Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Firstly, apologies for having rather a patchy posting history over the last few weeks. I've been variously in another country or sick for about 3 weeks now, so the blog had to take a wee breather.

In the meantime, here's a great article on Other People's Books, and what their choices say about them, from the Chronicle.

Change one thing

I love this idea over at JohnRickards.com. Take the title of a book. Change one letter. Create a whole new book. How about "The Ball of the Wild"? "A Walk on the Mild Side"? "Brick Land", "Flaubert's Carrot", "My Life as a Rake", "Norwegian Food"?

This is waaaayyy too much fun...

The Score

Here is my “score” for the Prize winners I’ve read. For a couple of awards it doesn’t look too bad. Most of them – I haven’t read a damn thing. If I was going to start a reading "project" based on prize-winners, I'd definitely start with the Newberry...

The Newberry Medal (4)
2004 The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (not read yet, but I’ve just bought it)
1999 Holes by Louis Sachar
1978 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
1963 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle

Man Booker Prize (8)
2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
2003 Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
1999 Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
1998 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
1985 The Bone People by Keri Hulme
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (5)
2001 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
1999 The Hours by Michael Cunningham
1994 The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
1983 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1961 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A shorter list

The Man Booker Short List is out, less the favourites.

Chicks and Lads

The "chick lit" debate continues at Mediabistro, as Serious Literary Women Agree:Chick Lit Just a Marketing Tag.

I think part of the problem lies in that very few women want to be,
1. Identified with the characters in the books that tend to make up "chick lit",
2. Called a chick.

I mean, you don't see the same debate raging over "lad lit" do you? Could it be that most men don't mind being thought of as a "lad"? Or is this debate in the making also?

As an aside, the term "chick lit" always makes me laugh - it sounds like some kind of small bird...

A real mark-up

Via the ever tremendous Bookslut here's another article on marginalia and marking up books: State of the Annotation at Inside Higher Ed.

Prize Winning Books Online

In the meantime, if you want to up your "prize reading" stats but don't want to fork out the cash, check out Prize Winning Books Online.

Keeping score

Over at I Love Books recently they had an interesting post on How many Booker winning novels have you read? This got me thinking about how many other prize winning novels I might have read also.

Just to clarify, I am a bit dubious about literary prizes sometimes. I have read some really dire prize winners in my time. Of course I've also read some treasures, so I figure your chances of hitting the jackpot are about the same as selecting books for yourself from the bookshop.

Powell's have a terrific list of the prizes and who has won them. I will let you know how I make out...

The reading diary

I started keeping a list of all the books I've read about a year ago, and it is a surprisingly rewarding activity. So far, this just consists of writing down the author, title and date of completion. Even with this little bit of information, it's terrific to look back at what I've read. How else would I know, for example, that in the first year of keeping records that I read 58 books? This also has the bonus of being able to assess when people are telling a wee (or not so wee) white lie about how many books they've read. For shame.

I've been jotting it all down in the back of one of my notebooks, but the time is fast approaching for this little project to have a notebook of it's own. Levenger (again, I know…) and more recently Susan Hill have talked about people who keep a Reader's List or diary. It gives me a nice note of closure to the reading process (put a note it in the book, and shelve).

Mooching about

Wondering what to do with your old books? Not enough money for new ones? Check out BookMooch. It looks like they have been going about a month, but already have over 60,000 books available for "mooching" off other willing members.

Nascar: the final frontier

And just to keep up the innovation theme, The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer has become the first book to be advertised on a racecar.

"The Book of Fate," a thriller by Brad Meltzer that opens with a scene at Daytona International Speedway, was featured on the hood of the FitzBradshaw racing team’s No. 12 car in the Busch Series race on Friday (the car finished 32nd). Mr. Meltzer declined to say how much the ad, a modest white circle with his name under the book’s title, cost.

Pop Quiz: Will this book ever be out of print?

More people doing interesting things with the book/story "format". This time it's Skin: A story published on the skin of 2095 volunteers.

The new personality test?

Over at Susan Hill's blog she has an interesting post (and comments) on judging a person's character by the books they read. This reminds me of the article in the Guardian they had last year about reading books to look smart.

Am I guilty? Well, mostly I buy things I think will be interesting or entertaining. I have occasionally duped myself into buying books that I think I "should" read, which I often regret. Most of my self-consciousness comes when I look at the titles in my library already. What do they say about me, I wonder? What would a person who didn't know me, or hadn't seen me for ten years, assume about me if they saw my library now? And just to confuse things, I have a merged library with the Other Half - what does our library say about us collectively?

As far as judging a person's character by the books they read - I think I'd be most concerned if they didn't read at all...

Folding, Writing and Cracking

Yes, I am completely guilty of all these things (though only in books I own).

Admission one: I fold over the corners of pages - top corner for where I'm up to, bottom corner for memorable quotes. Yes, I do own bookmarks. But if one doesn't fall into my outstretched hand, I fold.
Admission two: I write on my books - though in pencil, and only when inspired. Perhaps there is some kind of psychological reason about not wanting to make a permanent mark...?
Admission three: I crack the spines - this is practically a rite of passage for books I own. The only books I don't do this to are those that are signed by the author, which I try to keep as pristine as possible (on the slim chance that they might be valuable - to someone other than me - one day).

I know some people get upset about this. To me, it's part of owning a book - and not just owning it, but possessing it and making it mine in some irrevocable way. I get edgy when people lend me their pristine books. There are some people you just know aren't spine crackers. The binding could be so tight it almost can't be prised open, and some poor reader will have their face practically glued to the side of the book to see the text on the other page. People please - reading is supposed to be about enjoyment, not eye strain.

