M2 Best Books articles from November 2005

M2 Best Books archives from November 2005

Google Print Library project to be restarted.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Internet company Google has announced that it is to restart its Google Print Library project despite the legal opposition it faces from publishers. As part of the project, which involves...

Pearson announces financial results for the first nine months of 2005.
November 1, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK-based book and newspaper publisher Pearson has announced its financial results for the first nine months of 2005. Pearson is the parent company of Penguin and the FT Group. The...

Arrow to release 12 further Georgette Heyer mysteries.(Arrow Publishing Co.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK-based publishing company Arrow has announced that it is to publish 12 mysteries by historical novelist Georgette Heyer. Arrow has been reissuing Heyer's historical novels January 2004. ...

ER acquires controlling rights to Rupert the Bear.
November 2, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK-based media group Entertainment Rights (ER) has announced that it has purchased the controlling rights to Rupert the Bear from Express Newspapers for USD6m. Under the terms of the...

HMV gives Ottakar's shareholders longer to accept offer.(Brief Article)
November 2, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD HMV has announced that it has extended the deadline for shareholders of Ottakar's to accept the company's offer for the chain by an extra 18 days, until 1300 GMT on 18 November 2005. The...

New free consumer books magazine launched by Bertrams.(BookTime )(Brief Article)
November 2, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK-based book wholesaler Bertrams announced at its Trade Show on 30 October that it is to launch a new 36-page full colour A4 consumer magazine entitled BookTime. The new publication,...

Winners of New Writing Ventures awards named.( Nicholas Hogg, Valeria Melchioretta, John Smart )(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The winners of the New Writing Ventures awards were announced on Wednesday (2 November) with Nicholas Hogg taking the fiction award for his entry, Zen. The awards, which were launched...

Canogate Books reports financial results for calendar 2004.(Brief Article)
November 3, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Canongate Books, an independent publisher based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has announced its financial results for the calendar year 2004. The company reported a pre-tax profit in excess of...

Renowned Indian author dies.( Amrita Pritam )(Brief Article)(Obituary)
November 3, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Indian author Amrita Pritam has died at the age of 86 at her place of residence in Delhi, India. Born in 1919 in Pakistan, Pritam is best known for her novel Pinjar and has received a...

De norske Bokklubbene A/S acquires online book store Bokkilden.(Brief Article)
November 4, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Norwegian book retailer De norske Bokklubbene A/S said on Friday (4 November) that it had agreed to acquire the online book store Bokkilden from the media group Schibsted ASA. No...

Google Print Library project unveils first works.(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Internet company Google has announced that it has scanned and launched online the first works as part of its Google Print Library project, despite the legal opposition the project currently...

Amazon reveals plans for new Amazon Pages and Amazon Upgrade services.(Amazon.com Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc has announced plans to enable its customers to purchase sections of books for viewing online. The new service is to be called Amazon Pages. In addition...

Winner of 2005 Booktrust Teenage Prize announced.(Sarah Singleton wins for her debut novel Century)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The GBP1,500 2005 Booktrust Teenage Prize has been awarded to journalist Sarah Singleton for her debut novel entitled Century. Singleton's book beat off competition from Julie Burchill's...

New Digital Development Director announced by HarperCollins.(HarperCollins Publishers Inc. appoints Jim Green)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD HarperCollins has revealed that it has appointed Jim Green, the current managing director of Collins Education, as its Digital Development Director responsible for the company's overall...

Two Alexander McCall Smith novels set to become TV series.(44 Scotland Street and The Sunday Philosophy Club to become television series)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Alexander McCall Smith's novels 44 Scotland Street and The Sunday Philosophy Club are both to be adapted into television series. The BBC is to produce the adaption of McCall Smith's 1994...

Author John Fowles dies.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
November 8, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD John Fowles, the UK-born author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, died on Saturday (5 November) at the age of 79 after battling a long illness. Fowles passed away at his home in Lyme Regis,...

BookFinder.com acquired by Abebooks.com.(Advanced Book Exchange Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 8, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The online marketplace for new and used books Abebooks.com announced on Monday (7 November) that it has acquired the Berkeley, California-based price-comparisom shopping service...

