YET MORE FANG(TASTIC) BOOKISH NEWS.

A teenager has secured a six-figure sum for a vampire novel she wrote after being inspired by the Twilight saga.
Abigail Gibbs, 18, of Brixham in Devon, who started writing the book, The Dark Heroine, aged 14, released chapters of her novel online, where the book eventually received 17 million hits.
HarperCollins in Britain and America have now signed the talented author following her phenomenal internet success. More

It is rare for a sequel to live up to the original, but author Hilary Mantel's latest novel, Bring Up The Bodies, is on track to achieve the feat by scooping Britain's most prestigious literary award, the Man Booker Prize, three years after she won it for the first time with Wolf Hall.

The other nominees being .....

• Umbrella - Will Self
• The Gardens Of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
• The Lighthouse - Alison Moore
• Narcopolis - Jeet Thayal
• Swimming Home - Deborah Levy. More

We all know that children are, generally speaking, reading less BUT perhaps the saddest thing about this new research carried out by National Literacy Trust is that of the 21,000 children and teenagers who took part 17% said they would be embarrassed if a friend saw them with a book.
AND, whilst half of those questioned said they enjoyed reading very much, or quite a lot, was almost the same as in 2005 when the figure was 51%, research also showed ......

• Just three out of ten youngsters read daily in their own time - down from 4 in 10 in 2005
• More than a fifth (22%) said they never read in their own time
• Over half (50%) said they preferred watching television to reading
• 57% said they read magazines - down from 77% in 2005
• Comic reading has dropped from 64% in 2005 to 50%
• Rather more surprisingly, reading on websites has dropped to 50% compared to the 2005 figure of 54%. More

A rare copy of the second Peter Pan novel, Peter Pan In Kensignton Gardens, written by JM Barrie and signed and illustrated by renowned artist Arthur Rackham, has been donated to a charity shop who have decided to sell it at auction where it is believed it will raise as much as £800.

Published in 1906, the novel, one of only 500 copies to have been signed by Rackham himself, is set prior to the author's most famous work originally called Peter Pan and Wendy and features around 50 detailed illustrations. To read full article and see more of the beautiful illustrations click HERE


Remember my mentioning Fenton the dog in one of my Media Monday posts?

No? 

Well, here's a reminder .........

Anyway, 

As well as a huge viral hit, Fenton is all set to become a book sensation as he stars in his own 'Where's Wally?' type book imaginatively titled 'Find Fenton'.

Posing readers the challenge of tracking down “the world’s most disobedient dog,” the book (published by Headline Books at the end of September) features Britain’s “naughtiest Labrador” on a rampage through such London locales as the House of Commons and the Royal Albert Hall. More

And talking of Where's Wally?, the popular red-and-white-striped children's book character turned 25 on the 21st of September. More

But Wally's not the only one to be celebrating as JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit turns 75 this week.
And publishers Harper Collins are making the anniversary by releasing the first Latin translation of the book, Hobbitus Ille – "in foramine terrae habitabat hobbitus"; "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit") - as well as publishing a range of little-known sketches (one of which, The Lonely Mountain, can be seen on the right) done by Tolkien himself as he was writing the novel. More

Ever since she read THAT book, I've had to buy all kinds of ropes, chains and shackles. She still manages to get into the shed, though.

- Fifty Sheds Of Grey by CT Grey, published by Boxtree at £9.99

(For more extracts from the book click on the link at the end of article)

'Bonkbuster' queen EL James's novel, 50 Shades Of Grey, has seduced women - and baffled men. 

Now a spoof, Fifty Sheds Of Grey, offers a treat for men. The pocket-sized book which has fictional character Colin Grey recounting his love encounters at the bottom of the garden is full of horticulture-themed gags and graphic images ..... of sheds. More

Isn't this amazing? A library I, for one, would give my eye-teeth for .....

One of the biggest private 'gentleman's libraries' has been revealed, containing first editions from some of Britain's most celebrated authors including Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and William Thackery.

The 4,000 book collection is the result of the life-long passion of lawyer, businessman and historian William Forwood, who died last year aged 84 and now other book-lovers will have the chance to admire the library which could fetch up to £200,000 when it goes under the hammer.

The sale, titled 'A Gentleman’s Library', is being held at the Cotswold auction house where Mr Forwood, who claimed to have read every page, bought some of his volumes.

Auctioneer Dominic Winter said: 'It is rare for a single library this size and of this importance to come up for sale.
'It is an old fashioned library that encompasses all that a well brought-up young man should know about.' More

"Here's Johnny the sequel".

Stephen King has revealed that the sequel to his 1977 classic horror story The Shining will be published on September the 24th 2013, 36 years after the original book was published.

The long-awaited sequel, Doctor Sleep, follows the story of Danny Torrance, the young boy who survived the horrific events in the Overlook Hotel who, now an adult, works in a hospice helping his patients to die painlessly whilst also fighting a group of physic vampires. More