My week in books (#2)

My week in books is a  semi-regular feature where I share things I've found interesting from the past week that concern books, literature and all things book blogging.

This week the longlist for the Man Booker Prize 2013 was released, featuring both established authors and new kids on the block. Aside from anything else, it's given me a new list of books I want to read. The full list can be found here.

Radio 4's Saturday Review had a really interesting discussion this week about Tampa by Alissa Nutting. I've not read it, but it's attracted attention for its explicit descriptions (which start on page one) and documents the relationship between a female teacher and her 14-year-old male pupil. I was really intrigued by the discussion - at one point one of the reviewers said the book is so bad it would not have been published had the teacher in the novel been male and the pupil female, but publishers have been desperate for a Lolita-like novel with the male and female roles swapped for so long that it got the green light. You can listen here (the discussion about Tampa starts roughly 17 minutes in).

Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer posted a helpful list of 12 websites this week that are invaluable when blogging. You can find that here.

And finally, Bloomsbury, to promote Canada by Richard Ford, are asking people to share their favourite first lines from books. They've made a cute little video here, and you can share your favourite lines on Twitter @BloomsburyBooks using the hashtag #firstlines. I wouldn't know where to start with this, so would love to hear your favourite first lines in the comments below.

Have you discovered anything new this week when it comes to books? Share in the comments.