I’ve been reading and watching a lot of media recently about the implications of the global meltdown, credit crisis, apocolypse etc. and have been fielding a number of questions about what this means for us here at The Nile.

On balance I think there will be a significant slowdown in consumer spending both in Australia and NZ. Harvey Norman’s announcement earlier today of slower year on year sales is a good indicator of this. However, I don’t believe this is likely to have as big an impact on online retail. In fact, if anything I believe more consumers will now choose to buy online.

As a rule we price to undercut the high street bricks and mortar retailers, on all their books except loss-leaders. Moreover, we aim to be competitive or price better than most of our online competitors, especially those overseas companies who are not offering any benefit to Australian buyers. A lower Australian dollar means it makes more sense to buy locally. Simply put, we think our customers deserve as much value as we can give them.

Do the results support this? To date they do. We have grown 700% in the past year, and aim to continue delivering the value that underpins this growth. We are consistently investing in our IT and infrastructure to provide a better shopping experience and will step this up to ensure that crisis or no crisis, our customers are getting great value.

I will start by saying that I am not a hypochondriac. People who know me will plead otherwise but I maintain that I am simply easily panicked. Hypochondria is a proper condition, let’s not forget. Myself, I am merely in tune with my body’s every change and symptom. You call it obsession, I call it an Interest in Biology.

Recently, being interested in such things and easily panicked, I leafed through a copy of some outdated book on Liver and Bowel Function. (It was that or Deadly Australian Spiders so don’t judge.) (Actually I tried the Spider book first and was too revolted, making the Bowel book the more attractive choice. Yes, I hear you judging me.) It was a great read for the first ten minutes until I flicked to a section on bowel cancer, namely, ‘quite often there are no symptoms at all in the early stages.’ I certainly have never had any symptoms of bowel cancer and I can tell you it was a very stressful evening for me, cooking dinner convinced I was dying.

But then, as with most things, I got over myself and turned to the wisdom of my You books,  You: The Owner’s Manual and You: On a Diet by Dr Mehmet Oz and Dr Michael Roizen.  These books are my babies and help to make sense of any kind of imagined medical disaster I’m experiencing. They’ve been flaunted all over Oprah as you know, but the books do live up to the hype- telling it like it is, and explaining aspects of biology in an easy to follow manner. Perhaps too easy if you like your medical info a bit more technical and with less pictures. However I like the chattiness of them and they’re packed with interesting tips.

I am hugely excited about the newest book, You: Staying Young in which Dr’s Oz and Roizen claim that you can turn back the clock with a few adjustments to your life. It was released this year and while I don’t own a copy, I’m intrigued by the reviews I’ve come across. Apparently the latest advancements in medical research have allowed for all kinds of insights into the aging process. They say there are 14 Major Agers, and have easy steps to follow in order to combat them. I may very well give this a go after my recent discovery of many a grey hair when I am surely nowhere near the greying stage of my life. (What a panic that initial moment was.)

Take a look at these books. They’re fun and a lot more sensible than some of the hyped up ‘lose weight forever by drinking water for 6 weeks’ publications you see out there. Although, a book like that would probably work, but I think you’d lose more than weight…

I realise we’re all in mourning now the Olympics are over (really, didn’t the mourning begin once the swimming wrapped up?) and we’re all lost as to how to spend our evenings. If you can’t watch Australia slip slowly down the medal tally, what can you do with your time?

I’ve tried my age old trick of going back to writing trashy romance novels that never go anywhere. I started two in the last week. It’s a game I’ve been playing for years to no results, but I’m lured by the easy guidelines and writing standards of it all. However I keep getting bored with the predictability and putting it aside. Or I turn it in to some outrageous political statement or feminist rant and it goes no further. I wrote some excellent romantic pieces of cliche when I was fifteen or so. I suppose it was appropriate at the time.

My latest attempt wants to swing towards an argument about the current real estate market and serious lack of rental property which is ridiculous as it’s set in a 19th century laundry house. (Mills and Boon will love me, I hear their paycheck isn’t disastrous either…)

However, I think I’m too distracted for any form of writing in this post-Olympic, real estate anxiety driven state. 19th century laundresses will have to wait.

I realise I haven’t recommended a book yet and only promoted employment for the Mills & Boon powerhouse. Let me think.

