Rachel Heath’s debut novel The Finest Type of English Womanhood has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. The judges praised the book as “dark and gripping story which merges fact and fiction so powerfully”.

The winner will be announced on the 5th January, and Windmill will publish the paperback in February.

The sneak preview is almost at an end, thanks to all of you who had a look around and commented/Tweeted us. Your suggestions will be taken in, your praise wallowed in, and you criticisms used to check our expanding egos. Now, without further ado, here’s the promised giveaway for your time and troubles. I have 5 mini-hampers to give away. Each includes:

You Are Here by Christopher Potter, aforementioned book that floored my jaw this year.

Generation A by Douglas Coupland, the new novel from the author of Generation X and JPod, and another dazzling acheivment in experimental storytelling.

Bad Vibes by Luke Haines. If he wasn’t so funny you’d hate him. But not as much as he hates ‘Wonderwall’. A brilliant, biting memoir from the dark days of Britpop.

Plus limited edition Windmill Books notebooks and postcards.

To win, simply tweet me the answer to the following question: What four books did I think fast readers would get mixed up? http://windmill.rhgd.co.uk/index.php/2009/11/what-kind-of-reader-are-you/

The first 5 Tweets will win. Go go go!

Welcome to your sneak peak of the new site for Windmill Books, proud publishers of some of the most exciting new and established literary authors around today.

The site will officially be launched on the 1^st December, with more of the latest titles, news from our authors, events, competitions, podcasts, and posts from The Turbine blog than you can shake a pointy stick at. As this is a test site, some of the pages may be a little slow to load; it’ll be back to its slick best for the full site. Otherwise please have a rummage round, and let us know what you think by leaving comments or tweeting us @WindmillBooks.

The Windmill Team

Douglas Coupland, John Niven and Nick Harkaway have all been chosen in ShortList magazine’s list ‘The 50 Books Every Man Should Own’.

The list also has a feature by Nick Harakaway in which he praises Josh Bazell’s Beat the Reaper, published by Hutchinson ealier this year, and Windmill in 2010: ‘Bazell’s a pretty good contender for Raymond Chandler’s crown…I was consumed with envy reading this one; it’s so damn good.’

ShortList called Harkaway’s The Gone-Away World a ’superlative debut…proof of a glittering talent’, whilst in Kill Your Friends ‘Niven’s dry, black humour and caustic wit keep the laughs coming in what is a truly coruscating, darkly hilarious account of the music industry, written by one of its own.’

ShortList is available free in the London area.