what would they be whispering?”“Your future and all the things that you desire to know.”“Is it true?”A wan smile ghosted across…

[cherylmmbookblog]

#Blogtour Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry

 It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry. About the Author/s Ambrose Parry is the penname for two authors – the internationally bestselling and multi-award-winning Chris Brookmyre and consultant anaesthetist of twenty years’ experience, Dr Marisa Haetzman. Inspired by the gory details Haetzman uncovered during her History of Medicine degree, the couple…

[malerek]

The Midnight Library | Book Review

📚 The Midnight Library | Book Review 📚 The Midnight Library is a story about exploring your “what-ifs” and coming to terms with the beauty and value of your present. #BookBlogger #BookReview #TheMidnightLibrary #BookTwitter #Booktwt

Title: The Midnight LibraryAuthor: Matt HaigGenre: Contemporary | FantasyPublisher: Canongate Books Trigger Warnings: Suicide | Alcoholism | Mental illness Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you…

[roughghosts]

In search of a shadow: Indian Nocturne by Antonio Tabucchi

When the murky waters that obscure any tangible connection between an author and his or her “unnamed protagonist” are intentionally stirred in the opening lines of a text, it is a not-so-subtle cue that that things may not be what they seem. Add an ostensibly exotic foreign location into the mix and there is plenty of space for the edges to become blurrier. Indian Nocturne, by Italian writer…

[pandora-books]

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, Canongate, 2005. The cover illustration is "Portrait of Ira P.", by Tamara de Lempicka, 1931. Cover design by W. H. Chong.

[thegirlwiththelantern]

2024 Poetry & Novels-in-Verse

It’s wonderful to see so many poets whose work I love have releases this year. And I’m very hopeful that other collections and novels on this list become artists I love too. Ædnan: An Epic by Linnea Axelsson, trans. Saskia Vogel | 25 / 01 / 24 – Pushkin Press In Northern Sámi, the word Ædnan means the land, the ground, the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the…

[joebloggshere]

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

Bottom line, I liked this.  A hard one to categorise or sum up, at least for me, but it is basically the story of two generations of women from the Dominican Republic living in New York.   We do see an earlier generation and some men, but we don’t hear their voices.

I found it a little difficult to get into, and sometimes couldn’t tell whose voice I was hearing, but once I persevered, I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to finish.

I understand this is Acevedo’s first book for adults and I hope she writes some more.  She is a writer I will be interested to see her writing develop.

Recommended.

Courtesy of  Canongate and Netgalley.

[mydawns]

Atwood, M. (2005). The Penelopiad. Canongate Books.

[cover-art-showdown]

Round One, Match CC

The Last Holiday: A Memoir (Gil Scott-Heron), Canongate 2013. Cover by Oscar Wilson.

The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson), Corgi Books 1977. Artist unknown.

[dk-thrive]

History is not an army. It is a crab scuttling sideways, a drip of soft water wearing away stone.

Cause-and-effect assumes history marches forward, but history is not an army. It is a crab scuttling sideways, a drip of soft water wearing away stone, an earthquake breaking centuries of tension. Sometimes one person inspires a movement, or her words do decades later, sometimes a few passionate people change the world; sometimes they start a mass movement and millions do; sometimes those millions are stirred by the same outrage or the same ideal, and change comes upon us like a change of weather. All that these transformations have in common is that they begin in the imagination, in hope.

― Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power (‎Canongate Books Ltd; January 1, 2005) (via Alive on All Channels)

[jenmedsbookreviews]

The Trenches by Parker Bilal

Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the final part of the Crane & Drake trilogy by Parker Bilal, The Trenches @Parker_Bilal @canongatebooks #books #bookreview #thetrenches

Today I am sharing my thoughts on the final book in the Crane and Drake trilogy by Parker Bilal, The Trenches. I’ve really enjoyed this series and catching up with two really fab characters. My thanks to the publishers for providing the copies for review. Here’s what the book is about: Source: Review CopyRelease Date: 07 Jul 2022Publisher: Canongate Continue reading Untitled

[buecherbummlerin]

A Spell of Good Things

Author:

Ayobami Adebayo

Pubslisher:

Canongate Books

Content (Blurb):

Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kunle, the volatile son of family friends. When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola's lives become intertwined. In this breathtaking novel, Ayòbámi Adébáyò shines her light on Nigeria, on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots, and the shared humanity that lives in between.