I was browsing the Levenger website (yes, again!) when I found two great articles about marking books, Writing in Books and How to Leave Masterly Marginalia. Of course they are a commercial site, so they are very diplomatic about it, but it makes for great reading. I do believe in the value of "marginalia" - I have been reading (with grim fascination) The Naked Lunch and the inside cover has reproduced what I take to be part of the original. It's like a tiny glipse into the author's psyche.

Where's my 3B pencil gone…?

The accessorised reader

Apart from books, I'm not really a big fan of shopping. However I am a big fan of book-related accessories.

A friend introduced me to the Levenger catalogue. I am particularly enamoured of the Bookography Journal. I can't figure out if it's incredibly gimmicky, or just what I've always wanted. Go figure.

Someone also pointed out these great little shelves from twentytwentyone in London. I love the idea of my books being suspended by a book.

Frey Settlement

James Frey's publishers have settled with those who believed they were reading a memoir and somehow felt defrauded. I'm not sure how I feel about this, I have to say. I'm sure some of the impetus for this lawsuit is not so much "emotional distress" as "embarrassment money". I wonder if Oprah will turn in her page 163?

£To receive refunds — $23.95 for the hardcover, $14.95 for paperback — consumers will have to submit a receipt or some other proof of purchase: for the hardcover, page 163; for the paperback, the book's front cover. They also will have to sign a sworn statement that they bought the book because they believed it was a memoir."

Beam me up

Normally I don't watch a great deal of TV - however this deserves a special mention. Today is the 40th Anniversary of Star Trek. Not that I'm a trekkie in any way. But just by pure chance, I'm staying where they are holding their Chicago convention. I just couldn't figure out why people had William Shatner all over their torsos.....

New Zealand literature forum

Leaf Salon now have a forum for New Zealand readers, writers and publishers. I think I've found my new favourite site...

Pop Quiz

The Times Online have a fabulous (if frightening) literary quiz going.

My score was appalingly low. D- Must try harder.

The travelling reader (part 2)

I've been thinking more about reading books set in places you've been, and it's corollary - reading books set in the place your about to go.

A couple of years ago now we went to Egypt, and took along for the ride Christian Jacq's first volume of the Ramses series, and Arabian Nights and Days by the late Naguib Mahfouz. The effect they had on the trip was quite dramatic. Cam practically tripped over himself at Abu Simbel looking for the picture of Ramses' lion on the wall, and for me it added another layer of cultural perspective that could quite easily have been lost.

I've just rediscovered Salon's Literary Guide to the World - a fantastic (in progress) resource for identifying some appropriate reads. This is ten times better than the teeny weeny space they devote to literature in travel guides - I hope they consider putting out a book.

The travelling reader

Since I moved to the UK a few years ago, I've discovered new pleasures in reading.

For example, there is nothing quite like reading a book that is set in a place that you're familiar with. Books that can evoke a memory of Vienna, or Chicago, or the crowded streets of London in rush hour. The stories seem that much more immediate. Recently I was in Edinburgh, and wandered down Fleshmarket Close (the setting of Ian Rankin's book of the same name - or Fleshmarket Alley if you live in the US). I had tea at the Elephant House, the setting for one of the acts in Alexander McCall Smith's latest 44 Scotland Street book (and alleged writing place for JKR's first instalment in the Harry Potter series).

I've also realised how limited my reading choices used to be, fuelled by chain stores, the cost of books in New Zealand (pretty outrageous compared to the cost of living - see this interesting series of posts), and the kinds of authors they teach in University. I don't see any faculty offering a creditable course in, say, American literature, or magical realism. While we do reasonably well in terms of stocking home-grown fiction, we do pretty badly in stocking say, New Zealand poetry or American fiction. Or at least that is how it strikes me.

I've also learned to love the charms of both the behemoth chains (Waterstones Piccadilly being my favourite), and independents (the London Review Bookshop stands out). I love that so much heterogeneity can exist amongst those who consider themselves booksellers. Just as no two bookshelves are the same, so the bookshops. In the weekend I bought Book Lovers London, and immediately began to tick off where I've been, and make lists of "must visits", that should occupy my life for the foreseeable future.

The decline and fall of censorship...?

USA Today recently published an interesting article on "Challenged" books. Apparently challenges have dropped to the lowest number since the ALA began keeping records in the early 1980's. Although they cite less energy to address events outside the home, and the internet as reasons why challenges have dropped, I have to wonder if there are other reasons. Are publishers increasingly rejecting books that they know are likely to be targets? Or alternately, getting their authors to tone them down? Has the threshold for what is "acceptable" changed?

I am always surprised at what is challenged. To me, there is nothing about the Harry Potter series that would suggest that a bonfire was the way to go. I remember reading The Catcher in the Rye in school, and being bored half to death. Back then I couldn’t understand the fuss our teacher was making about how great it was.

Censorship is like being in denial - maybe if we ignore the issue, it will all go away. And, we all know how well that works...

Serialisation strikes back

A terrific website has been set up for The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. I love the re-introduction of the serialisation concept. I'm almost tempted to buy...

Waterstone's Piccadilly Exchange

Scene: Browsing the shelves in Waterstone's Piccadilly, next to the Children's department.

Irish Gentleman: Excuse me, are you English?
Me [misunderstanding this for "Do you speak English?"]: Yes.
Irish Gentleman: Is this the biggest bookshop in Europe?
Me: Yes, I have heard that.
Irish Gentleman: Does it seem that big to you? It doesn't seem that big to me.
Me: Umm, well, I've been to a few, and this is the biggest book store I've been in.
Irish Gentleman: Well, it doesn't seem that big to me. Do you know where the picture books are? I want to send one to my niece and heard they had a big section.
Me [Waving a hand]: Over there I think.
Irish Gentleman [exiting stage right]: Thanks
Me [Internal thought]: ???