M2 Best Books articles from January 2004

M2 Best Books archives from January 2004

Authors consider spiritual worth of Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur.(Intervarsity Press releases 'Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets: Spiritual Insights from Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur' )(Brief Article)
January 2, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A new book examines the lyrics of recording artists Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur. 'Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets: Spiritual Insights from Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur' by John Teter and...

Iowa State Press becomes Blackwell Publishing.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Iowa State Press changed its name to Blackwell Publishing as of 1 January 2004. Iowa State (University) Press was acquired by Blackwell Publishing Ltd in late 2000 and the name change is...

Guide to fishing in Arizona out now.(Golden West Publishers releases 'Fishing Arizona: The Guide to Arizona's Best Fishing' )(Brief Article)
January 2, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Author Guy J. Sagi offers a guide to some of the best fishing locations in Arizona in his new book. 'Fishing Arizona: The Guide to Arizona's Best Fishing' features a range of different...

REVIEW: Giving Presentations.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD It can be quite a daunting experience to find yourself having to give a presentation, which is why the author, Jo Billingham, a freelance writer who also runs training courses in presentation...

REVIEW: How The Internet Works.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Have you ever wondered what happens to your e-mail once you have hit the send button? Or maybe even how web pages get constructed? These, along with many other questions, get answered and...

Crime writer signs to Penguin.(Andrew Taylor)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Crime and thriller writer, Andrew Taylor, has signed a three book deal with publisher Penguin. The multi-award winning author of the William Dougal detective series, has never made it...

REVIEW: The Life of Plants.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Originally published in 1964, E.J.H Corner's 'The Life of Plants' carries a certain old world charm to its subject. Plant biology had still to experience the accelerated growth that the...

Two more Kundera novels published in China.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Shanghai Translation Publishing House in China, has published two more works by Czech born writer Milan Kundera. 'Laughable Loves', the author's only short story collection, and 'The...

'Antarctica' brought to life in USD2,900 book.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A couple from British Columbia have produced one of the most expensive books of the year, costing USD2,900. The limited edition photo-book 'Antarctica' by Pat and Rosemarie Keough, took...

Barnes & Noble watch shares rise and rise in 2003.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD American bookstore chain Barnes & Noble has seen its shares rise 82% in 2003, after starting the year worrying about competition from Amazon.com, Wal-Mart and Costco. Investors have...

WH Smith issue severe profit warning.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK bookseller and high street chain store WH Smith has issued a severe profit warning, prompting a fear that retailers suffered through the Christmas period. The announcement was...

Publishers to cut new books by 20%.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Major publishers are looking to cut their output of new books by 20% over the next three years, according to a report from trade magazine The Bookseller. Publishers are said to be...

REVIEW: Microsoft Office Front Page 2003 Step by Step.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD As the read-me file manuals that come with most computer programs today tend to be as useful as a blank sheet of paper, the 'Microsoft Office Front Page Step by Step' guide is heaven sent...

US booksellers report a happy Christmas.(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Independent booksellers in the US have reported a happy Christmas following two difficult holiday periods in 2001 and 2002, with the major chain stores also looking confident. Barnes &...

REVIEW: Children and Their Families; Contact, Rights and Welfare.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD It is a simple fact of life that in modern family life separation and divorce are a very stressful time for any parent. But what of the children? And what of the importance of maintaining a...

REVIEW: Eric Sykes' Comedy Heroes.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Coming from the era of Great British comedies you would expect Eric Sykes, the comedy writer and performer, to have known and worked with some of the most highly regarded entertainers. This...

'His Dark Materials' makes stage debut.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, a best selling series of books, has made its debut on stage as a two-part, six-hour production at the National Theatre in London, UK. The...

Random House breaks into Korean market.(acquisition of stake in JoongAng M and B)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Random House, part of the Bertelsmann media group, has acquired a 50% stake in Korean publisher JoongAng M&B. The acquisition marks the end of a long pursuit of the Korean market by the...

Borders reaches agreement with striking staff.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Borders and striking workers at the book chain's flagship store in Ann Arbor, Michigan have reached a tentative contract agreement. Around 16 staff have been on strike since 8 November...

Residents win fight to keep their bookstore open.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Residents of Eden, North Carolina have persuaded Borders to keep open a Waldenbooks store in their community. An e-mail and letter writing campaign initiated by the town's director of...

Firefly bucks the Canadian trend.(records profits)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD After a disastrous few years the Canadian publishing industry has found a ray of hope in Firefly Books. With another large Canadian publishing house rumoured to be in trouble, Firefly...