I’ve been lax on the reading front this past week and the most I can do is search for you:

A whole selection of Olympic goodies of which Swifter, Higher, Stronger looks excellent.

Writing a Romance Novel, For Dummies These guys have a book for everything.  Join me in making literary history!  But probably not!

After a number of customer requests, we have now launched pre-ordering on selected upcoming big release titles.  Customers will now be able to place an order well in advance of the release of a title. We are initially only offering this on a small range of titles, but are working on expanding this out to eventually cover thousands of new releases.

The first two big titles that are available for pre-ordering are:

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

I think this is the big one for 2008. The first release from J.K. Rowling since the last Harry Potter, we expect this to trump most other releases. This is a book referred to in the Harry Potter series and comprises five fairy tales. Release date is the 4th of December, making this an easy Christmas gift for any Harry Potter fan.

Inheritance #3: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

This one is going to be interesting. I got a call the other day from a marketing person at the publisher of this title, who enthusiastically told me this was going to be the biggest release since Harry Potter. I’m always a tad sceptical when wild statements like this are presented, but I do think there is a large following of the Eragon series that will be eagerly anticipating the release of this title, the third installment in the series.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, this is a huge fantasy series with a film-tie in, written by Christopher Paolini, who is only 24 years of age. The first two books have been big movers: Eragon and Eldest. Release date is just over a month away.

Without a huge amount of fanfare and pomp, the paperback editions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the final installment of the Harry Potter series) have been released.

Seeing the familiar red and black covers again (as with the hardback editions, the paperbacks have been issued in separate Children’s and Adult versions) took me back to July of last year, when our whole team at The Nile was consumed by the massive publicity and logistics effort for the hardback release.  Good times!

The scale of this promotional effort was huge, and it turned out to be a massive learning curve. I must admit, I felt more than a tinge of giddiness when we signed the embargo agreement with the publisher that allowed us to take on the advance stock for the global release day on 21 July.  The books arrived in special Harry Potter boxes sealed with tamper-proof red tape.  They could not be opened until exactly 9.30am on the release day, and prior to that we had to store them in a secure room.

Millions around the world were itching to discover the ultimate fate of beloved characters Harry, Ron and Hermione.  It felt like we were sitting on gold!

All hands were on deck for release day itself (a Saturday).  Even our accounts team were there to roll up their sleeves and hastily pack the pre-orders for shipment before the couriers arrived.

All in all, I think we did pretty well…there were scores of satisfied customers and to this day, it remains the book we have sold most copies of at The Nile.

I am often asked which are our biggest sellers, and for the most part this a very hard question to answer.  Following the modern retail trend of the “Long Tail”, we sell many books only once or twice, many catering to very niche interests.

Harry Potter 7 was something different—a true superstar among books!  Will the paperback editions find their way into the Top 10? Let’s wait and see…

Happy Reading!

Hi folks.  My name is Reenah and I have been recruited for my deep insight, supreme grasp of linguistics and vast knowledge of everything book related on the planet.

Or, because I have an addiction to blogging, and I read books sometimes.

Draw your own conclusions and feel free to join in, leave comments or simply trade biscuit recipes (just baked some Orange Zest ones, lovely)…

I have been very busy at work. You know, the kind of busy that wears you down, prevents you from sleeping, encourages much consumption of unhealthy food and halts any exercise regime you once adhered to.

During times like this I don’t, generally, stop reading. My reading menu, does, however, change dramatically. A friend of mine once said to me that she could tell what frame of mind I was in from the book I carried in my handbag on any given day. This is true. During sleep-deprived overly stressed periods of work insanity or pre-exam anxiety, my reading menu of choice is heavy on comfort.

Comfort books – books you are already familiar with, which you already know you love, by authors whose writing you already know lulls you into a warm state of contentment.

So a week and a half ago, when I was close to tearing my hair out from stress, I bought This Charming Man by Marian Keyes.

It was perfect. It did the job. And, even though I have ostensibly had no time to think about anything other than work, I have fit in enough reading time – on trains, in cabs, during brief coffee breaks, before falling asleep late at night – to have finished the book, which is not insignificant.

I will review it properly next week, when I am able to give it my full attention. For now, though, a gift from me to you: a list of my top five comfort reads of all time (in no particular order).

