Latest news from The Bookseller - Tributes paid to P.D.James

Krien's Night Games wins William HillAnna Krien has become the second woman to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in its 26-year history, more than a decade after Lauren Hillenbrand won the prize. Krien was awarded the £26,000 prize for her book Night Games: Sex, Power and a Journey into the Dark Heart of Sport (Yellow Jersey Press). Night Games follows the rape trial of an Australian Rules footballer and examines sporting culture and its attitudes towards sex and consent.

Tributes paid to P D JamesTributes from across the industry have been paid to crime writer P D James, who died this morning at the age of 94.

P D James diesAuthor P D James has died at the age of 94. The crime writer passed away at her home in Oxford this morning (27th November). In a statement released through Faber, her family said: "It is with great sadness that the family of author P D James, Baroness James of Holland Park OBE, FRSL, FRSA, announce that she died peacefully at her home in Oxford on the morning of 27 November 2014, aged 94, a much-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. The family have requested privacy at this time."

Dunmore, Bates and Chakrabarti judge Baileys 2015The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction judging panel for 2015 will be chaired by Liberty founder Shami Chakrabarti and includes columnist Grace Dent and Laura Bates, founder of The Everyday Sexism Project. Joining them are Helen Dunmore, novelist, poet and winner of the first Women’s Prize for Fiction in 1996, and Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman. Chakrabarti said: “Women writers continue to enthral, educate and entertain. So to chair the judges of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is going to be great reading and great fun."

Bricks and mortar booksellers look to rival Black Friday Bricks and mortar booksellers will draw customers into stores to rival the online sales push for Black Friday deals tomorrow (28th November). The retail promotion day, which originated in the US when shops began offering customers heavy discounts on products following Thanksgiving, has been growing in the UK over the last four years and 47% of shoppers are expected to make Christmas purchases tomorrow, according to a survey conducted by retail market research company Verdict.

Literacy issues worse for rural children, campaign findsPoor children in rural areas and small towns are falling behind those who live in cities when it comes to reading, according to research published today (27th November) as part of the "Read On. Get On" campaign. The report, Reading England’s Future: Mapping how well the poorest children read, published by Save the Children on behalf of the campaign, ranked the reading ability of children aged 11 who are eligible for free school meals across England’s 533 parliamentary constituencies. Children on free school meals currently account for about one fifth of the total.