Truss tops late Christmas rush.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A late sales rush in the week ending 27 December 2003 brought the total General Retail Market sales of books up to GBP182.8m for the four weeks of December, much to the relief of retailers...

Conglomerates dominate Fastsellers paperback list.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The release of the annual paperback Fastsellers list in the UK sees Random House and Transworld take more than a quarter of the 100 places, with gross sales of GBP61.7m. Random House's...

REVIEW: Presenting Numbers, Tables, and Charts.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Part of the Oxford University Press' 'one step ahead' series of simple guides to improving business practice, 'Presenting Numbers, Tables, and Charts' is a wonderfully easy to use,...

REVIEW: SAMS Teach Yourself TCP/IP in 24 Hours.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD 'Teach Yourself TCP/IP in 24 Hours' by Michael Casad explains the intricacies of the TCP/IP protocol in 24 one-hour lessons. The book is separated into six parts examining the basics of...

Hodder Headline open Scottish division.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Following the success of Hodder Headline Ireland, the England-based publisher has opened Hodder Headline Scotland in Paisley. Inspired by the success of Edinburgh-based publisher...

REVIEW: Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD This is one heck of a book and is most certainly no lightweight, quick read. It is a very comprehensive work about the social history of the motor car without the usual "petrol head"...

REVIEW: The 100 Greatest Business Ideas of All Time.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 6, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD At first glance I had a very negative feeling about this book. Even before I had turned the first page I was put off by my negative impressions of the barrage of similar books in the past...

Book on Hindu king leads to destruction of ancient manuscripts.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A group of protestors destroyed over 30,000 ancient manuscripts at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute over the publication of a book on a Hindu King. The book, published by the...

Euro book market on verge of modest growth.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The European book market looks like coming out of a year of change as restructuring finishes and takes hold in 2004. The continent's two largest book markets - France and Germany - have...

Whitbread winners announced ahead of overall prize.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The books that will compete for the Whitbread prize have been revealed when the individual category winners were announced. DBC Pierre followed up his Booker Prize victory by claiming the...

Penguin employ Scottish editor to find new talent north of the border.(Jenny Moir appointed 'editor at large' )(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The UK's largest publisher, Penguin, has announced the appointment of its first Scottish editor. Jenny Moir, the former chief editor at Scottish publishing success story, Canongate, has...

Bill Clinton seeks Chinese guarantee over memoir.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Bill Clinton has sought the right to review and reject a Chinese translation of his upcoming memoir, after his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton's, autobiography 'Living History' was altered in...

China aims to encourage reading in rural areas.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A series of new policies and measures have been taken by the Chinese government to try to get the rural Chinese population interested in reading. Sixty percent of the Chinese population...

UK book sales up thanks to late Christmas rush.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Nielsen BookScan figures for sales through the General Retail Market have revealed a 14.4% rise in sales for the last week of December 2003, with sales worth GBP44.3m up to 27 December...

Author Didion reflects on her state of birth.(Book Review)
January 7, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Joan Didion, author and part of the 'new journalism' movement in the 1970s along with Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson, has released a new book about the state of her birthplace, California....

Haddon odds-on favourite for Whitbread Book of the Year.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Bookmaker William Hill has placed Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' as 2/1 favourite to win the overall Whitbread Book of the Year Prize, after it won the Best...

Lagardere wins approval for Vivendi publishing purchase.(Editis)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The European Commission has given the go-ahead for the sale of Editis, media company Vivendi's publishing arm, to French magazine publisher Lagardere in a EUR1.25bn deal. The approval,...

Fopp to open bookstore trial in Wales.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Music retail chain Fopp is to launch a bookshop in Cardiff, Wales, in a trial which could see Fopp bookshops roll out across the country. The Scottish-based chain currently offers...

The Paris Review confirms Plimpton's successor.(Brigid Hughes)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Literary journal The Paris Review has a new editor four months after the death of George Plimpton, the journal's editor of 50 years. Brigid Hughes, who has been in temporary charge since...

Queen Mother's biographer drops Penguin.(William Shawcross will publish Queen Mother's biography at Macmillan)(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD William Shawcross, the official biographer of the Queen Mother, has left publisher Penguin because it released Paul Burrell's book about his life as butler of Diana, Princess of Wales. ...

Half-price high street sales kickstart 2004 market.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The book market in 2004 has been kickstarted by half-price sales at UK high street chains, according to Nielsen BookScan. Sales through the General Retail Market were up 7.6% on the 2003...

Booksellers sue over pornography law.(Brief Article)
January 8, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A group of booksellers and reading groups has filed a federal lawsuit in the US to stop a law intended to keep pornographic material from minors in Michigan. The suit filed on behalf of...

