Book Editors and Literary Agents on Twitter

If you're a writer, here are a couple of resources that might help you.

From GalleyCat ("The FirstWord on the Book Publishing Industry"):

• Best Book Editors on Twitter
• Best Literary Agents on Twitter

Sometimes, following the right person or people on Twitter can make all the difference in the world.

Triple Agent, Triple Crossed

Book Review:

The Triple Agent by Joby Warrick

The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA

This is the gripping non-fiction spy thriller about Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian physician turned underground blogger turned counterspy who in December of 2009 actually because a counter counter spy and blew himself up at a secret CIA base in Afghanistan known as Khost, killing not only himself but a number of CIA and allied assets. Joby Warrick is a Pulitzer Prize winning staff writer for the Washington Post with a knack for detail and storytelling, spreading out this story like a novel and recounting every turn of this gripping tale. I read the electronic version, which was 1060 pages. I highly recommend it for its descriptive detail, historic perspective, clear character development, and well-paced storytelling.  This is great reading about the battle that goes on in Afghanistan and Pakistan against al-Qaeda, a most difficult and pernicious enemy.


Review by
Alan Eggleston
Writer, editor, bookseller of leisure and business books


Follow me on Twitter: @Booksville

Publishers Weekly's Best Books 2011

Publisher's Weekly presents its list of "Best Books 2011: The Top 10", including brief synopses.

• The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
• After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
• There but for the by Ali Smith
• Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson
• One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
• Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens

See what the publishing industry thinks are the year's best reads.

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Follow me on Twitter: @Booksville

Rowling Dumps Longtime Literary Agent

Harry Potter's J.K. Rowling has dismissed her literary agent, Christopher Little. It's a stunning development discussed today in London's Daily Mail: "The announcement in the industry journal The Bookseller stunned the literary community and industry watchers, who had always regarded the Rowling-Little partnership as one of the strongest and most enduring in the business. Little, a fiercely private man, would say only that he was  ‘disappointed and surprised’ by the ‘premature news’."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012997/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-dismissed-Dumbledore-book-agent.html#ixzz1RkX1GHUn

A Book Series for the Non-Reader?

If you have a non-reader in the family - someone who doesn't enjoy the process of reading or who is more visually oriented than word oriented, a new non-fiction book series may be their answer. It's called For Beginners Books. 


Here is how their website describes themselves:

"Every book in the series serves one purpose: to present to the reader in a straightforward, accessible manner the works of great thinkers and subjects alike. With subjects ranging from philosophy, to politics, to art and beyond, the For Beginners^® series covers a range of familiar concepts in a humorous comic book-style, and takes a readily comprehensible approach that’s respective of the intelligence of its audience. This series is for those who want to know more about a subject, but don’t want to get bogged down in dry facts. Each book is painstakingly researched, written and illustrated in a style that best suits the subject."

I bring it up because I think everyone should have the opportunity to "read," and a discomfort with the traditional book shouldn't be a reason not to. If something new comes along that will open them to the world of discovery that is the book, then by all means take it! If graphic novels, For Beginners Books, or even comic books introduce you to the joy of reading, have at it.


Credit to Jason Sadler of iwearyourshirt.com for bringing For Beginners Books to our attention.