Leading authors join RNIB appeal.(Royal National Institute for the Blind campaigns for more government fund)(Brief Article)
November 8, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A campaign calling for the UK government to provide funding to help increase access to the talking book service provided by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) has been joined...

Amazon UK launches Christmas Stars campaign.(Amazon.co.uk Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 8, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD According to research from Internet bookseller Amazon.co.uk, Christmas this year is likely to be dominated by books and gifts that have been influenced by celebrities. The company has...

New non-fiction imprint to be launched by Random House.(Brief Article)
November 9, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A new and as-yet unnamed reference and non-fiction imprint has been revealed by the CHA division of publishing company Random House. Encompassing the existing Random House Business Books...

Delay to HMV's acquisition of Ottakar's announced.(Brief Article)
November 9, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Retail group HMV has been informed by the UK's Office of Fair Trading that it will not receive a decision as to whether its offer for bookseller Ottakar's has been referred to the Competition...

Search for 1920 Bronte film launched.( Bronte Parsonage Museum )(Brief Article)
November 9, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Bronte Parsonage Museum has announced that it is attempting to trace a silent film version of Emily Bronte's classic novel Wuthering Heights which was made in 1920. The 90-minute...

Sales of Bleak House on the increase.(a novel by Charles Dickens)(Brief Article)
November 9, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD According to figures released by Nielsen Bookscan, an industry tracker, there has been a sharp rise in sales of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House after the launch of the BBC's adaptation of...

Winner of the Golden Dagger award announced.(Arnaldur Indridason, Barbara Nadel)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indridason was named on Wednesday (9 November) as the winner of the GBP3,000 British Crimewriters Association Golden Dagger award for his novel, Silence of the...

UK newspapers serialise Meyer memoirs.(Daily Mail and General Trust PLC and The Guardian publish Christopher Meyer's memories)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The memoirs of Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to Washington at the time of the Iraq war, have been published this week in a serialised format in UK newspapers the Daily Mail and...

Writer Lenora Hornblow dies.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
November 10, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Lenora Hornblow, the well-known novelist and author of children's books, died on Saturday 5 November at the age of 85 at her home in Fearrington Village in North Carolina, US, after a short...

Film depicting memorial of Hunter S Thompson to be screened on Saturday.("When I Die" directed by Wayne Ewing)(Brief Article)
November 10, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A new movie entitled When I Die, detailing the memorial service of author Hunter S Thompson, has been made by director Wayne Ewing. Thompson, who shot himself in February 2005 aged 67,...

Bertelsmann announces Q3 results.
November 14, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD German media company Bertelsmann has announced its results for the third quarter of 2005. The company revealed pre-tax profits for the quarter of EUR422m, compared to EUR206m for the...

David Westheimer dies aged 88.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
November 14, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Novelist David Westheimer, the author of novels including My Sweet Charlie and Von Ryan's Express, has died at the age of 88 from heart failure at the UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles, US....

Possible online book rental service investigated by Google - report.(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Internet company Google is reported to be looking into plans with one book publisher to assess interest for a new scheme that would enable users to rent copies of books online for up to a...

ITV commissions three new Jane Austen adaptations.(Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are selected for television adaptions)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK-based broadcaster ITV1 has announced that it is to film three television adaptations of classic Jane Austen novels in an attempt to boost the channel's viewer ratings. The adaptations...

UK publishers' meeting discusses issues surrounding digitalisation.(Publishers Association committee )(Brief Article)
November 15, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD At a Publishers Association committee meeting held on Thursday 10 November members reportedly discussed the US launch of Amazon's new "pay-to-view" service as well as other issues surrounding...

Family Book Club launched by The Telegraph.(Daily Telegraph PLC launches new service to an idea of Sally Gritten)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph has announced that it has launched a Family Book Club in response to an idea from Sally Gritten, the managing director of HarperCollins Children's Books. ...