REVIEW: Microsoft Office Front Page 2003 - Inside Out.(Book Review)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD This companion guide to Microsoft's web-design package is a mammoth tome, not just a user's manual, but an all encompassing reference book. I cannot see how there is anything not in this book...

Doubts raised over BookScan reliance.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Questions are being asked about the accuracy of the widely used and increasing influential Nielsen BookScan figures. Publishers have signed up enthusiastically to the service, in an...

Digital audiobooks appear as next publishing breakthrough.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The audiobook market is changing thanks to the advent of well priced digital downloads, becoming available on the internet. Publishers however have been slow to catch on with no consensus...

Bank removes nearly GBP74,000 from Plymbridge pre-administration fund.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Co-Operative bank has removed GBP73,500 from the pre-administration funds owed to client publishers of publisher Plymbridge following a high court order. Publishers are owed...

Pulitzer winning author , John Toland, dies.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Pulitzer Prize winning author, John Toland, has died of pneumonia aged 91, in hospital in Connecticut. The author won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Non-fiction with his 1971 book...

Penguin make legal checks on Berlusconi book.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Publishing house, Penguin, has sent the manuscript of a new book about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to its lawyer for legal checks. The book by FT and The Economist...

Film boosts 'Big Fish' first edition sales at authors home-town bookstore.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The film adaptation of Chapel Hill, N.C. author Daniel Wallace's novel 'Big Fish', by Hollywood director Tim Burton, has led to his adopted home-town's bookstore, Branch's Bookstore, coping...

Frankfurt Book Fair organisers ring the changes for 2004.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Organisers of the Frankfurt Book fair have announced changes to the 2004 event, following problems at the 2003 show. The final Monday of the fair will be scrapped and the late Friday...

REVIEW: Hardship Posting Vol 3 - True Tales of Expat Misadventure in Asia.(Book Review)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD This book is totally and utterly politically incorrect. It features tales from the last bastions of colonialism, a strange breed which still harbour rather unenlightened views of the eastern...

Piatkus turns loss into profit in 2003.(Piatkus Books)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Publisher Piatkus Books has trebled its operating profit in the year to June 2003, marking a turnaround for the company. The independent publisher, which made a loss of GBP78,000 in the...

Scorsese and De Niro to write joint memoir.(Harmony Books will publish the joint memoir from Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro are to write a joint memoir about their collaboration on eight major films. The pair both grew up in the same neighbourhood in New York,...

Canongate criticised for second Canadian Booker entry.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Canongate, Scotland's leading independent publisher, has again been criticised for failing to encourage Scottish talent, by selecting a Canadian book as its Booker Prize entry in 2004. ...

REVIEW: Be Like Water - Practical Wisdom from the Martial Arts.(Book Review)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Self help books are an odd breed. I tend to pretty much steer clear of them, so I approached 'Be like Water' with slight trepidation. Sub-titled, 'Practical Wisdom from the Martial Arts' did...

Bloomsbury signs 18-year-old for GBP400,000.(Helen Oyeyemi)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Bloomsbury has awarded one of the biggest advances ever to a young author for her debut novel. The publisher has paid GBP400,000 to 18-year-old Helen Oyeyemi for her novel 'The Icarus...

Rodale to expand international operations.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD US magazine and book group Rodale is to expand its international ventures, after appointing a new chief of non-US operations. The publisher of 'The South Beach Diet', a massive 2003...

City pays homage to Raymond Carver.(Yakima Valley, Washington)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The late American writer and poet Raymond Carver, who died in 1988, is to be celebrated in the town where he spent his childhood. 'Carver Comes Home' is a two-day conference at Yakima...

Curtis Brown to close Giles Gordon's Edinburgh office.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Edinburgh literary agency founded by Giles Gordon is to close following his death in 2003. The Edinburgh office of the London-based Curtis Brown agency was established by Gordon in...

Former US Treasury Secretary damns Bush administration.('The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, The White House and The Education of Paul O'Neill')(Brief Article)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Former US Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, has given a damning account of the Bush administration in a new book by US journalist, Ron Suskind. In 'The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush,...

WH Smith, Sloane Square closes after 136 years.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Bookseller, WH Smith has shut its Sloane Square store after 136 years of business, as the landlord has decided to redevelop the site. The closure comes on the back of a poor 2003 for WH...

Supermarkets to expand price war.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The ongoing supermarket price war is to grow even further according to a report by research group Verdict. The competition will intensify after Morrisons takes over Safeway, creating a...

