The Booktopia Book Guru asks Miroslav Penkov author of East of the West: A Country in Stories Ten Terrifying Questions  —————– 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in Gabrovo, which is a small mountainous town in Bulgaria, and which also happens to be the world capital of ... Read more

What I do get to do however, is to sample a LOT of books, and I get to fall in love with a few. And the few that take me to a different place, more than make up for the rest of the 450 on that list that made me want to go out and re-plant the trees. So here they are, my top picks for 2011, for those of you for whom Morrissey and Reilly just don't cut it. Read more

Recently, I was given Miroslav Penkov's East of the West collection. Never heard of him? Either had I. While Penkov is a debut author, Rodney Hall's latest collection, Silence, comes to us from the pen of a true master. Read more