The last 5 books you read

Purpose built for people like me: Reading notes is a wee diary to record what you've read. Purrrrrr.....

You've been bookmarked!

Letting artists run riot at Crockatt and Powell? "Bookmarked is an interactive exhibition where artists designed and made bookmarks that are now spread in fungus fashion through our stock."

I want one...

What, when, where, who, how.

Yesterday the dovegreyreader posted on how she read, today it's when. Not to be outdone (and also because it's an interesting topic), Susan Hill has done a companion(?) piece on where she reads.

Just Who and What to go.

Coping with rejection

David Keeling has a new way of coping with rejection letters. A rating system. Step up, the first victim...

The Gender Genie

This is nifty. The Gender Genie takes a writing snippet (fiction, non-fiction or blog), and uses a nifty algorithm to figure out whether the author is male of female.

How I read now

Over at dovegreyreader, Lynne has an interesting piece on how she reads. Basically, a “fast” book, that can be read in snatches where time allows and is completed very fast, as well as 3 ongoing books, read in stages, which might take some time.

This reminds me of the Nick Hornby talk (which I still haven't blogged, but I promise I will!), where he said he couldn't read more than two books at a time, and even with two, one had to be fiction and the other non-fiction.

Like Lynne, I do sometimes have ongoing books, usually big, un-luggable items of 500 or so pages, though sometimes it's a book that is just a "heavy" read. I'll also read a number of lighter (and more transportable) books at the same time. I used to be a prime offender in reading many, many books at the same time, but these days the need for completion is higher somehow...

Literature on the Underground

Scott Pack blogs here about Litro - original fiction for the Underground. Aparently they have a couple of distributors at Stockwell and London Bridge (if I remember rightly), but you can sign up to eLitro on the site. I've just been thinking in the last few weeks how great it would be to have something like this... and here it is!

Carnegie of Carnegies

Lots of exciting stuff today! First up, vote for the Carnegie of Carnegies.

The voice of god...?

A very funny post from the folks at Crockatt and Powell about James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vadar) reading an audio book version of the bible...

Book buying criteria: Part 1

Danuta Kean has an interesting piece on how she chooses books to read. While over at Susan Hill's blog she asks the question "Do we buy books for their titles?"

Do I? I'm going to have to think about that.

Judging a book

The Telegraph asks: "Do books have to be ugly?" IMHO, if he thinks things are bad here, he should some of the rubbish covers they're pumping out in the US. US vs. UK. What do you think? I know which is more memorable.

I wouldn't mind if they were a bit smaller though (which is why I'm quite fond of the Collector's Library)...

1001 Books

Jessa Crispin has an interview with Peter Boxall on his book 1001 Books you must read before you die. Interesting that the editor stated something which I’d always assumed was the purpose of a book like this, namely that “…the book is at its most provocative and useful a] when it suggests new books to you that you haven't thought of as important, and b] when it misses books off that you think are important.” As opposed to a "must read" list.

Having said that I definitely agree with Jessa's comment on Bookslut that “…the list of contemporary works contains a lot of books that won't be remembered in five years, let alone forever.”

I’ve noticed this trend with contemporary fiction – the hot read of today, is the forgotten novel of tomorrow. This idea has formed the basis of one the book-buying rules I’ve been following for a while now. Wait for a good long while – say two years. If the book is still public eye, or if I’m still interested, then it gets added to the pile. Okay, so I’ll never be very current, but it cuts down on reading something because it’s the flavour of the week.

Making the leap from page to stage

High Fidelity as a musical? I just can't imagine. No offence meant.

Top 20 New Zealand Books

The New Zealand Herald lists the top 20 New Zealand books of all time, with The Bone People coming in at number 1.

Ironic considering that John Crace of the Guardian considers it one of the worst books ever to win the booker. Don't even get me started on how much I hated Vernon God Little...

To archive or not to archive?

I’ve seen quite a few stories about how Salman Rushdie is selling his archives to Emory University, however this is the first article I’ve seen that actually mentions he is also joining the University as writer-in-residence for a 5-year tenure.

While of course it would be nice if the archives were in the UK, I think some commentators are missing the point. Surely the main thing is that these archives are preserved at all? Of course it would be nice to have them in the UK, but given that no-one is going to stump up for them, at least we know they will be well looked after at Emory.

In New Zealand there is very little money in writing, let alone any money available to buy archives. Writers usually give away their archives, as part of spring cleaning.

New favourite place

Yesterday I discoverd the Oxfam Books and Music shop on Marylebone High Street. Perhaps I'm the only person who gets so excited about this kind of thing, but I promptly found seven books and handed over £20, which I considered well spent. It is a terrific shop, with a great selection of books in very good (often untouched) condition. A few paces up is Daunt Books, another fabulous bookshop with a great selection, and architecture that makes you think that this is what all bookshops should look like. Sigh.

A winning streak

Also the Booker prize was announced this week, this time with Kiran Desai scooping the prize, pretty much as the rank outsider. But isn't the Booker known for that?

Nobel Prize in Literature announced

Orhan Pamuk was the odds-on favourite, and this time the bookies came through. He was announced as this years winner on Thursday, and presented with a hefty cheque. Shamefully, I have one untouched book of his somewhere in New Zealand...

On the Road vs. Google Maps

I love this idea... Michael Hess has a project going on to map the journey from "On the Road" on Google Maps.

If more people did this is would save me a lot of time standing in front of the World map on my wall going "Now... where is Rouen...?"

All people in this work are fictional... except one.

There seem to have been a few cases lately of people immortalising themselves in print (see my earlier post on "Skin").

Now, Irish author Jason Johnson is auctioning a starring role in his next book.

Synchronicity vs. Flaubert

Here's a funny thing - having finished Flaubert's Parrot last month, and having just finished Madame Bovary yesterday, I happened upon this piece in which Julian Barnes reimagines the ending of Madame Bovary, in her own words.

Isn't life funny like that?

What I've been Buying - September

And here's what I've been buying in September...
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
Mr Thundermug* by Cornelius Medvei

* In fact, I was lucky enough not to pay for Mr Thundermug, but to have a copy sent to me gratis by Sue Hill, whose high opinion of the book led her to purchase a number of copies and distribute them to those who asked nicely. Kudos.

What I've been Reading - September

Here's a list of what I polished off in September...
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut