The Bookseller.com

13th October 2008

Hachette tops R&J list

21.12.07 Anna Richardson

Hachette Livre boasts four books among 2008's "Richard & Judy" Best Read selection, while the Random House Group secured two, and Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Penguin and Portobello Books one each.

Katharine McMahon's The Rose of Sebastopol (Phoenix), R J Ellory's A Quiet Belief in Angels (Orion), Lloyd Jones' Man Booker-shortlisted Mister Pip (John Murray) and Peter Ho Davies' Man Booker-longlisted The Welsh Girl (Sceptre) all feature on the distinctly literary list, while the only non-fiction title chosen is Tim Butcher's Blood River (Chatto).

The Book Club returns to Channel 4 in the first week of January, and the Best Read strand launches with a review of Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (Bloomsbury) on 9th January, with the rest of the 10-strong selection following over consecutive weeks.

Waterstone's fiction buyer Janine Cook said it was a "fantastic" selection: "I'd say it's the most bookshop-friendly list from [R&J] that I can remember, and I'm really excited about getting these books to a wider audience. Then We Came to the End is one of the best books I read last year, and The Welsh Girl and Mr Pip are also both truly excellent, and it makes up for the Man Booker disappointment."

The titles will be available in book shops from 27th December, and the Best Read from the 10 will be crowned at the Galaxy British Book Awards on 9th April.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
Bloomsbury 9th January

Random Acts of Heroic Love Danny Scheinmann
Black Swan 16th January

The Rose of Sebastopol Katharine McMahon
Weidenfeld 23rd January

A Quiet Belief in Angels R J Ellory
Orion 30th January

Notes from an Exhibition Patrick Gale
Fourth Estate 6th February

Then We Came to the End Joshua Ferris
Viking 13th February

The Visible World Mark Slouka
Portobello 20th February

Mister Pip Lloyd Jones
John Murray 27th February

Blood River Tim Butcher
Chatto 5th March

The Welsh Girl Peter Ho Davies
Sceptre 12th March

Media Anna Richardson Hachette richard and judy

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