cread | read & see

There's no doubt the world of publishing is in turmoil with no-one quite sure where the future lies so perhaps that's why so many big name authors have all come out with new books this Spring. JK Rowling, Tom Wolfe, Salman Rushdie, Junot Diaz, Zadie Smith and Michael Chabon are just some of the award winning, best selling authors to compete for shelf space while Australian authors such as Bryce Courtenay and Kate Grenville are also in the mix but perhaps in danger of being somewhat overwhelmed. Then there are the celebrity releases such as Justin Bieber's Just Getting Started and Kylie Minogue's new book Fashion . And let's not forget the Navy SEAL's first hand account of the killing of Osama bin Laden. So let's hope electricity bills aren't too high and we've all got plenty of reading money. In no particular order, here's a (partial) wrap-up of a particularly literary spring... Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe is due for release in Australia

The ABC reports that the new school library in the remote north-west Queensland, mainly indigenous community of Doomadgee has "hardly any books". Resident Peta Jenkins is using social media to encourage people to donate books in an effort to make school more interesting for students and to boost literacy rates. She says despite the opening of the state school's new library earlier this year, books remain a rare sight. "Well you just can't buy books in Doomadgee," she said. "It would be a matter of buying them online - if what you're after could be purchased online - or going to a major centre like Cairns or Townsville or Mount Isa, all of which are of course hundreds of kilometres away. "With a bit of luck ... we'll be able to build up the school library with some good quality second-hand books but there's also a keen interest in the community in getting adult books out there ... you just don't see books here in

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan has the kind of ending that immediately sends you to the front of the book to re-examine the voice, the perspective and decide who is actually telling the story. It feels at times more like a book of short stories as McEwan delves into his literary origins and even attributes one of his own stories to a novelist in his book. At one stage, Serena is reading a short story written by her lover which is about a novel written by an ape and... well, it's like standing in front of a television with a camera attached, creating video feedback that disappears into nothingness. It also feels like a memoir, especially after McEwan has revealed how closely biographical some of the material is, all except for the part about a spy. But then who knows? His re-creation of 70s Britain is almost as dystopian as the dystopia written by his character Tom Haley in Sweet Tooth , and may be a surprise for those of us who grew up through those times in Australia and did n

If the stars are your companions and new forms of space travel are coursing through your imagination then go to warp speed 7 because you've got about a month to write at least 70,000 words and submit your spectacular novel directly to a major publisher. Don't despair if ogres eating elves who are on long contemplative journeys through uncharted lands are more your bowl of ale, the offer is open to all new, unpublished speculative fiction. Forbes magazine The Guardian are reporting today that science fiction imprint of Harper Collins, Harper Voyager, will accept manuscript submissions directly from authors from October 1 to 14 with the goal of finding 12 undiscovered authors that they will digitally publish monthly for the next year. The Harper Voyager submission portal is advertising the opportunity as a joint effort between Voyager Australia, US and the UK: "We’re seeking all kinds of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particu

The Man Booker Prize is one of the world's most important literary awards, with a very straight forward goal– to honour the very best book of the year by a British, Irish or Commonwealth author. Beginning in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is now in its 44th year and today the shortlist of six books was announced, cutting in half the longlist announced in July. The panel of judges is chaired by Peter Stothard, Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, the six authors/titles to be shortlisted are: Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books)
 Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories/Faber & Faber) Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate)
 Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt) Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury)
 Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber) Check out an examination of the shortlisted books Peter Stothard commented: “After re-reading an extraordinary longlist of twelve, it was the pure power of prose that settled most debates

A new Bryce Courtenay novel and writing masterclass have taken special significance after the celebrated author's revelation last week that he may only have months to live. The South African born Australian made public the news that he is suffering from terminal gastric cancer  in an interview with Channel 9's A Current Affair . Courtenay told Tracy Grimshaw that his novel Jack of Diamonds – to be released in November this year – will be his last. He also discussed the impact of his prognosis on his own state of mind and that of his family. The sometimes controversial Courtenay has written 21 books in his impressive career, but when asked what he was most proud of his answer was “having a family.” He also gave some insight into his writing and critics' claims he had not always been straight-forward with the facts of his own life. “...you bet I exaggerate!... I do a Fred Astaire with a fact, but I never ruin a fact... I just give it life.” The last hands-on masterc

Today's cReview departs from newspaper literary sections and samples book reviews and literary articles from popular book review blogs and a think-tank site. Toby's Room by Pat Barker was reviewed by Jon Page at Bite The Book (also of Pages & Pages bookshop, Mosman) who thought the book paled in comparison to Barker's Regeneration trilogy, which was also First World War fiction. Page found it difficult to connect to the characters and wrote, “you don’t feel satisfied or engaged with what the novel was attempting to achieve.” Sharp Objects by Gllian Flynn was also reviewed by Bite The Book's Jon Page who was inspired to read Flynn's earlier work after enjoying the new release, Gone Girl .  Page found Sharp Objects, a crime mystery novel, to be disturbing, “but disturbing in an interesting way.” It was mostly the psychological and self-inflicted violence that got to him, Page reveals, with the novel set in small Missouri town which it is festering in gen