Reading Underground

What's Big and Green and Reads a lot?

2008-03-19T11:19:00.003Z

I know posting has been a little patchy of late, though I ask you all to bear with me. I'm still out and about, trying to keep up with the book world, so I shall post as I can. The delays are mostly due to "The Europe Trip" which approaches apace (more on that soon).

Back in London though, last Friday I went up to Wood Green to check out the Big Green Bookshop. Full marks must go to Simon and Tim the venerable owners, who have been through almost every trial and tribulation to get the shop open. They should be very proud of their efforts. It's a fab wee shop, a great selection of books, and the service is lovely to boot. I don't think I've ever had a book retailer in London who was more delighted to serve me. Word of their shop has certainly spread through the reading world (thanks no doubt to their ever-hopeful blog), and I was chatting away on LibraryThing the other day when another punter mentioned the shop. I hope it all turns into sales for them.

Book Futures, Pt 2

2008-03-14T09:36:00.002Z

After a short speech by each of the panel, the floor was thrown open to questions. Impossible as it was to get through them all, they raised a lot of good points (even if they weren't always well-constructed questions).

Martyn pointed out that technology doesn't always evolve in the way you expect, for example the use of the QWERTY keyboard isn't the most efficient in terms of typing, but historically was the set-out that avoided the hammers from jamming.

John labelled this the "age of the amateur". For example, anyone can now become a film-maker, but it hasn't been the downfall of film. In the same way, anyone can now write.

Following a question regarding academic publishing and the peer-review process, there was some interesting discussion about standards. Martyn noted that in academic publishing, the author isn't looking for payment, but CV building and tenure (my words, not his). Scott observed that until the Internet, academic material went through a very small number of peer-reviewers. He also noted that the world is full of books that are crap, but have a lot of appeal, and I personally think these two points go together - yes there is a lot of crap on the Internet, but that doesn't mean people aren't interested in it. The Internet creates its own peer-review process.

Martyn made the great point that the book world is really a number of different industries united by a format - literature is different from religion is different from trade is different from cookbooks. Each is used and read differently, and evolution will therefore happen at a different pace in each area. As an aside, I think you already see this in academic publishing and journals, and there are some industries that will always be difficult to move to another media, such as the graphics in architecture journals.

The discussion then turned a little more towards e-books and Digital Rights Management (DRM). Scott gave the statistic that in his last 2 years at Waterstone's when they were selling books through Amazon, they sold 1 e-book. Most of the panelists seem to agree that providing some free digital content actually stimulated sales of the physical product in both books and music. Martyn noted that most of what is holding back digitisation is rights and debates about the rights of the author.

At this point the night was pretty much concluded, and I think it's apt to finish with an observation by Scott Pack, who said that we wouldn't believe the future of the book if someone showed it to us today.

Book Futures, Pt 1

2008-03-14T08:43:00.003Z

It's been a few days since I last posted, the combined effect of a morning job, and preparing to leave the country. I did take some time out last night though to attend Book Futures, the last event of the 1st London Word Festival.

Featuring Scott Pack, Chris Meade, Martyn Daniels, John Lenahan and Shirley Dent, they generated lively discussion for an hour and a half (though all could have gone on for easily that long again, I'm sure). My apologies for any mis-quotations, but I'll try to distill the gist of the conversation from my 3 pages of closely scrawled notes.

After a reading from John Lenahan, Scott Pack started the evening by summing-up the evening - that is, we don't know the future, and if you ask 100 different people, you'll get 100 different answers. He predicted a lot of change for writers and publishers before readers really notice much difference, and made the observation that book retailers are "shitting themselves" about digital technology. He drew the same parallels between the digitisation of books and music that I did in LibraryThing not that long ago. Essentially, major changes came about in the music industry when it became more portable and more enjoyable (I put it as more "cool"), whereas things aren't quite the same for books. They're already portable. You don't read a chapter of this book, then a chapter of something else, in the same way that you might change albums to listen to different songs. Readers will be the ones that decide what happens if digital media, and will only take it up if it improves things. Where the reading experience can be improved (travel guides, cook books) is where the changes will happen.

Martyn Daniels was up next, with an analogy that predictions about the future of the book where like those about global warming. You've got your doom-mongers, your profiteers, experts and ignorers. Ultimately however, we're discussing consumer demand in a vacuum since there is little digital content available. Figures he gave later in the evening pointed to 3,000,000 books in print currently, and only 100,000 e-books of which 80,000 is academic material. He also called the Kindle a "waste of space" which, in its current incarnation at least, I'd agree with. Daniels also pointed out that form has largely dictated content up until now, and digitisation offers the opportunity to "explode the spine". With writers throughout history making use of serialisation, from Dickens to Stephen King to the new mobile novels in Japan, we should look at new technology and writing as a glass half-full.

