Robbie Millen
@RobbieTimes
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Literary Editor of The Times and Sunday Times 📖 Reading: Munichs by David Peace. "High minded" (Private Eye)
Joined May 2012
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I thoroughly enjoyed Wellness by Nathan Hill -- funny, clever and touching. He's a brilliant observer of the fads, fashions and mores of the creative classes.
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I know everyone is gloomy about shrinking book review coverage in the newspapers. Well,
@thetimes
is bucking the trend. We've got 10 pages tomorrow (the most I've ever had), covering 8 nonfiction and 9 fiction titles. (Right that's enough shameless boasting)
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"Language is important. Ideas are powerful. Philosophy matters." We didn't review Material Girls by
@Docstockk
in The Times when it came out earlier this year. We've put it right now
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Civil war has broken out on Goodreads: 44 per cent of the reviews for Prince Harry's Spare are 5 star; 49 per cent, 1 star. None of the reviewers have actually read it . . .
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I've burbled about blurbgate. A chance to mention my favourite bookjacket misquote ---- "moving", The Sunday Times. (The actual quote: "you come to dread the sight of yet another chunk of de Botton’s italicised opinions moving towards you.") Brilliant
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Bloody hell. Prince Harry's SPARE has so far sold 400,000 copies in hardback/e-book and audio in the UK. The fastest selling non-fiction book, according to his publisher
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SOME MEGALOMANIAC NEWS. The Times & Sunday Times books desks have been merged. I'm now literary editor for both titles;
@JohannaTC
is our mighty chief literary critic;
@sgoldsbrough1
&
@HackettLaura
are my firebreathing deputies. Woof. Go Team
@TheTimesBooks
!
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This is a creepy, intolerant and stupid statement by Readings Books. How can discussions be "relevant and diverse" if only one viewpoint can ever be expressed? You would think booksellers would be keen on the whole exchange of ideas. . .
Thread: During a book tour in Australia I was invited to do one of those 'an evening with' events during which I read from my book (on the horrors of the global sex trade) and conversed with the women and men in the audience. Almost three years later......
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Why have I only just seen this New Yorker cartoon? It's perfect for the party season. . .
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This is depressing. You would think literary agencies would want diversity of opinions among their staff. And imagine being one of their clients; will they back you up if you have the “wrong” views?
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I'm not a fan of bossy officialdom, nor am I one of life's fingerwaggers but I've now reached my toleration point for people who go on public transport and don't wear masks. It's disrespectful, selfish and entitled.
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"Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light has gone straight into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot in its first three days on sale, selling 95,141 copies for £1.55m across all editions." Bloody hell, that's impressive.
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Finished this at the weekend, knee-deep in the blood of revolutionaries. I'm in awe at the power of Hilary Mantel's historical imagination
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I hope Jacob Rees-Mogg isn't deterred by the negativity and writes another book. He's v good for business. AN Wilson's savage review is, I suspect, our best read review since records began
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V good piece. "A writer who carries the thought police around in his head, who always feels compelled to ask: Can I say this? Do I have a right? Is my terminology correct? Will my allies get angry? —that writer’s words will soon become lifeless."
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Which British novelists do you think are underrated? For instance, I find it odd that David Lodge never won the Booker prize. . .
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There is a real art to book acknowledgements. Stylish example here from Rose Tremain's new novel, Lily (out in Nov)
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Ignore Douglas Murray's reputation for being a right-wing flamethrower. His new book is a well-marshalled, reasoned case against the lunacies of identity politics. A fascinating read
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The first sentence of that great catastrophe novel The Day of the Triffids has extra resonance after lockdown
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This quote made me laugh: “He is the person who pushed for a £20,000 fine if you broke the quarantine, who himself drove up to Durham. It’s like The Wizard of Oz — everyone has just pulled back the curtain and it’s like some bald bloke in shit clothes.”
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Hello publishing folk, we're doing an autumn look ahead in
@TheTimesBooks
of notable and interesting titles, from blockbusters to curiosities. What should we include? Tips welcome. . .
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@bindelj
There are lots of idiots out there, Julie. Btw, can I use this as an opportunity to say the NME has never been the same since you left it. . .
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Just back from holiday. ... yikes! The publishers have been busy
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Was really enjoying a thriller, then this. . “her splendid behind raised, her buttocks glossy and firm, like conkers.”
Conkers?
I don’t often look at ladies’ situpons, but that’s not right is it?
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This is going to be my new stock response to all clever literary conversation (from Barbara Pym's novel Crampton Hodnet)
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I really enjoyed reading my way through a pile of politics and current affairs books. My favourite book --- slightly to my surprise --- turned out to be Invisible Women by
@CCriadoPerez
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Here we go. Our first Times /
@TheTimesBooks
popular fiction round-up.
@SiobhanCMurphy
gives a thumbs up to
@monicaheisey
@JillMansell
@MattCainWriter
@_franlittlewood
. Tune in next month for more recommendations. . .