1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

I know it’s predictable. I know some people won’t agree with me that Austen is comfort reading. But I defy you, once you are truly familiar with the story, to pick up the book during a stressful period in your life, turn to the scene in Mr Collins’s parsonage during Elizabeth’s visit to Lady Catherine’s Rosings estate during which Mr Darcy proposes for the first time, and not become truly absorbed. It is heady, romantic reading at its mannered best.

2. Fiona Walker

Author of Between Males, Well Groomed, French Relations among many others, you can always count on Fiona Walker to provide humour, sex, romance in a well-written package. I love good chick lit as much as the next chick, but I can’t bear badly written chick lit – and Fiona Walker is always on target, both in her writing and her subjects.

3. Georgette Heyer

“Historical Romance” – that is the official genre of Georgette Heyer. Every novel – and there are many to choose from – is filled with debutantes, the vivid colours and fashions of ‘the Season’, foppish men who spend more time on their appearance than the women do, and the requisite damsels in distress (‘distress’ in these cases generally equating to the threat of living life without a society husband). Utterly diverting.

4. Barbara Trapido

Brother of the More Famous Jack. Temples of Delight. Noah’s Ark.

I can’t bear to write more about Trapido without the space to do her justice, but let me just say this: if you love books and you love language, you will adore her writing. Temples of Delight is my favourite. Any scene involving Giovanni, the man of letters, will transport me from the realms of earthly stress in a matter of seconds.

5. Enid Blyton – especially The Magic Faraway Tree books

I am a woman in her thirties, yes. But there is something about The Magic Faraway Tree – the pure fantasy of it, the true escapism (quite literally!) that is incredibly satisfying. The Wishing Chair stories and the Twins at St. Clare’s books also carry me away to a different place.

When I am feeling ill or fragile and just want to curl up inside with a cup of hot cocoa, Enid Blyton is just the right thing.

In writing this list, so many other comfort books come to mind. But I promised you five and there they are. Feel free to write in and share your own preferred comfort books with me – it is a list I am always very pleased to add to!

Who is Swimming in The Nile?

I walked into a bookshop last weekend, picked up a book and smelled the pages. Strange, right? As is the tendency I have to run my hands down the spines of books in a library or a bookshop, while browsing at lunchtime in the middle of a busy day which otherwise holds no such joy.

I love books. Always have, always will. It delights me that, in addition to the bookstores and the libraries I frequent when I have the time and the inclination to wander outside and find them, I now have the Nile to explore from within the cosy climes of my home or office. Browsing the covers, the excerpts, the reviews – I feel like I am momentarily displaced, in another world for a short time.

So… now I have the added bonus of being able to write for the Nile, on my favourite literary subjects. I can write about the profound impact Judy Blume had on me as a pre-adolescent girl, when Tiger Eyes and Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret held my full attention. Or how reading a book by Barbara Trapido, Temples of Delight, made me laugh and cry and want to live in Oxford all at the same time. Trapido also induced me to read Di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, and Di Lampedusa in turn inspired me towards Machiavelli. It’s like that with books, isn’t it? One of them leads inexorably towards another. I am in a bookclub, with 11 other women, and after we had read Paul Auster’s Moon Palace last month we all became intensely curious about his wife’s writing – so we read Siri Hustvedt’s Sorrows of an American next, and compared their voices (and gossiped about what their daughter must be like – imagine growing up in the midst of such literary glory…). I can write about Pride and Prejudice, the deep love I have had for that book since well before the BBC series, which I think may be genetically ingrained – my mother used to read sections of it the night before each med-school exam in order to calm her nerves, so a passion for Austen appears to be a family trait.

I studied literature for seven years at University, thinking that by studying it academically I could turn my passion into profession. Alas, it was not to be. I did not want to dismantle books for a living. I have become a lawyer instead, but I still read for pleasure every day.

So it is with immense gratitude to the Nile-boys that I start this column/blog. A space to call my own, in which I can share with all you fellow-book lovers stories from my reading time. I look forward to meeting many of you in cyber-space – I will be reviewing books here, discussing writers, commenting on upcoming literary events (the Sydney Writers’ Festival anyone?), divulging snippets of conversation from my bookclub meetings – and I hope you will join me regularly, to read or to share thoughts of your own.

Happy reading!