BookieMonster

Random House announces final book in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle

Mar 242011

It is with great excitment that Random House NZ announces that the fourth and final book in Christopher Paolini’s global bestseller Inheritance Cycle will be published late this year.

Following the number one bestselling novels Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, the book will be called INHERITANCE.

‘The burning questions asked by fans around the world will be finally answered in this last instalment,’ said Christopher Paolini. ‘All will be revealed!’

INHERITANCE will be published in the NZ on Wednesday 9th November 2011, simultaneously with the UK, US, Canada, and Australia. It will also be available in ebook and audio editions.

Karen Ferns, MD of Random House New Zealand says, ‘We are extremely proud and excited to be publishing INHERITANCE. Christopher Paolini’s books are an incredible worldwide phenomenon and New Zealand readers have been eagerly awaiting the final instalment in the cycle. This is sure to be one of the biggest book events of the year.’

Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr have been international publishing sensations. The first three books have sold over 25 million copies worldwide, with over 120,000 being sold in New Zealand.

Book Review: One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash

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Mar 222011

One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash, Text Publishing, RRP $37, ISBN 9781921656965, Available now.

Remember how I read Serena and I was all “Appalachian Gothic – unicornsauce!” but still a bit “characters are making me meh but maybe Mr Rash can do better next time” (if you don’t remember this then reread the review fuhgoodness’sakes)?

It turns out Mr Rash can do better next time!* One Foot in Eden is full of all the crime/thriller/gothic/backcountry/appalachian/southern goodness you could ever want. It’s a smaller package than Serena but oh so much more perfectly formed.

Essentially a murder mystery, One Foot in Eden is told from five different perspectives, and this is what gives it real heft where Serena fell over – the character voices are so strong and so individual that you totally believe. Rash has created a pitch-perfect world of his own.

Each character moves us around the story and closer to the heart of it, and at the same time they talk to us about their town, their land and their families. I can see why Rash has been compared to Steinbeck – he has the same gift for capturing authentic voices, deeply rooted in time and place.

It is 1951 in South Carolina and Holland Winchester, war veteran and local thug, has gone missing. The local sheriff, Will Alexander, has a gut feeling that Holland’s been murdered but can find neither the body nor the killer.

And running behind this mystery is the story of the land these people inhabit; a land about to be swept away by industry, by big money and by a wall of water (read it, I’m not going to tell you everything!).

One Foot in Eden is a fantastic read that captures the voices, the fears and the secrets of a whole community, while retaining a taut sense of intimacy. You’ll be spellbound and, like me, you’ll be looking forward to reading more from Rash.

*Except actually One Foot in Eden was Ron Rash’s debut novel and Serena the follow up. Because we are in the Southern Hemisphere they got published upside down.**

**That’s a bit of Southern Hemisphere humour for you.

Links for you to love!

Mar 222011

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas turns 40 – fantastic piece at The Millions to celebrate.

BookieMonster Henchperson – not only can she hench with the best of them, she can make jam. Jam, people!

Sir Terry Pratchett is coming to NZ. Go see him, it’s only 20 bucks. Wait, it’s only 20 bucks! I have a piggy-bank to raid.

Want to see your work in print? We’re giving away two chances to create your own book with Blurb!

Links for you to love! Posted by BookieMonster Book Trade News, BookieMonster News, Fun Stuff Comments Off

Competition: Create your own book with Blurb!

Posted by BookieMonster 5 Responses »

Mar 212011

You guys, I’m so excited about this competition! It’s the first of its kind we’ve ever run and I hope you really get excited about it.

Thanks to Blurb we’ve got two make-your-own-book vouchers to give away!

Blurb make it amazingly easy to design, create and produce your own book – whether you want to produce a photo book, wedding book, cook book, kids book, paperback… it seems like any kind of book you can think of they can make for you!

And they also have a great Blurb bookstore – you can browse and buy other people’s books and put your own book up for sale. It’s a really DIY publish and sell your own book store.

Thanks to Blurb we are giving two lucky readers the chance to create and make and produce their own book. Do you have a fantastic photography portfolio you’d like to see showcased in printed splendour? Or maybe you just got married and would love to create a photobook of all your stunning pics?

Or do you have a cookbook bubbling away inside you’ve always wanted to see put on paper?

Whatever your nascent book you can create it with Blurb! They provide all sorts of tools for you to create your book, including online tools or you can even upload a PDF if you’ve designed your own work of art already.

And, guess what, BookieMonster is getting to do this too! We’re going to be creating a BookieMonster blog book – I am excited!

So here’s the deal: two lucky readers will win the chance to create a Square, Standard Portrait or Standard Landscape four colour book. This includes their standard paper and you can choose the cover type of your choice – softcover, hardcover with dustjacket or hardcover with image wrap. Check out the options here.

Once you’ve uploaded or created your book Blurb will print, produce and send it to you. I’ll be in contact with the winners and go through the process with them – it’s going to be awesome and fun.

And here’s how to win: What book would you like to make with Blurb? Let us know by leaving a comment on this post or fill in the form below (if you don’t want to announce your idea to the world!) and you’ll be in the draw. This competition runs until Friday 25 March at 8pm, and we’ll announce the winners next weekend! Judges decision is final. Open to New Zealand entries only.

Get those creative juices flowing and good luck. I can’t wait to see what great books you guys make!

Book winners

Posted by BookieMonster 2 Responses »

Mar 202011

Ruh roh. Sorry I am late with this announcement!

Here are the winners of our book giveaway:

The Cadbury Wars – Sarah, nominated by her friend Sam

Billionaire Boy – Oscar, nominated by his mum Chelsea

I will be in touch by email with the nominators and organise getting the books to their new owners!

Unfortunately, no one was nominated to receive A Waltz for Matilda. Which is a shame, because it’s a great book. If you know anyone who might like to read it please leave a comment.

Competition: Know Someone Who Deserves a New Book?

Posted by BookieMonster 1 Response »

Mar 122011

Well, it’s New Zealand Book Month and I promised you some competitions. And I have them! Here’s the first, and I thought I’d do something a little different.

We all know that February was not a fantastic month for many NZers. With the awful earthquake in Christchurch lots of people out there have had, quite frankly, a crap time. And it affects everyone, kids, adults, teens… so here’s my idea for this competition.

I’ve got one copy of three books (these are our review copies) to give away – Billionaire Boy by David Walliams, A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French and The Cadbury Wars by Deborah Cadbury.

I choose these three titles for a specific reason – Billionaire Boy is a great book for younger kids (it’s a chapter book, suitable to for 10 – 12 year olds, or slightly younger or older depending on ability); A Waltz for Matilda is a wonderful Young Adult book, suitable for teens (girls especially); and finally The Cadbury Wars – a non-fiction title with appeal to anyone (chocolate history, what could be better?).

So keeping in mind that there are lots of people and kiddies out there whose lives have been turned all topsy turvy I figured you all must know someone who would love one of these books. Whether it would just help them restart their library, or just give them the chance to take a bit of time out from their own reality, what better way then with a book? And you can even nominate yourself – yes, you can and I won’t mind!

Fill in the form below with the details – that’s all you have to do. The competition will run from now until Friday 6pm – that’s Friday 18 March. We’ll choose winners randomly and I’ll announce them on Saturday 19 March.

New Zealand entries only, sorry. Judges decision is final. And you can nominate as many people as you like for as many books as you like. I will contact the winners by email and organise sending the books to their lucky new owners!

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