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Well done to The Economist. Such powerful reporting on the Chinese government's mistreatment of the Uighur community. Mass internment designed to erase a whole people.
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We're covering 17 books in Saturday's
@TheTimesBooks
section. Here's a few of them. (Please note the Instagram-style aspirational lifestyle aesthetic)
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I shall very much miss my colleague, the mighty Marcel Berlins, crime reviewer of The Times for 37 years. . . A man of excellent taste and judgment
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Hello publishers, I'm preparing an autumn look-ahead for
@TheTimesBooks
. What fiction and non-fiction coming out Sept-Dec should I include?
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This is an extraordinary story: the son who volunteered to follow his father into Auschwitz. You could easily imagine Steven Spielberg adapting into a movie
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When you can't really be bothered to acknowledge anyone but know you're supposed to. From Elton John's memoir
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200 pages into this mighty beast and I'm in awe of Hilary Mantel's mastery of the past, her vision of revolutionary France. Terrific.
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Yes! This witty and sharp piece nails why I don't like the q word. And "rainbow bureaucrats" is such a good description
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Witold Pilecki's name deserves to be better known. This remarkably brave man volunteered to infiltrate Auschwitz. . .
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Feeling brain dead so tidied
@TheTimesBooks
cupboard. Here's next year's fiction neatly arrayed (for one day only) ....
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I've ordered from
@bookshop_org_UK
a couple of times now. It's a good service, they deliver on time. Most of all, I enjoyed the virtuous, smug glow of knowing I'm helping indie book shops. Definitely worth a sniff
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Why is the London Underground so hot in summer? Fascinating detail from Lewis Dartnell’s Origins (an excellent book btw)
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“I love writers individually, but assembled in bulk they affect me with overpowering repugnance, like a gathering of clerics.” Love John Buchan's reason for declining attending a literary dinner
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What a great writer and mind! When I interviewed Jan Morris in 2018 she told me that in the afterlife she was going to have an affair with Jacky Fisher, the great British admiral. . . Here's her obituary
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This is so good. A superb evocation of what it felt like in 1939, living on the brink of disaster
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Just tidying the
@TheTimesBooks
cupboard and hadn't realised how many 2024 novel proofs we have already. (Bonus picture of our writer-in-residence,
@j_amesmarriott
)
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This is a very good job with only one obvious drawback: you get to work with me. . . but apart from that it should be mind-expanding and fun
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This author picture of Andrew "Wham" Ridgeley makes him look a Portuguese finance minister
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Very pleased that the excellent
@sgoldsbrough1
has joined me on
@thetimes
books desk
@TheTimesBooks
. We are now ready to take on 2022
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We've started a regular slot in
@TheTimesBooks
championing classics, modern and old. This week the superb Old Filth. So funny and touching
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Hmmm, I got the vague impression that
@DouglasKMurray
was underwhelmed by Baroness Warsi's literary effort. . .
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Patricia Highsmith, Evelyn Waugh, Michel Houellebecq. . . . I'm compiling a list of horrible people who also happen to be brilliant writers. Who else would you add?
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I love Barbara Pym. Here's me being enthusiastic about her wonderful, comic novel Crampton Hodnet
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I like this Rebecca West quote about manners and public schools
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"This is a superb account of -D-Day. What makes it original is not its revelations, but its style.
@James1940
tells this story 'at the tactical level'; we feel what it was like to be a soldier on the beaches and in the bocage."
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This is such an impressive book. A really deserving winner of the biography section of the
@CostaBookAwards
. The heroic Witold Pilecki deserves to be much better known in Britain
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Book publicists occasionally send us marketing gimmicks. I'm not sure this condom-whisky-rock combo came together but if it did I want to read the book ....
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"Nearly all the senior Nazi wives survived the war, and their husbands’ suicides and executions. A disturbing number set up guest houses, the thought of which rather puts Fawlty Towers in the shade. None was repentant." Great piece by
@DAaronovitch
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"Dr Johnson refused to wear spectacles most of his life and his landlord observed that the good Doctor's wigs were all scorched around the face from reading too close to candles." Love this detail from Laura Cumming's Thunderclap
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Been listening to Anton Lesser reading Paradise Lost. Bloody hell, it's good. Could we not draft him to read the news? Would make everything seem more meaningful and palatable. (Obviously Milton would have to write the news script)
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Six sacks of books! We forgot to empty the sacks yesterday and now the books have started to reproduce ...
@TheTimesBooks
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Told you so. . . Call me Mystic Millen
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Hello publishing people, what paperbacks have you got coming out in April? Compiling
@TheTimesBooks
monthly pbk round-up. Don't be shy. . .