My Review:

I just love Ayobami Adebayos style of writhing and the way she describes her characters and the hardships they have to face. This is the second book I read by Ayobami Adebayo and I was blown away by this unique story.

“She had never been able to shake the sense that life was war, a series of battles with the occasional spell of good things.”

What makes Adebayos books so unique and captivating to me is that her books take place in Nigeria and offer an important insight in the countries culture, people, families, politics and conflicts. This book discusses important topics such as socio-economic inequality, politicization, regulation of the school system, political corruption, depression and domestic abuse. With that Adebayo tackles current and real conflicts. She writes stories about characters that are authentic and have to fight for their place within all these important conflicts while also battling conflicts within themselves too.  With tackling those issues this book is not a happy novel. But I really like that about Adebayos style of writing because her books show us difficult issues without sugar coting them. This book gives us a sense if hopelessness in a world where Eniola and Wurola fight for their place and face cruel  realities.

“Time was unforgiving, it didn’t stop, not even to give people a chance to scrape themselves off the floor if they’d been shattered.”

I also loved how Adebayo describes Eniola und Wurolas life’s and families with great detail. Most of the stories develops slow and as reader we accompany Eniola und Wurola in their daily lives and struggles first. Especially in the end all of it builds together in a bigger picture where their fates get intertwined and shocking truths are revealed. I have really liked that Adebayo took time to develop the story and that this is not completely action packed. This made the book a lot more authentic to me. Especially the ending blew me away and stays in mind.

Resume:

Ayobami Adebayo’s A Spell of Good Things is a unique story set in Nigeria. It discusses important topics such as socio-economic inequality, depression, corruption and domestic abuse. This books describes real characters that have to face cruel hardships. I loved that this book discusses these issues without sugar coting them. This stories shows the cruel, hard and shocking reality. An absolute recommendation!

[the-scottish-costume-guy]

Hello, I hope this isn't a bother, I'm going to be in Edinburgh for the last 2 days of fringe and then some (and only realized that the travelodge was so expensive thanks to that after I booked it) and was wondering if you had any restaurant/ food place recommendations that the basic Google search of "what's good" won't show me? We were originally planning on going there to see the dungeons and the aquarium and didn't realize what all was going on q.q

And thanks for the advice on the post

Hey no worries! Sorry you got caught by the fringe price hike.

It'd help to know what kinds of things you like to eat but I'll try to give you a few of the places I and my partner like, apologies but one of them I don't remember the name of I always go there on foot.

Near to the museum is Mother India which is part of a chain, so doesn't do the local thing but is somewhere I enjoy a lot. Better the more people you have with you.

I used to eat at The World's End near canongate, but this is an old recommendation- I've not eaten there in a very long time. Bar food so good for a pub lunch but also right next to the mile so pricer than going further out.

On Frederick street (just off princes street) is a chocolate Cafe called Coro. If pancakes, waffles, or crepes are your thing it's a great place with a chill atmosphere.

There is an Italian on George street I used to really like, (I've not gone for some time because my partner is gluten free and I haven't checked if they do that) unfortunately I don't remember it's name and know it by sight.

That said there's another one on hanover street called Bar Napoli.

My partner eats in the centre more than I do and actually recommends places to eat as part of his work, so I'm going to tag him in this to hopefully drop a few more suggestions!

@excessively-english-jd

[sarkos]

The company, Spines, will charge authors between $1,200 and $5,000 to have their books edited, proofread, formatted, designed and distributed with the help of AI. Independent publisher Canongate said “these dingbats … don’t care about writing or books”, in a Bluesky post. Spines is charging “hopeful would-be authors to automate the process of flinging their book out into the world, with the least possible attention, care or craft”. “These aren’t people who care about books or reading or anything remotely related,” said author Suyi Davies Okungbowa, whose most recent book is Lost Ark Dreaming, in a post on Bluesky. “These are opportunists and extractive capitalists.”

Writers condemn startup’s plans to publish 8,000 books next year using AI | Books | The Guardian