Heinemann acquires new 'Vagina Monologues' book.(from author Eve Ensler)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Publisher William Heinemann has acquired the new book from the creator of 'The Vagina Monologues', Eve Ensler. 'The Good Body' sees Ensler focus on the rest of the female form,...

Borders announces 'Original Voice' nominees.
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Bookstore chain, Borders, has announced the nominees for its 2003 Original Voices awards. The awards, now in their seventh year, features books in the fiction, non-fiction, children's...

REVIEW: 8 Preposterous Propositions.(Book Review)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Robert Enrlich's '8 Preposterous Propositions', takes scientific urban myth and examines the hows, whys and wherefores of some of the most important and ridiculous scientific statements ever...

ALA announces children's book awards.(American Library Association)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The American Library Association announced the winners of a series of children's book awards at its winter meeting in San Diego. 'The Tale of Despereaux', the story of a mouse who loves...

Author issues top ten books for Dante lovers.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Author, Matthew Pearl, has presented his top ten books for lovers of Dante, after researching the author of 'The Divine Comedy', for his latest novel. 'The Dante Club' is about a group...

Chinese book company attempts to trademark civet cat.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Beijing Benben Book Ltd., a book company in China, has filed an application to trademark 'guo zi li', the three Chinese characters for 'civet cat'. There has been an official order to...

Rising paper prices hit sales growth at Kolkata Book Fair.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The increasing costs of paper and printing was blamed for lowering the annual growth of book sales at the Kolkata Book Fair in India. The Kolkata Book Fair has had a 20% rise in sales...

Russian President launches enquiry into history textbooks.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched an enquiry into the history textbooks used in Russian middle schools after one book suggested that students debate 'Putin's personal power and...

REVIEW: The Radetzky March.(Book Review)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD This book was originally written by Joseph Roth yet has been translated into English by Michael Hofmann. It follows the story of three generations of the Trotta family in the empire of...

Manga publisher sentenced in obscenity case.(Motonori Kishi, president of Shobunkan Corp. had one year sentence suspended for three years)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Tokyo District Court has ruled that a comic book - 'Misshitsu' (Honey Room) - is obscene and sentenced the president of the company which published it to a one year suspended prison...

JK Rowling shortlisted in WH Smith book awards.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' by JK Rowling has been shortlisted for the WH Smith book awards in the GBP5,000 fiction section. The award offers Rowling the chance to win an...

Selway Moore deploys new IT infrastructure for UK publisher.(IPC Media )(Brief Article)
January 14, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK-based consumer publisher IPC Media has awarded a contract to IT storage and server infrastructure solutions provider Selway Moore Solutions for the upgrade of its existing IT...

Hodder Wayland restructure costs 15 jobs.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Publisher, Hodder Wayland, has laid off all 15 of its schools sales team following a major restructure of its schools sales and marketing division. A shortfall of funding for US and UK...

AMS admits overcharging; Staff resign during investigation.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Magazine and catalogue publisher, AMS, has admitted misleading publishers about the circulation and reach of its titles, leading them to overcharge publishers, by up to USD9m. A number...

Muslim cleric jailed for book on how to beat disobedient wives.(Mohamed Kamal Mustafa )(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A Muslim cleric has been jailed in Spain for inciting violence against women, after writing and publishing a book on how to discipline a disobedient wife. Mohamed Kamal Mustafa was...

Salman Rushdie threatened in India.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Author, Salman Rushdie, checked out of his Bombay hotel room after a hardline Muslim group offered a USD2,700 reward for anyone who 'blackened' his face. Rushdie, who was holidaying in...

Macmillan enters science market.(Macmillan Science imprint will publish 10-12 new books per year)(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Publisher, Macmillan, has announced that it is to enter the booming science market, with a new general list. The Macmillan Science imprint will publish 10-12 new books per year,...

Lieutenant-Governor appeals for books for remote Ontario communities.(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, James Bartleman, has launched an appeal to help restock the empty bookshelves in the province's most remote communities. Northern Ontario is populated...

Books stay key for Barnes & Noble.(will be a continued focus )(Brief Article)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD US bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, has said it will continue to focus on books, while adding carefully to the range of products its core-customers want, such as DVDs, music and newspapers....

REVIEW: Dope Girls.(Book Review)
January 15, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Drug addiction is viewed as a problem of modern times, accentuating in the rise of the club culture of the mid to late eighties, but as the author Marek Kohn attempts to show, these problems...

Waterstones boosted by new store success.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The five new stores opened by bookstore chain Waterstone's in 2003 have helped the company see a healthy growth over the Christmas period. In the five weeks up to 3 January 2004, sales...