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For those of you who like reading words on paper, part I of
@thetimes
Books of the Year appears in tomorrow's paper. Fiction, crime, thrillers, historical fiction, SF, biography/memoir, thought, science, sport, pop, environment. . . (an online extravaganza appears at midnight)
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Put
@j_amesmarriott
on the ducking stool! Bad, elitist man. . . (though what's the point of book reviews if we can't ever, like, criticise books? I s'pose we could list all the latest books and write 'Yay, books!' each week )
Slightly amazed to discover I am in trouble with The Bookseller Magazine (!) for holding the transgressive and countercultural belief that some books are better than others. Apparently thinking this is "damaging" and "marginalising"
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SHEEP FACT OF THE WEEK: "Sheep have excellent face recognition and can remember as many as 50 individual faces. In one study of celebrity photos, Fiona Bruce, had the most memorable face, with 65 per cent of sheep recognising her"
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Hello publishing people, what paperbacks have you got coming out in February. Compiling
@TheTimesBooks
February paperback round-up now. . .
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ps And not that I'm obsessed by size, but our friends/rivals on
@ST_Culture
/ Sunday Times' books desk had a mighty 12 pages last weekend. Up with books!
I know everyone is gloomy about shrinking book review coverage in the newspapers. Well,
@thetimes
is bucking the trend. We've got 10 pages tomorrow (the most I've ever had), covering 8 nonfiction and 9 fiction titles. (Right that's enough shameless boasting)
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Is there such a thing as too much Don Winslow? Never! Here's why you must read the excellent Cartel trilogy
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If you want to go a very, very dark place, this is the book for you. An impressive piece of storytelling, an intelligent psychological thriller that keeps you on edge.
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Penguin's new edition of Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy is very stylish. Love these novels (they are among other things a warning against marrying idealists: Jeez, Guy Pringle is annoying!)
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"Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor." This is quite a resignation letter
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I do worry about my young colleague
@j_amesmarriott
. He's been thinking too much again. He's just told me that he's been "grappling with determinism". I'd rather he just tidy up the books cupboard and deal with the "illusion of free will" outside of office hours
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I was utterly obsessed with The Day of the Jackal when I was a teenager. . . Frederick Forsyth's debut was first published 50 years this month
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I have just overheard my partner having a Zoom conference call. Think I am now a little bit frightened of him. He is a beast
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Aphorism of the day, courtesy of Jackson Lamb (from Slough House by Mick Herron)
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“The new English nationalism, Fintan O’Toole writes, wants to recreate the power of empire and yet also casts itself as a colonial subject, a vassal state in the peculiar return to medieval language.” Great piece by
@PCollinsTimes
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Just watched the final episode of Normal People. My goodness, how moving, how beautiful, and what acting! Best drama on the BBC for yonks.
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This is a fiery polemic. Well worth a read. The pessimism of
@arisroussinos
seems entirely warranted . . .
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Found this in the post today. Excellent. A sequel to Brooklyn --- out in May
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In this weekend's Rereading slot I've written about Empire of the Sun. Bloody hell, I've forgotten how brilliant JG Ballard is
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Sally Rooney alert! She has a new novel coming out this autumn --- Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber, Sept 7). Alas, it isn't narrated by Connell's necklace
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This is a v good book warning about the perils of tech. Lucid, free of jargon, independent minded and with ideas about how to tame big tech’s excesses. Kicking myself for not including it in the books of the year roundup in The Times
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Hello publishing people, just compiling a March paperback round-up for
@TheTimesBooks
. What have you got coming out that we ought to include?
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Miffed by the discussion on
@BBCr4today
about there being no coverage of children’s books. There’s a weekly review in both The Times and Sunday Times! Anyway here’s
@TheTimesBooks
pick of the best of the year (contains no traces of David Walliams)
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I had fun drawing up this list, along with the mighty Peter Kemp, of the best novels of 2020. Ignore the pandemic, it was a good year for fiction! Some obvious choices here, and a few surprises
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Hello, Publishing People.
@TheTimesBooks
is putting together a round-up of paperbacks coming out in March. What should we include?
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This is such a strong debut. Mrs March, the title character, is a magnificent, memorable, grotesque creation. Look out for a review in
@TheTimesBooks
tomorrow. A definite recommend...
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The Union of Literary Editors has a new member. She'll soon discover our dark secrets such as Sally Rooney actually being Elena Ferrante... In the meantime, congratulations!
A new chapter begins: I’m thrilled to say that from January 2023, I will be the new literary editor of The Sunday Times. It is, in my opinion, the best job in books journalism and it's a real honour to be following in the footsteps of so many fine editors 1/3
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I'm not saying my young deputy
@j_amesmarriott
is self-obsessed but this is his twitter feed . . .
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I have written about my love of The Shooting Party. (PS sometimes I think my soul is made of tweed)
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I'm not sure treating song lyrics like poetry always works. From Faber's new collection of Van Morrison lyrics
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My dream is to have a labrador so any labrador-based content is going to meet my approval but, I have to say, this is a particularly special interview with
@NickyAACampbell
by
@andrewbillen
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Dear publishers, could we have more history like this. This is a description of the "Pink Sink", the fruity basement bar of the Ritz in 1940. (From The Glamour Boys by
@RhonddaBryant
)
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Sparky review by the magnificently maverick Lionel Shriver about
@DouglasKMurray
's book inveighing against the horrors of identity politics
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