Resources
Reservoir 13 - Readers' Guide
The Man Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the 13 brilliant books that have been chosen for the 2017 Man Booker Dozen. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor by clicking below.
Home Fire - Readers' Guide
The Man Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the 13 brilliant books that have been chosen for the 2017 Man Booker Dozen. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie by clicking below.
Days Without End - Readers' Guide
The Man Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Discover the 13 brilliant books that have been chosen for the 2017 Man Booker Dozen. You can download a Readers’ Guide for longlisted title Days Without End by Sebastian Barry by clicking below.
Women in Translation booklist
August is Women in Translation Month. Only a tiny fraction of fiction published in English is translated, and only about a quarter of that translated fiction was originally written by women. For some reason, fiction in translation by women remains as rare as black diamonds. And yet there are so many amazing women-authored books out there in the world – books we’re missing out on. Here is a list of books by women in translation, as chosen by a group of literary translators.
Podcasts for Book Lovers
We’ve put together a list of our favourite reading related podcasts for you to enjoy. From celebrity storytelling to a tour of the fascinating connections between Shakespeare and the world around us, there should be something to suit all tastes.
You Don’t Know Me by Imran Mahmood - discussion questions
An unnamed defendant is accused of murder. Before the Closing Speeches, the young man sacks his lawyer, and gives his own defence. His barrister told him to leave some things out. Sometimes, the truth can be too difficult to explain, or believe. But if he’s going to go down for life, he wants to tell the truth. As he talks us through the evidence, his life is in our hands. We, the reader – member of the jury – must listen to his story. His defence raises many questions. But in the end, only...
You Don’t Know Me by Imran Mahmood - read a sample
An unnamed defendant is accused of murder. Before the Closing Speeches, the young man sacks his lawyer, and gives his own defence. His barrister told him to leave some things out. Sometimes, the truth can be too difficult to explain, or believe. But if he’s going to go down for life, he wants to tell the truth. As he talks us through the evidence, his life is in our hands. We, the reader – member of the jury – must listen to his story. His defence raises many questions. But in the end, only...
Marmite Reads
To celebrate National Reading Group Day on 24 June reading groups nationwide have been sharing the books that have inspired the most discussion and debate in their meetings. We call these ‘Marmite Reads’. Download the full list below to find a book that will really get the conversation going!
Sound by Bella Bathurst - an extract
Bella Bathurst is a writer and photojournalist. Her books include The Lighthouse Stevensons which won the 1999 Somerset Maugham Award, The Wreckers, which became a BBC Timewatch documentary, and The Bicycle Book, which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2011. Sound In 1997, Bella Bathurst began to go deaf. Within a few months, she had lost half her hearing, and the rest was slipping away. She wasn’t just missing punchlines, she was missing most of the conversation –...
Into The Water by Paula Hawkins - discussion questions
Into The Water is an addictive novel of psychological suspense about the slipperiness of the truth, and a family drowning in secrets. With the same propulsion that captivated millions of readers worldwide in her debut, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins unfurls a gripping, twisting, layered story set in a small riverside town. A word from Paula about the book: “This story has been brewing for a good while. For me there is something irresistible about the stories we tell ourselves, the way...
Into The Water by Paula Hawkins - an extract
Paula Hawkins is the author of the global bestseller The Girl on the Train, which received worldwide critical acclaim and has sold over 18 million copies worldwide since first publication in January 2015 [to December 2016]. Now a major hit Hollywood film starring Emily Blunt, the movie enjoyed a higher UK opening than Gravity, The Martian and Gone Girl. “A brooding and complex read that deserves to make a splash in its own right.” Sunday Mirror “A twisting whodunit that leaves you both...
Eurovision! by Chris West - discussion questions
Do you think the world of the Eurovision Song Contest, with its crazy props, even crazier dancers and crazier still songs has nothing to do with serious European politics? Think again. The contest has been a mirror for cultural, social and political developments in Europe ever since its inauguration, when an audience in dinner jackets and ball-gowns politely applauded each song. It has been a voice of rebellion across the Iron Curtain, an inspiration for new European nations in the 1990s and...
Eurovision! by Chris West - an extract
Chris West is an author, ghostwriter and marketer. His books include Journey to the Middle Kingdom, The Beermat Entrepreneur and First Class: a History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and daughter. The Radio 2 panel loved Eurovision! – here are some of their comments: “A delightful tongue in cheek romp through the history of the Eurovision song contest with lovely links to the social and political situations of the time. It’s an entertaining...
He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly - discussion questions
The path of every eclipse can be predicted from now until the end of time… Kit and Laura, young and in love, pledge to travel the globe and see as many eclipse as possible. They have no idea of the darkness that will follow. At a festival in Cornwall, in the hushed moments after the first eclipse they share, Laura interrupts a man and a woman. She knows she saw something terrible. But the man denies it. Later, in a panic, Laura tells a little white lie – which changes four lives irreparably....
