25/02/2024 · 22:37

London Book Fair 2024 announces main stage line-up

The London Book Fair (LBF) has announced that bestselling author and TikTok sensation Dr Julie Smith; entrepreneur, author and host of the ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast Steven Bartlett; and actor and philanthropist Michael Sheen, will be joining the Main Stage line-up.

Dr Smith, a clinical psychologist, will open proceedings on Day 2, with a pivotal “in conversation” on the Main Stage on Wednesday 13th March, where she’ll be addressing the state of mental health for authors, as well as her meteoric rise on TikTok. Her debut book Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? was the bestselling non-fiction book of 2022. She is currently writing her second book.

The programme on Day 2 will continue with a special session at with renowned entrepreneur, investor, podcaster and bestselling author Steven Bartlett, who will discuss his chart-topping book The Diary of a CEO, his journey from podcaster to published author, his lessons in leadership business and  marketing, plus  his current third web project and the potential applications of this in the book industry.

Steven joined the BBC’s hit TV show Dragon’s Den from Series 19 as the youngest ever Dragon in the show’s history. He co-founded Flight Story – a marketing and communications company that works with leading brands. His most recent book The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business & Life was the fastest selling personal development book since records began. It sold over 500k copies globally, within the first few months of publication, with rights deals in 34 territories.

Meanwhile, Michael Sheen will join an in-conversation panel on Thursday 14th March, alongside Audible Head of UK Tracey Markham, Head of Writer Partnerships at Substack Farrah Storr, and novelist Sunjeev Sahota. The session will focus on how diversity and inclusion (D&I) are delivered within publishing, the wider creative industries, and what constitutes good practice in this area. 

Michael Sheen is the co-founder of A Writing Chance, alongside the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and New Writing North. The programme aims to open access to the writing industries for new and aspiring writers from working-class and lower-income backgrounds and for those who face barriers due to intersecting challenges, including but not limited to ethnicity, disability, sexuality, gender identity, age and religious beliefs.

The London Book Fair (LBF) is the world’s largest spring book trade and publishing event, and will return to Olympia London from 12 – 14 March 2024. Visitor registration is now open here.

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18/02/2024 · 10:24

A dip into history

Just completed Robert Harris’s worldwide bestseller, ‘Pompeii’. I don’t think I’ve ever got through a 400 page novel so fast. Whether that it was the thrill of the tale, or a desire to avoid getting buried by the eruption, it’s hard to say.

This is a great story and readily captures the immediate build-up to the cataclysm we all know about. It’s not hard to see how the self-serving, careless attitude of some of Harris’s characters mirrors some of the idiocies displayed today around impending disaster. This is not a hard read, despite the Roman names and the odd bit of Latin, nor a new book, but thoroughly recommended.

Pompeii (Penguin Random House 2003)

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31/07/2023 · 20:15

Music to the ears

Just finished reading Rachel Joyce’s romantic novel ‘The Music Shop’ (Penguin) as part of my ‘get more reading done before you run out of shelf-space’ initiative.

This story is very light and an easy read. If you’ve read her bestselling ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ you may be surprised at the plaudits heaped on ‘The Music Shop’ because it’s not as good, nor as much of page-turner. Having said that it’s clear Joyce had to do a lot of music research and it really pays off.

Beginning in January 1988 we’re introduced to the dowdy figure of Frank who runs a record shop in a run down part of town. He sells all types of music, provided it’s on vinyl, and is vehemently anti-CD – aren’t we all. His customers are hugely varied, as are his neighbours, but he has a recording answer for everyone’s ills or interests – mostly ones they’ve never ever considered. For his insight into peoples troubles, and supplying a potential cure, he’s a hit

Surrounded by a strange, but convincing set of shopkeepers, friends and other locals, Frank is happy in his universe, until Ilse Brauchmann appears at his shop window. From there on it’s mayhem! Who is she? What does she want? There are lots of suggestions, most of them wrong. Basically it’s a romantic musical romp with Frank at the centre and his well-meaning friends attempting to help him discover the real Ilse. If you love vinyl, you’ll love Frank and ‘The Music Shop’.

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