Whitbread Book Awards shortlist revealed.(19 writers compete for 5 categories)(Brief Article)
November 18, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The shortlist for this year's Whitbread Book Awards has been unveiled, with a total of 19 writers selected to compete for the five categories and the overall prize. The winner of each...

Borders Group reports Q3 results.
November 18, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD US book chain Borders Group Inc (NYSE:BGP) has reported financial results for its fiscal third quarter, the three months ended 22 October 2005. Total consolidated sales for the quarter...

New objection raised against HMV's planned acquisition of Ottakar's.
November 18, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A lobby group that represents small and medium-size British businesses has urged the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to refer the bid by retail group HMV for bookseller Ottakar's to the...

Turkish publisher faces trial over "insulting" book.( Orhan Pamuk )(Brief Article)
November 19, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A Turkish book publisher is being prosecuted for allegedly insulting the Turkish state. The case concerns the publication by Fatih Tas of the Aram Publishing House of a book that...

Financial results announced by Barnes & Noble.(third quarter)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD US-based bookseller Barnes & Noble has revealed its financial results for the third quarter of 2005 ended 29 October 2005. The company announced that net income for the quarter was...

National Book Award won by Joan Didion.(authors work)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The winner of the US National Book Award for non-fiction was announced last week, with 70-year-old author Joan Didion taking the award for her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking. ...

New book imprint launched by 50 Cent and MTV.(MTV Books/Pocket Books)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD US gangster rapper 50 Cent has revealed that he has entered into an agreement with MTV/Pocket Books to launch a series of novellas and graphic novels. The new series, which is reportedly...

Potter film breaks UK cinema records.(Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros.)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The fourth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has, according to Warner Bros Pictures, taken GBP14.3m at the UK box office since its release on Friday (18 November). ...

Winner of the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award named.(New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman honored)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman has been named as the winner of the inaugural Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, for his...

Classic novels rewritten in text speak.(student mobile service dot.mobile transfers english literature to text messages)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A new service developed by student mobile service dot.mobile has been launched which condenses works of classic English literature into text messages. The service, which aims to help...

Gary Imlach receives William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.(My Father And Other Working Class Football Heroes recieves the prize)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Gary Imlach's book My Father And Other Working Class Football Heroes has been named as the winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize. According to the Herald & Times, the...

Snowbooks to reprint lost A.A. Milne text.(The Sunny Side)(Brief Article)
November 22, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Sunny Side by A.A. Milne, a collection of short stories and sketches written for adults, is to be reprinted by independent publishing company Snowbooks. After conducting research...

Canadian author dies aged 93.(John Marlyn)(Obituary)(Biography)
November 23, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD John Marlyn, the Canadian author, died last Wednesday (16 November) at his home on the Canary Islands at the age of 93, after suffering a heart attack. His 1957 novel Under the Ribs of...

Longlist for IMPAC award announced.(Brief Article)
November 23, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The longlist for the EUR100,000 IMPAC literary award has been announced and it includes authors such as Peter Ackroyd, Tom Wolfe, Muriel Spark, Roddy Doyle and Cecilia Ahern, the daughter of...

First biography of Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown released.(Brief Article)
November 23, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD According to a new biography of Dan Brown, author of the controversial book The Da Vinci Code, Brown experimented with a range of career paths before embarking upon his successful writing...

Blyton tale rejected by Macmillan as it was 'xenophobic' - claim.(Enid Blyton)(Brief Article)
November 23, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD UK newspaper The Sunday Telegraph has claimed that children's author Enid Blyton was branded by her publisher Macmillan as racist and was criticised for her plot lines. According to The...

Painting exhibition launched by Nobel Prize winning author.(Gao Xingjian)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature for the year 2000, Chinese author Gao Xingjian, has launched a new exhibition of his artwork in Singapore. According to Reuters, Gao's work...

Mike Broemmel donates royalties to HIV/AIDS relief services.(Brief Article)
November 24, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD American author Mike Broemmel has announced that he is to donate all of the proceeds from his book The Miller Moth to HIV/AIDS patient support services in 2006. The Miller Moth is a...

