There was an excellent launch for Chris Radamnn’s new novel The Crack at Lord Wandsworth College this week. Chris is the Head of English and he arranged for a panel with a couple of six formers (Grace and Sophia) and his literary agent and editor (both Juliets) to answer questions from me with an audience of interested pupils, teachers and the odd parent. It was all good fun (and we sold a few books too).
For some reason I have been reading teenage books this week. The Glow by local author Helen Whapshott had some really good creative ideas. The Rain by Virginia Bergin, which has the strapline Just one Drop Will Kill You, has a great premise. Any drop that touches you (which includes mains water) means death. Sadly it is written in breathless OMG style prose which is a shame. Leap of Faith by Richard Hardie is a new take on the Arthurian Legend involving time travel – plenty of wit and sharp dialogue. Richard is coming to sign copies at One Tree on Saturday.
Some excellent non-fiction titles came out his week in paperback. Thomas Harding’s Hanns and Rudolf, and Max Hastings’ Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War 1914, both did well in hardback, as did Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath. A rather more surprising bestseller was Music at Midnight, The Life and Poetry of George Herbert by John Drury