In the absence of prominent TV book review shows, it's time for some objective video debate online
'Mariella in the making': Book Break presenter Alex Heminsley. Photograph: David Howells
The BBC's decision to drop the Review Show from its weekly BBC2 slot, and Sky 1's axing of The Book Show were greeted with consternation in the book world. And rightly so: with 183m print books and countless more ebooks sold in the UK every year, it's absurd that they should get so little telly time.
Thankfully, forward-thinking publishers Pan Macmillan have stepped into the breach with a new monthly online book show, Book Break. Winningly presented by Mariella-in-the-making, Alex Heminsley, the first episode features engaging chats with authors about their new books (Naomi Wood's Mrs. Hemingway sounds fabulous) as well as a through-the-keyhole peek into Peter James's study.
The publishers are keen to encourage audience interaction, inviting viewers to submit questions to the authors and – cleverly – getting aspiring writers to pitch unpublished novels in a segment called "Life's a Pitch".
While I enjoyed Book Break, an obvious issue with publishers making book programmes is that opportunities for, shall we say, critical engagement are naturally limited. At points, the giddy excitement made me long for the glory days of Newsnight Review with Tom Paulin or Germaine Greer sticking the knife in. I'm not averse to a bit of publicity puff, so long as it's interesting, but it should be balanced out by some objective reviewing. What we need is for tech-savvy critics to start BookTubing, the younger cooler sister of book-blogging (follow booktubenews.tumblr.com for the latest video book reviews).
For a lesson in how to BookTube, watch the delightfully eccentric, regrettably short-lived Totally Hip Book Reviews from Washington Post critic Ron Charles, who you may remember for his hilarious take-down of Martin Amis's last novel. Shot through with intelligence and humour, Charles's reviews remind us that video can be a fresh and fun medium for talking about books.
Thankfully, forward-thinking publishers Pan Macmillan have stepped into the breach with a new monthly online book show, Book Break. Winningly presented by Mariella-in-the-making, Alex Heminsley, the first episode features engaging chats with authors about their new books (Naomi Wood's Mrs. Hemingway sounds fabulous) as well as a through-the-keyhole peek into Peter James's study.
The publishers are keen to encourage audience interaction, inviting viewers to submit questions to the authors and – cleverly – getting aspiring writers to pitch unpublished novels in a segment called "Life's a Pitch".
While I enjoyed Book Break, an obvious issue with publishers making book programmes is that opportunities for, shall we say, critical engagement are naturally limited. At points, the giddy excitement made me long for the glory days of Newsnight Review with Tom Paulin or Germaine Greer sticking the knife in. I'm not averse to a bit of publicity puff, so long as it's interesting, but it should be balanced out by some objective reviewing. What we need is for tech-savvy critics to start BookTubing, the younger cooler sister of book-blogging (follow booktubenews.tumblr.com for the latest video book reviews).
For a lesson in how to BookTube, watch the delightfully eccentric, regrettably short-lived Totally Hip Book Reviews from Washington Post critic Ron Charles, who you may remember for his hilarious take-down of Martin Amis's last novel. Shot through with intelligence and humour, Charles's reviews remind us that video can be a fresh and fun medium for talking about books.
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