He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly - an extract
Erin Kelly is the author of The Poison Tree, The Sick Rose, The Burning Air, The Ties That Bind and Broadchurch: The Novel, inspired by the mega-hit TV series. The Poison Tree was a Richard & Judy summer read in 2011 and became a major ITV drama in 2013. The Radio 2 panel loved He Said/She Said – here are some of their comments: “I enjoyed the fact that the story is told from the differing viewpoints of a husband and wife and that it also moves between the present and the time of the...
CWA 2017 shortlist - Tana French
Tana French is the author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbour, The Secret Place and The Trespasser. Her books have won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She grew up in Ireland, Italy, the US and Malawi, and now lives in Dublin with her family. Tana has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017. Download the resource to find out more about...
CWA 2017 shortlist - Mari Hannah
Mari Hannah is an award-winning author whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, she lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari turned to scriptwriting when her career was cut short following an assault on duty. Her debut, The Murder Wall (adapted from a script she developed with the BBC) won her the Polari First Book Prize. Its follow-up, Settled Blood, picked up a Northern Writers’ Award. Her Kate Daniels series is in...
CWA 2017 shortlist - Kate Ellis
Kate Ellis was born in Liverpool and studied drama in Manchester. Kate has twice been nominated for the Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Dagger and has also been nominated for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year. Kate has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017. Download the resource to find out more about Kate, and the book she would recommend to reading groups. Just click the download link below.
CWA 2017 shortlist - James Oswald
James Oswald is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of the Inspector McLean series of crime novels. The first six, Natural Causes, The Book of Souls, The Hangman’s Song, Dead Man’s Bones, Prayer for the Dead and The Damage Done are available as Penguin paperbacks and eBooks. James has also written an epic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro, which is published by Penguin, as well as comic scripts and short stories. In his spare time he runs a 350-acre livestock farm in north-east Fife,...
CWA 2017 shortlist - Andrew Taylor
Andrew Taylor is the multiple award winning author of The American Boy, his No. 1 bestselling historical novel, which was a 2005 Richard & Judy Book Club choice. He has won many awards, including the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger, an Edgar Scroll from the Mystery Writers of America, the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it three times) and the CWA’s prestigious Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. Andrew has been shortlisted for...
CWA 2017 shortlist - C.J. Sansom
C. J. Sansom was educated at Birmingham University, where he completed a BA and then a PhD in History. After working in a variety of jobs, he retrained as a solicitor and practised in Sussex, until becoming a full-time writer. He lives in Sussex. C.J. has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017. Download the resource to find out more about C.J., and the book he would recommend to reading groups. Just click the download link below.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - Reading Guide and discussion questions
The Hate U Give is a powerful first novel by Angie Thomas. Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful...
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - an extract
Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still lives in Jackson, Mississippi. A former teen rapper, she recently won a Walter Dean Myers Grant, awarded by the We Need Diverse Books campaign. The Hate U Give is her first novel. The Radio 2 panel loved The Hate U Give – here are some of their comments: “A powerful story about inequality and justice.” “This young adult book looks at family, community and race. It is part of the Black Lives Matter campaign and I think it is a book that will spark a...
Judas by Amos Oz: A supporting booklist
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. Judas by Amos Oz (Israel) and translated by Nicholas de Lange is one of the six shortlisted titles. All of the suggested books follow similar themes or settings as Judas. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin: A supporting booklist
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. Fever Dream by Samantha Schwebin (Argentina) and translated by Megan McDowell is one of the six shortlisted titles. All of the suggested books follow similar themes or settings as Fever Dream. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen: A supporting booklist
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen (Norway) and translated by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw is one of the six shortlisted titles. All of the suggested books follow similar themes or settings as The Unseen. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors: A supporting booklist
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors (Denmark) and translated by Misha Hoekstra is one of the six shortlisted titles. All of the suggested books follow similar themes or settings as Mirror, Shoulder, Signal. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
A Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman: A supporting booklist
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. A Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman (Israel) and translated by Jessica Cohen is one of the six shortlisted titles. All of the suggested books follow similar themes or settings as A Horse Walks Into a Bar. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
Compass by Mathias Enard: A supporting booklist
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. Compass by Mathias Enard (France) and translated by Charlotte Mandell is one of the six shortlisted titles. All of the suggested books follow similar themes or settings as Compass. You can download the supporting booklist by clicking below.
A Horse Walks into a Bar - Readers' Guide
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest fiction in translation. Discover the six brilliant novels that have been chosen for the 2017 shortlist. You can download a Readers’ Guide for shortlisted title A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman (Israel), translated by Jessica Cohen by clicking below.