Chilean author Fernando Alegria dies.(Brief Article)(Biography)
November 24, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Chilean writer Fernando Alegria has died of kidney failure at the age of 87 at his home in California. According to United Press International the author's daughter, Isabel, told the Los...

Pinter unable to attend December Nobel ceremony.(Harold Pinter)(Brief Article)
November 24, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, Harold Pinter, will be unable to receive his award at the Swedish Academy's 10 December ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, due to his failing...

CEO to leave Foyles less than two years into term.(chief executive officer, Mike McGinley)(Brief Article)
November 25, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Mike McGinley, the Chief Executive Officer of bookseller Foyles, has revealed that he will leave the company less than two years into his term. The announcement comes after the...

Waterstone's releases top Christmas books research.
November 25, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Sharon Osbourne's 'Extreme' biography is top of the list of the UK's most requested Christmas presents with 30% of the votes according to research released by Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd to...

Latest Harry Potter movie may be most successful.(Brief Article)
November 25, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The international box office has revealed that 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', the latest instalment in the series, has the potential to be the most successful of the Harry Potter...

PHP in a Nutshell provides guide for developers.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 25, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The 'PHP in a Nutshell' (O'Reilly) book by Paul Hudson has been released, providing details of the latest technologies available in PH5, such as SimpleXML, for readers. The book also...

Swedish author attempts to raise awareness of AIDS in Africa.(new book by Anna Koblanck)(Brief Article)
November 28, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A new book entitled A Few Days More: The Story of a Young Woman Living with HIV in Botswana was launched last week in Africa in an attempt to raise awareness of the disease. The book,...

Michael Morpurgo wins Blue Peter Award.(Brief Article)
November 28, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Michael Morpurgo's novel Private Peaceful has been named as the winner of this year's Blue Peter Award. Morpurgo, the former children's laureate, was chosen as the winner of the award by...

Roald Dahl movie adaptation wins Kids' Bafta.(Children's Bafta Awards)(Brief Article)
November 28, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was named as Best Film in the Kids' Vote at the 10th Children's Bafta Awards. According to the BBC,...

O'Reilly releases Ambient Findability by Peter Morville.(O'Reilly and Associates Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 28, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Ambient Findability by Peter Morville has been released by O'Reilly, providing details of the connections between social software, semantic webs, evolutionary psychology and interaction...

Longlist for Bad Sex in Fiction award announced.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The longlist for the 13th Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award was announced on Friday (25 November). According to The Guardian the award, which only targets literary fiction, aims...

Earnings of WH Smith's CEO revealed.(Kate Swann)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The chief executive of UK book retailer WH Smith, Kate Swann, received a bonus of GBP606,000 last year and was paid GBP1.28m for the year to August, according to the company's annual report....

Writers sign petition to Scottish Parliament.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A petition is to be handed to the Scottish Parliament by a group of 500 writers calling for Scottish literature, history and language to be studied at all levels of education. The...

World's most expensive cookery book launched.
November 29, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD A new cookery book priced at GBP1,000, which has been compiled by Dom Perignon, a champagne maker, is reportedly the most expensive in the world. According to The Scotsman only 30 copies...

Joyo.com lowers price of latest Harry Potter book.(Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Joyo.com, a Chinese online retailing company and a wholly owned company of Amazon.com Inc (Nasdaq: AMZN), announced on Tuesday (29 November) that it has lowered the price of the Chinese...

CS Lewis would not have approved of new Narnia movie - report.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD In a letter written by CS Lewis that was sent to BBC producer Lance Sieveking four years before the author's death, Lewis reveals that he was opposed to the idea of a screen version of his...

Nominees for 2005 Original Voices Awards announced by Borders.(Brief Article)
November 30, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Book retailer Borders Inc (NYSE:BGP) has announced the nominees for its 2005 Original Voices Awards. The awards include books in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, independent...

Author of the Berenstain Bears books dies aged 82.(Stan Berenstain)(Brief Article)(Biography)
November 30, 2005... M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The author of the children's books about the Berenstain Bears, Stan Berenstain, died at his home in Pennsylvania, US on Saturday (26 November) aged 82. Berenstain, who co-authored the...