"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
~ Anton Chekhov
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
~ Douglas Adams
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
~ Dr. Suess
Here at Exclusive Books, we were saddened to hear of the passing of a literary giant, one more precious for being one of our own, and recognised by the highest accolade the world has to offer for writers. Tributes have poured in from around the world, and her life has been celebrated by authors, readers […]
Two Brothers by Ben Elton I don’t usually dip into historical fiction, as the writers often hide poor character-building behind supposed historical accuracy instead. Often the books are unreadable due to their saturation of research and lack of coherent plot or technical ability. But Two Brothers is not ruined by either of these things: instead it manages […]
History . Anton Harber is the Caxton Professor of Journalism and Media Studies and director of the Journalism Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Harber has had a long career in journalism, media management and the training of journalists. After graduating from Wits University in 1980, Harber began his career as a cadet journalist […]
When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey, she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind – until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out. But Grey is tormented by inner […]
One of the most common questions we’re asked at Exclusive Books is: ‘How do I get published?’ As a retailer, we don’t publish books, but we naturally work with the many South African publishers who do. Being in the industry, we get a good feel for what they look for, and the kind of books […]
Andrew Miller, previous winner of the Impac Dublin prize and the James Tait Black award, has just scooped the Costa Book Award for Pure, set in pre-Revolutionary Paris. The judges praised Pure for being ‘a rich and brilliant historical novel of death and superstition. It is a morality tale which engrosses with its vivid evocation of […]
Judging by the sales of millions of iPads and eReaders such as the Gobi device over the Christmas season and the increase in eBook sales, we are watching the rise and rise of the eBook. It has its conveniences; no one really wants to have to heft around a book as weighty as the Steve […]
As usual for a Sunday morning, I spent it browsing Twitter to see what the people around the world are up to, and then this little gem popped up from Gollanz fantasy author, Sam Sykes: Now we can assume that this was said in jest, but it did bring up an interesting thought. What responsibility do […]
The Bad Sex Award is probably not as prestigious as the Man Booker Prize, but it is definitely one of the most popular awards in the literary calender. Established by Auberon Waugh in 1993 ‘to highlight – and hopefully discourage – the “crude, tasteless, and often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in […]
Jane Austen, despite being dead since 1817, continues to outsell many living authors. Six books and a handful of letters cemented her in the consciousness of the Western literary world, with Mr Darcy becoming the template upon which many a moody suitor has been based. Austen’s biting social satire was veiled in wit and setting, […]
