Hookline Books


Browsing Archive: August, 2015

Read now! The Red Shoes

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Thursday, August 27, 2015,
A second novel is a tough assignment - ask any author and they'll tell you that a successful debut is a stressful act to follow.
Bryony Doran's The China Bird was Hookline's first ever novel - and, considering our naiveté in the industry, it achieved terrific acclaim:
Author Livi Michael called it, "A delicate and unusual novel that explores the precariousness of relationships."
Blogger Rob Around Books said, "A literary classic which should be, and must be, eagerly consumed by readers of all...
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Hookline and Netgalley, we need your help

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Wednesday, August 26, 2015,
We are Netgalley virgins - have never used the review system before.
So we paid our money and uploaded Ben Lyle's debut novel Terms to their system. 
So far, so slow - only one review.

To refresh your memory, Terms tells of twelve-year-old James who hates life at his hippy boarding school where lessons are optional and homework forbidden. All he wants is an academic education with proper exams. When a strict new maths teacher strides into his world of peace, love and fringed ponchos, James latch...
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Four novels in one year - who would have thought it?

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Tuesday, August 18, 2015,
It was all a step in the dark. For six years we trundled along running the Hookline Novel Competition with terrific participation from book groups, but all the time knowing we had to change.
And change we did! 
The Facebook page - Hookline's Discover New Author's Page was set up in February and already we have signed up two authors. 
Terms by Ben Lyle will be out on 1 September:

Twelve-year-old James hates life at his hippy boarding school where lessons are optional, homework forbidden and school...


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It's not you, it's me

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Friday, August 14, 2015,
Ok, after the last post, I've been asked about the books I gave up on.
I don't want to make this personal, but it is - purely my opinion on why I didn't continue to the last page, so here goes: 

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
I've loved his previous novels, couldn't put them down, but this novel left me cold. Maybe it was the adolescent narrative in the beginning (runaway refuses to go home no matter the dangers). I gave up during the first entry to the dark side and only resumed reading beca...
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Riding a dull narrative? When do you give up?

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Wednesday, August 12, 2015,
When do you give up a book?
My motto used to be, "I've started therefore I must finish," and doggedly I would plough through text I no longer gave a damn about. Looking back, I blame my Scottish education and teachers who pushed me to complete novels like Ivanhoe and Moby Dick - novels that had some merit but gave me no pleasure.
I'm not sure when I changed. What novel I was reading when I decided that I no longer wanted to ride that dull narrative till the end. But it was a relief to jump to t...
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Yvonne Barlow Editor at Hookline Books - where book clubs and readers choose the novels that go to print.

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