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When Stephen King became aware his early book Rage , about a school shooting, may have become an 'accelerant' for copycat crimes, he demanded his publisher remove it from sale. It is as just as well he has that story of righteous action to draw on otherwise his fiction laced with horror and violence may be seen by some as discrediting his just released Kindle Single, Guns . Described by The Washington Post as a 'passionate call for greater gun control' Guns is a fascinating entry into the US gun control debate by one of the world's most popular author and in an innovative new form of publishing. The idea of 'singles' being short stories or in this case, an essay, that can be read in one sitting is making a comeback thanks to digital publishing. That King could release so quickly a 'book' length response to a current issue and for just 99c is one of the first main stream examples of how the changing face of writing and publishing might impact

The reason I have found first Wolf Hall and then Bring Up The Bodies so compelling is that I really like Thomas Cromwell. That's not the only reason, of course. There's also the 'speaking picture' of Mantel's text, transporting readers to Henry VIII's Tudor England so completely that to read almost any other novel in close proximity is to feel you have been reduced to the Sunday comics. But from the moment we are introduced to Thomas, the brawling, suffering blacksmith's son, we come to believe in his intrinsic goodness and more, his undefeatable strength. Perhaps he is the superman of literary historical fiction, a character we find comfort in because what ever happens, he will keep evil from his door. Of course, evil closes in during Wolf Hall with the death of his beloved wife and daughters but still he runs a cheery house of wit and curiosity. He still seems the better person, even when he allows himself to sacrifice further lives in his quest

If Tom Wolfe says he wants to come to Sydney to research a new novel, watch out. Apart from anything else, his recent novel Back to Blood, is a withering and unrelenting (if fictional) disclosure of the throbbing heart and sweating soul of Miami. The Miami Herald  ran a story ' Tom Wolfe tells us how crazy we are ' and considering The Miami Herald features in the book in a complex but not particularly flattering way, I think they are being magnanimous. I'm not sure the Sydney Morning Herald would be as relaxed. In any case, I believe Wolfe's fourth novel is a success and once you acclimatise to his trademark stream-of-consciousness (I wish I was as conscious of my thought processes as some of his characters are) you will discover this is one of the better books you will read. Wolfe scythes through the complex and tribal race relations of Miami - white 'Americanos', black Americans, Cubans, Haitians, Russians and more - using three dimensional charact

Tis the season to be listing... With Storify's help, here's Cread's 'best of the best of' book lists for 2012 covering fiction, non-fiction, Australian, global, Indian, leadership Christian and a few randoms! And a Happy New Year of reading... [ View the story "Best Book Lists of 2012" on Storify ] Best Book Lists of 2012 The world didn't end but 2012 is about to and every reader, reviewer, bookseller, publisher and their dog is releasing their 'best of' for 2012. Here's Cread's 'best of the best of' featuring lists from newspapers, magazines, authors, bloggers, tweeters and readers. Storified by Cread · Sun, Dec 30 2012 03:29:55 The 10 Best Books of 2012 - http://ow.ly/gqNVv selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review /via @NYtimes @signatuurCentre Céramique The New York Times 10 best is headed by Booker Prize Winner, Bring Up the Bodies. The best children's and picture books of 2012 http://j.m

“I didn’t need a next book, I have everything that matters to me,” author of The Shack , William Paul Young, told Publisher's Weekly earlier this year. But a much-anticipated new book is exactly what he has with the novel Cross Roads published worldwide this week (Faith Words - Hatchette Group, hardcover, 480 pages) although in Australia it is available as 304 page paperback . Once again Young turns to fiction as spiritual metaphor and this time the main character is not working out his pain in a shack in the woods but reassessing his life while in a coma: "Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He 'awakens' to find himself in a surreal world, a 'living' landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interac

I first saw The Inca Curse advertised on a Sydney bus, competing for space there with Val McDermid's The Vanishing Point. It seems those of use often confined to city traffic gridlock are seen as susceptible to suspense and intrigue. And there is plenty of that in author Christopher Ride's latest thriller, the third in his successful Overseer series. Having lived in Peru, Ride moves confidently through its landscape, history and culture - providing a mountainous backdrop for a supernatural thriller with time travel, demonic power, crucifixion, omens and Amazons. The Golden Cube of the Sun God has been stolen from its hiding place in Machu Picchu and its embedded evil has taken over the most powerful religious figure in South America. It is unleashing horror and interferes with Overseer's seemingly simple task of aiding the discovery of the lost Inca city. Genetically modified as a kind of super human, overseer Wilson Dowling carries our hopes for vanquished evil o

Books about supernatural and heavenly encounters during near death experiences are multiplying, to the extent that they are almost a publishing genre of their own. And while these stories abound in the 21st century, they are not a new phenomenon with the Apostle Paul in the 1st century being one of the first to publish an experience of heaven. "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell." 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 But while Paul was quite circumspect about sharing his heavenly experience, even referring to it in the third person, today we'll look at five recent books that give detailed accounts of what the authors believe were their own experience of being "caught u