And the lead goes to...

A new blog called My Book, The Movie, looks at who authors would have play the characters from their books, in the film adaptation.

Buy the book... and see the film?

Go to the movie first, then read the book? Or read the book first and then see the movie? Either way, the Oscars are boosting book sales for nominated films.

The Beat Generation

Since I'm currently reading Go by John Clellon Holmes, I stumbled across The Beat Page which has some great (and brief) biographies of "beat" writers.

Mirror Mirror

Who is the greatest living British author? Perhaps not Martin Amis, as was suggested by the Guardian last week. The critics choice is... (drum roll please)... here.

Beauty meets function

Take a look at the books made with recycled wooden covers over at Woodenbooks. Just beautiful.

Teen Reads?

USA Today has posted an interesting article - adult books recommended by the ALA for teens.

How to choose a novel

The page-69 rule is attracting quite a following.

Iraq Diary

As well as book news, I also try to keep up with what is going on in the Library world from time to time. I found this most remarkable diary on the British Library website, of Saad Eskander, Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive. I know this is a bit of a departure from my usual posts, but the figures were so striking that I'm moved to put them on the blog.

The INLA has 464 staff. To date, 4 have been killed, 66 of their relatives have been killed, 2 have been kidnapped, 58 have received death threats - the list goes on.

How little we really know about what is going on in Iraq.

NZ Poetry - Reviewed

The Guardian does a review of Lifted by Bill Manhire, my favourite poet. Though you wouldn't think that his "Collected Poems" had been out in the UK for years:

"...so few are the specimens of New Zealand poetry that make it on to the shelves. These include James Baxter, Allen Curnow, Lauris Edmond, and longtime UK resident Fleur Adcock, a list to which can now be added the name of Bill Manhire."

Synchronicity?

And a blog with the same idea...

Just as well I changed tack, huh?

In the spirit of the blog

Take a look at the name of the blog, then take a look at this article from the Guardian.

What I've been Buying - January

As you can see, the size of my TBR pile is no obstacle to acquiring just a few more items...

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Emma by Jane Austen
The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
A Man without Country by Kurt Vonnegut
Book Book by Fiona Farrell
The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox
Fury by Salman Rushdie

What I've been Reading - January

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde
The Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

What I've been Buying - December

December was a truly bumper month. In fact due to all the presents that came in the form of books, the post should probably be renamed "What I've acquired". Because it's such a big list, I've also decided to do away with the links (just too time consuming).

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde
The Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
What Good are the Arts? by John Carey
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Eight Secrets of Investment Success by Martin Hawes
Something happened by Joseph Heller
Go by John Clellon Holmes
Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
The Complete Short Novels by D. H. Lawrence
Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
The Plot against America - Philip Roth
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Hells Angels by Hunter S. Thompson

What I've been Reading - December

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis
Mansfield by C. K. Stead
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Schott's Original Miscellany by Ben Schott
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Author, Author by David Lodge