Top Fives

What's happening this week in Books & Media...

  • Alternate image for Big brother
  • Alternate image for Grace and Mary
  • Alternate image for Red dragon
  • Alternate image for The look of love
  • Alternate image for A delicate truth
  • Alternate image for Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832
  • Alternate image for Around the world in 80 days
  • Alternate image for David Bowie is
Image for Big brother

Book review

Big Brother, by Lionel Shriver

The Independent said: "The great unreliable narrators of fiction - Dowell in Ford's The Good Soldier, for instance, or Maisie in James's What Maisie Knew - know less than the reader, not more. A writer who shows her power over her readers is in danger of losing them. It was a great ride; but in the end, I'm afraid, this one lost me." See Details »

Image for Grace and Mary

Book review

Grace and Mary, by Melvyn Bragg


The Sunday Times said: "If this novel has a weakness, it is that John's account of his grandmother's life is far too detailed to function ­plausibly as an aid to his ­Alzheimer's-afflicted mother, who would simply not take it in. Its strength is its subtle demonstration of historical contrasts and continuities" See Details »

Image for Red dragon

Books & Television

Hannibal

Sky Living

After the movies featuring Thomas Harris's serial killer creation, Hannibal Lecter, now comes the TV series with a slightly different twist. Bits of plot can be traced back to parts of Harris's Red Dragon, says the Independent. "In 1999, upon the release of Thomas Harris's Hannibal novel, this parish's John Walsh wrote in a profile of the writer: "God forbid anyone should monkey around with something as pure, as complex, as vivid as Hannibal Lecter." A lesson there, for Dino De Laurentiis, which owns the film rights to Thomas Harris's refined man-eater. Still, this take on Hannibal is still edible, though not quite cordon bleu," notes the review of the series, but adds with a note of caution: "The Lecter character would have been a perfect way to adapt that pacing into the non-cable US TV, but the producers have bottled it. Like a nice chianti." See Details »

Image for The look of love

Books & Movies

The Look of Love

Originally published as Members Only, The Love of Love is the story of Paul Raymond, the king of Soho's clubs in London. Raymond was for many the brash personification of nouveau riche vulgarity. For others, he expemlified the entrepreneurial spirit that enabled a poor boy from Liverpool to become Britain's richest man. This book follows him from his strict Catholic upbringing to the isolation and paranoia of his old age. See Details »

Image for A delicate truth
Book at Bedtime/ BBC Radio 4 from May 13

Damian Lewis begins John le Carre's gripping, brand-new novel about a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer: the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves. See Details »

Image for Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832

Books & Radio

Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832, by Antonia Fraser / Book of the Week - Radio 4

The historian examines the context behind the passing of the Reform Act of 1832, beginning with a focus on how and why the first demands for political change were expressed. See Details »

Image for Around the world in 80 days

Books & Television

Around the World in 80 Days / Yesterday

After his BAFTA award this week, Michael Palin is still featured on his travels. For the first of his televised voyages, Palin followed in Phileas Fogg's footprints to circumnavigate the globe. In 'Around the World in 80 Days' he describes his experiences, often joyous, occasionally chaotic and always exciting. See Details »

Image for David Bowie is

Books & Social Networking

Who's talking about what on the Internet?

We find out what bloggers are saying about children's books.Also, what are bloggers saying about new reviews, authors and bestsellers. See Details »

Added This Week

  • PRESS: 250 new review listings from the press
  • PRESS: 376 listings detailing interviews, features etc
  • TELEVISION: 219 listings of programmes with tie-in books from drama, comedy, soaps, chat shows
  • RADIO: 78 new listings of radio programme details with tie-in books from drama, comedy, soaps, chat shows
  • MOVIES: 294 up-to-date tie-ins for movies
  • SOCIAL NETWORKING: An extensive overview showing what is being talked about on the Internet - endless

Books & Television

Books and TV image

Use our extensive TV tie-in list

The Books & Media television tie-in list is updated DAILY, to bring all the latest details of authors and books featured on the box, whether it be on mainstream channels like BBC1 & 2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five or on the many satellite channels that we also scour to find tie-in books across a range of genres - soaps, drama, comedy, food & drink, home & garden and many more. Not only do we cover official tie-ins, but also give details of authors interviewed on chat shows. If it's on TV, you'll find it here.

Read More...

Books & Radio

Books and Radio image

Find books & authors featured on radio

Books & Media brings a comprehensive listing of the books and authors featured on BBC Radio, and that list is updated daily. By using our daily listings service, you can access the authors that are being interviewed and the books they are talking about. We bring news on the Book of the Week, Book at Bedtime, Classic Serials, author interviews on chat shows and tie-ins to documentaries. Our archive will also show you what authors and books have been featured in past months and what is forthcoming.This is an indispensible reference tool.

Read More...

Books & Press

Books and the Press image

The widest newspaper reference tool on the Web

At Books & Media searces newspapers and magazines every day to find reviews, interviews, features, serialisations and much more. Our list is updated daily from a list of 32 sources from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and we top that up with review listings from the influential London Review of Books and Times Literary Supplement, alongside key business titles such as the Spectator, Economist and New Statesman. Add to the our star ratings for reviews and coverage, and extracts from reviews, and you have a list that is not only second-to-none, but a one-stop reference for all that is happening in the Press.

Read More...

Books & Movies

Books and Movies image

Find the latest movie tie-ins

Many great books have been adapted into great movies... and some haven't. But good or bad, Books & Media will be bringing regularly updated movie tie-in listings, not only for current releases for also for future releases. We use a number of sources, including our sister company, West10 Entertainment, which provides movie data to a number of industry organisations. From the movie title, we link into the book detail and give full bibliographic information of that book, including a description. So if you want to find the book behind the movie (or vice versa), the Books & Media movie page is the place to find it!

Read More...

Books & Internet

Books and The Internet image

Books & authors & social networking - it's happening

Social networking has become a brave new world for books and authors. Readers can voice opinions without fear and all of a sudden that voice has got some power. From readers' groups to individuals to authors themselves, points of view rage around the world... and that influence is growing all the time. At Books & Media, we will be trawling all the major social networking sites - from myspace to twitter to youtube, Google and many more to find out what is being talked in hyperspace.

Read More...