Chris Meade followed up the idea of form over content by asking, What matters to us about Literature? He predicts that a new kind of writer will rise for a new kind of reader. We now have more possibilities for collaboration between a creative writer and a creative reader, making use of the technology.

Ah, free books!

2008-02-29T12:49:00.001Z

Over at Random House, get yourself a PDF of Beautiful Children, but only until midnight tonight.

Book bits and bobs

2008-02-29T12:42:00.003Z

Lots of nifty bookish things over at Kimbooktu. I especially like those flexible shelves (hint, hint).

Bookshelf are featuring a "Library Bath" today. How am I possibly going to exist without one of those now that I know they exist?

And finally, a great picure of stairs.

Lovely things #2

2008-02-25T14:23:00.002Z

In the weekend we took a day trip to Bath. Priorities were clearly laid out before the trip:
1. Mr B's
2. Breakfast
3. Roman Baths

I must have heard about Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights not long after they opened, but it's taken me almost a year to actually get over to Bath to have a snoop around. I'd scoped out the website, written down the address, and memorised the name of their wee pooch, so Thunderbirds were go.

I had a lovely couple of hours browsing, completely oblivious to anything else. The Lovely Hubby hunkered down in the comfy chair, and let me run riot.

Needless to say, it was a successful visit, and I was delighted to find the Saramago, which I've been looking for for ages. On the train back to London I could be found half asleep hugging my Mr B's bag. I love well-stocked Independents. Oh, and we got to meet Vlashka too.

Lovely things #1

2008-02-25T14:11:00.002Z

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I love LibraryThing. One aspect that I've always been a bit jealous of was the Early Reviewer books, which only ever seemed to be available to those in the USA and Canada.

So, delight number 1 was having The Friday Project put up some books for those of us in the UK. Delight number 2 was successfully getting an early reviewer book (at 1 in 20 odds) - woo hoo! The lovely hubby can verify that I actually did a little dance when I found out I was getting a copy of Attention. Deficit. Disorder by Brad Listi. Yay for the good people at TFP!

Now, if we can just get Early Reviewers extended out into New Zealand by the time I make it back there...

Interesting...

2008-02-21T09:42:00.001Z

... since I used to work for these guys. Reed Elsevier to shed more than 1,000 jobs.

Booker of Bookers Redux

2008-02-21T09:38:00.000Z

This time, the public get to vote.

London Word Festival

2008-02-20T09:39:00.003Z

The London Word Festival starts on Friday, and I've booked myself in to see the panel on "Book Futures".

Additions to the canon

2008-02-20T09:12:00.002Z

The canon of abbreviations that is. Welcome: Mick Lit, Sick Lit and Schtick Lit.

Red Room

2008-02-20T08:51:00.002Z

Thanks to The Elegant Variation for some interesting bits and bobs today. New to me is Red Room, "Where the Writers are". Look up bios on your favourite authors, read their blogs (and comment), and there are articles and interviews.

The List, in progress

2008-02-19T09:25:00.003Z

I think this will always be a work in progress. Even when the trip is over, I'll still be thinking of things I should have read. As it stands, here are my best intentions (blue being those books I have already:

UK: Down and Out in Paris and London (it's a bridging book)
France: The Needle in the Blood, Bonjour Tristesse, The Misanthrope, Candide.
Spain: Don Quixote (too ambitious/large perhaps? We own it, that's the main attraction.)
Portugal: The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
Italy: The Leopard, Invisible Cities, Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Croatia/Bosnia: The Bridge on the Drina
Slovenia: (Less than 48 hours here, but we'll see what I can come up with)
Austria: Goalies Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
Liechtenstein: (Just passing through, again we'll see)
Switzerland: On Travel (it's a bit of a cheat, but I read The Magic Mountain last year and it was enough on Switzerland for a lifetime).
Germany: Summer in Baden-Baden (wangled a trip here on the basis of this book), Goodbye to Berlin, Vertigo
Czech Republic: The Trial
Luxembourg: (Here a few days, so I'll have to come up with something.)

Then it's on to Africa:
Zimbabwe: Maybe... Nervous Condition, Butterfly Burning or The House of Hunger?
Botswana: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
Namibia: Born of the Sun?
South Africa: Chaka or Cry the Beloved Country?

As you can see, it's a list in progress. The Africa addition to the trip is relatively new, so I've not had much time to think on it. I'd just bought a new McCall Smith, so it will be called into active service.

