Literature Recent Picks

OCTOBER 2009

The underlined titles will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to a bookseller to enable you to read more information.

My life in verse : a journey through poetry, [edited by Alexis Kirschbaum], 2009.
"For 2009, the BBC is planning a major ‘Poetry Season’ on BBC2 and BBC4. This landmark series on British Poetry will be the centrepiece of the season, and Penguin Classics is publishing the official anthology to tie-in with it. The anthology will include all the poems read or mentioned in the series as well as a large number of others selected to complement them. It should prove to be a hugely successful way of bringing the best of British poetry to a wide audience. The TV series is from the people who brought you "Who Do You Think You Are" and will consist of 4x60 minute episodes following a celebrity presenter on his or her life-journey through poetry. Each episode will focus on a theme that has inspired some of the great poetry of the past, and continues to do so, such as love and death, war and nationhood, nature and religion." (Amazon.co.uk)

Soul of the age : the life, mind and world of William Shakespeare, by Jonathan Bate, 2008.
"How did plague turn Shakespeare from a jobbing hack into a courtly poet? How did Bottom's dream rewrite the Bible? How did Shakespeare's plays lead to the deaths of an earl and a king? And why was he the one dramatist of his generation never to be imprisoned? Weaving a dazzling tapestry of Elizabethan beliefs and obsessions, private passions and political intrigues, Soul of the Age leads us on an exhilarating tour of the extraordinary, colourful and often violent world that shaped and informed Shakespeare's thinking. Written by one of the world's leading experts, it combines almost everything there is to know about the man and his work in one sensational narrative, and brings us closer than ever to understanding what being Shakespeare was actually like." (Amazon.co.uk)

Asking the right questions : a guide to critical thinking, by M. Neil Browne, Stuart M. Keeley, (2009)
"Used in a variety of courses in various disciplines, Asking the Right Questions helps bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysis and synthesis. Specifically, this concise text teaches how to think critically by exploring the components of arguments--issues, conclusions, reasons, evidence, assumptions, language--and on how to spot fallacies and manipulations and obstacles to critical thinking." (Amazon.co.uk)

The Aeneid, Vergil ; translated by Sarah Ruden.
"This extraordinary new translation of the Aeneid stands alone among modern Virgil translations for its accuracy and poetic appeal. Sarah Ruden, a lyric poet in her own right, is the first woman to translate Virgil's great epic, and she renders the poem in the same number of lines as the original work - a very rare feat - that maintains technical fidelity to the original without diminishing its emotional power. Ruden's translation follows Virgil's content faithfully, and the economy and fast pace she achieves are true to his own unflagging narrative force. With its central theme of national destiny in conflict with the destiny of individuals, the poem has great resonance in our own times, and Ruden adheres closely to the poets message." (Amazon.co.uk)

The Maeve Binchy writers' club, by Maeve Binchy ; with contributions from Ivy Bannister ... [et al.].
"'The most important thing to realise is that everyone is capable of telling a story. It doesn't matter where we were born or how we grew up' Maeve Binchy. The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club gives a unique insight into how a No.1 bestselling author writes. Inspired by a course run by the National College of Ireland, it comprises 20 letters from Maeve, offering advice, tips and her own wonderfully witty take on the life of a writer, in addition to contributions from top writers, publishers and editors. Whether you want to write a saga or a thriller, comedy or journalism, or write for the radio or stage, this also gives advice on the best way to get started, and what editors, publishers and agents are looking for." (Amazon.co.uk)

Harry Potter and philosophy : if Aristotle ran Hogwarts, edited by David Baggett and Shawn E. Klein.
"In Harry Potter and Philosophy, 17 experts in the field of philosophy unlock some of Hogwarts' secret panels, uncovering surprising insights that are enlightening both for wizards and for the most discerning muggles. Individual chapters look at such topics as life revealed in the Mirror of Erised; the ethics of magic; Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, and the relation of the mind to the brain; and the character of Hermione as a case of "sublimated feminism." Also examined in this witty collection are how Aristotle would have run a school for wizards; whether the Potter stories undermine religion and morality; how to tell good people from evil ones through the characters in these novels; and what dementors and boggarts can teach readers about happiness, fear, and the soul". (Amazon.com)

Writing in an age of silence, by Sara Paretsky.
"In this powerful book, Sara Paretsky explores the traditions of political and literary dissent that have informed her life and work, against the unparalleled repression of free speech and thought in the US today. In tracing the writers difficult journey from silence to speech, she turns to her childhood and youth in rural Kansas, and brilliantly evokes Chicago the city with which she has become indelibly associated from her arrival during the Civil Rights struggle in the mid-1960s to her most extraordinary literary creation, the South Side detective V. I. Warshawski." (Amazon.co.uk)

New Zealand

Like the flowing river : thoughts and reflections, by Paulo Coelho ; translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa.
"A breathtaking collection of reflections from one of the world's best loved storytellers... " (Amazon.co.uk)

Ballistics : poems, by Billy Collins.
"Collins’ gift is to make the reader believe that everything is unfolding in real time and in living speech; his poetry always has the sheen and vibrancy of the present moment." (Amazon.co.uk)

The essential writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, edited by Brooks Atkinson ; introduction by Mary Oliver.
"This is the most inclusive available edition of Emerson's writings in trade paper format, with a new introduction by bestselling poet Mary Oliver." (Amazon.co.uk)

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