26 members recommend for September

‘My Trade: A Short History Of British Journalism’ by Andrew Marr (Pan Books £7.99 list or Amazon £3.99)

An engaging hybrid of autobiography, history and insider perspective from the BBC’s outgoing political editor. Andrew Marr takes us through his eventful career and the evolution of Fleet Street at an entertaining canter. There are real insights among the anecdotes, and its good humour is always laced with incisiveness. Note the clever cropping of his famous ears on the cover. JD
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http://www.authortracker.com
For those with more obscure tastes than JK Rowling, this ultra-handy web site lets you know when new material by your favourite authors is due to be released. Just sign up and you’ll get an email two weeks before the book’s due to be published, plus details of promotional tours. One minor gripe – the site is sponsored by Harper Collins, so watch out for a slight bias. JD

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http://tenbyten.org
A hundred words and a hundred images that define each hour of each day. Every hour 10X10 scans the RSS feeds of Reuters, BBC World Edition and New York Times International News to create a telling visual and verbal tableau of the international social and political landscape. Is it art or is it news? JD

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‘Dr Johnson’s Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story Of The Book That Defined The World’ by Henry Hitchings (John Murray, £14.99 list or £10.49 on Amazon)
A highly readable account of the good doctor’s epic struggle with the English language. The birth of the dictionary is obviously the main story, but the sections on Johnson himself are equally engaging. ‘A delightful book about an extraordinary man’ (according to the rather less extraordinary John Humphries). RH

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‘The Writer’s Voice’ by Al Alvarez (Bloomsbury £12.99 list or £8.44 on Amazon)

Never quite gets stuck into the sort of tone of voice issues 26 folks deal with, but it's interesting stuff all the same. Half a dissection of the author’s role, half literacy criticism, Alvarez argues that voice is distinct from style and is the source of a writer’s greatness. Enjoy. RH

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‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell (Sceptre 7.99 list or £6.39 on Amazon)

Shortlisted for last year’s Booker Prize, and somehow failed to win. Take it, if you like, as an exercise in creating a different tone of voice for six different characters. But consider that each character lives in different times, ranging from the 19th century to the near past to the unspecified future. Each story is riveting, each is subtly connected. Put them all together and it’s a wonderful, profound book. JS

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‘Down And Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance And The Rise Of Independent Film’ by Peter Biskind (Bloomsbury £8.99 or £7.19 on Amazon)


Fascinating story of the rise of ‘indie’ film production in the 1990s from a journalist who is controversial in Hollywood, but loved by readers. Biskind tells how the Weinstein brothers beat the studios at their own game, picking up new directors from Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival and winning Oscars with them. It’s also interesting to see how these ‘outsiders’ quickly became part of the establishment with their ill-fated sell-out to Disney. MB

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This month’s plugs by Jim Davies, Roger Horberry, John Simmons, Matthew Blackbourn and Tim Rich. These are not necessarily the views of 26, but we hope they’re not far off the mark. Any contributions gratefully received.

posted by jim @ 6:34 PM