Some countries have too many books, others too few. Some countries we'll be in for less than 48 hours. I've not limited myself to fiction either, there are a few plays in there, and one possibility is to download a bit of poetry from each place as well just to round things out. Thank goodness we're driving Europe in a campervan.

A Good Start

2008-02-19T09:01:00.004Z

This is the beginning of my "Europe Trip" book pile that I keep banging on about. I've just realised that I've left in Dostoyevsky and it's not looking likely that we'll get to Russia, but oh well. He's small and I may just take him along anyway.

It's not a very big pile at the moment (though my other half would have me believe that it's already too big by half), and I've been slowly letting the collection evolve as I:
a. Find books secondhand, or
b. Break down and buy something that looks really good.

I started out with a set of general rules, which I've almost managed to stick to.

They have to be relatively small (less than 300 pages)
If possible they should be both about, and by an author from, the country in question.
They should hold the possibility of enjoyment. I am on holiday after all.

There are a few notable exceptions, The Needle in the Blood being one, but I'm making a point of going to Bayeux and I couldn't resist a dovegrey reader recommendation. The Cloudspotter's Guide is another exception, but I do intend to spend at least some time going slow enough to assess the weather.

I've just realised that this description of collection makes it all seem much easier that it has been, as I pore over 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and Book Lust, spending hours in Stamfords and Daunt licking the end of my pencil and scribbling titles in notebooks. I have a colour-coded spreadsheet no less, and the final list has been the source of some hand-wringing I can tell you.

Festival, Festival!

2008-02-19T08:47:00.002Z

The New Zealand International Arts Festival starts on Friday, and I'm totally impressed at the big guns we've got coming. I've looked at festival programmes in the UK where I've not known a single author (though this could just be a comment on me), but NZ manages to hook Ian McEwan, James Meek, Joseph Stiglitz et al. Now I just wish I was going to be there...

Hic! Lit

2008-02-18T15:32:00.002Z

Uh oh. It must be a slewsday. Reformed alcoholics now have a catchy up-beat marketing phrase for their "genre". Hic Lit. We have The Independent to blame for this one.

Five Best

2008-02-18T14:30:00.002Z

A list of the five best satires of academic life over at the Wall St Journal. I harbour a strange weakness for the academic novel, having read both Small World and Lucky Jim from the list, and I just picked up a copy of Pnin last week. I wonder what this says about me?

Reading Europe

2008-02-14T10:01:00.003Z

The Three Percent blog reminds us about Reading the World 2008. This is perfect for me, because:

I didn't know about Reading the World, and
As previously mentioned, I'm going to simultaneously read and travel Europe this year, and it's great to find some additional inspiration.

It's a great idea, a great resource, and I'm quietly pleased to find I've actually read a few of their 2007 titles.

Commonwealth Writers' Prize

2008-02-14T09:43:00.001Z

The shortlist is now out. I'm a little disappointed to see no New Zealand authors this year, after the success of Mr Pip.

Tasks for Wednesday

2008-02-13T09:23:00.002Z

To do list:

Support a local bookseller, or he may have to sell the shirt off his back.
Keep a photodiary of all the bookshops you've ever been to.
Get to the bottom of this. I don't see any denials going on at TFP though.

Things Librarianish

2008-02-07T08:59:00.000Z

First up, March of the Librarians.

Why is it that ALA conferences always have those two elevators?

And secondly, Library Wedding Invitations.

Literary tourism

2008-02-05T15:04:00.001Z

48 hours in literary London - It's on my "To Do" list.

Been there, got the badge.

2008-02-05T14:59:00.000Z

I think Simon and Tim of the Big Green Bookshop may have missed their (second) calling. These guys are masters of marketing - no shop yet, but it hasn't stopped them getting onto ebay. Excuse me while I go off to bid...

Two's company

2008-01-31T10:14:00.001Z

An article here about couples reading aloud to each other.

We did try reading aloud in bed, but unlike one of the couples in the article, A Tale of Two Cities just wasn't the right book for us. It is remarkable how books can become entirely different beings when read to you by someone else. I remember reading High Fidelity, thinking how serious it was. I gave it to the Other Half, and chortled his way through the whole book. "What's so funny?" says I, perplexed. When he read it, the story went from seriously sad to blackly comedic.

I think I must try this again.

Titlepage

2008-01-31T10:00:00.000Z

This sounds great - an online literary (talkshow? discussion panel?) programme is starting on 3 March. "Titlepage" will be streamed from titlepage.tv, where the former fiction editor of The New Yorker and four authors will have a "round-table".