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Keeping it Lite™

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Christmas reading

What books will be finding their way under the Christmas tree this year?

The Guardian Books section has made their guess, and this article also provides some useful information on the state of publishing in the UK.

Jamie Oliver - Cook With Jamie (Michael Joseph)
Publisher's pitch: "With this ultimate kitchen companion you can be a student of Jamie's in your own home."
We say: After retailers' furious price-cutting last Christmas, Penguin has ramped up the RRP of Jamie's latest offering to £26 in an attempt to stop shops selling him below £10. Are people still hungry for Jamie in his incarnation as the "new Delia", and will he match last year's record sales? Odds: 7/4 favourite

Michael Palin - Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years (Weidenfeld)
Publisher's pitch: "Perceptive, funny and riveting reading."
We say: Patron Saint Palin already has a couple of festive number ones under his belt for his travelogues. These diaries don't have an accompanying television series, but his unmatchable appeal and the promise of Python stories should guarantee a place in the top three bestsellers. Odds: 3/1

Billie Piper - Growing Pains (Hodder)
Publisher's pitch: "The funny, honest and insightful story of an extraordinary young life."
We say: Of the crop of starlets with Christmas autobiographies - Kerry Katona, Chantelle - Billie will stand out. The ex-Doctor Who star has the mum-and-daughter market wrapped up and supermarkets will sell this by the trolleyload. Odds: 3/1

Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? (Profile)
Publisher's pitch: "Popular science at its most entertaining and enlightening."
We say: "The pick of the loo reads. This could find even more readers than its predecessor, Does Anything Eat Wasps? - number five last Christmas." Odds: 33/1

Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion (Transworld)
Publisher's pitch: "A hard-hitting, impassioned rebuttal of all religion."
We say: This has topped Amazon's bestseller list all week. Could Dawkins pull off an unlikely coup and outsell the celebrity autobiographies? Odds: 33/1

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