What Was the Oddest Book Title of Last Year?

Have you ever come across a bizarrely titled book whilst perusing the shelves of your local library or bookshop? Do you make a habit of searching out these strangely named titles? If this sounds like you, you’ll want to keep an eye on the proceedings for this year’s Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of 2010.

Celebrating all the weird and wacky titles published last year, the prize has been running since 1978 and although there is no reward as such, the publicity given to the winner is worth its weight in gold.  

This year’s shortlist entries are as eclectic as they are eccentric and include a Mills and Boon romance, a tome on the personality of dogs and a socio-economic guide to modern China. All very standard you might say but it is the titles which make these books stand out, as you can see by the shortlist below.

8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings- TWI  LTD
The Generosity of the Dead- Graciela Nowenstein
The Italian's One-night Love Child- Cathy Williams
Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way-Michael Young
Myth of the Social Volcano-Martin King Whyte
What Color Is Your Dog?- Joel Silverman Kennel Club

The public vote is being held in by the Bookseller online (www.bookseller.com) and the winner will be announced on the 25^th March.

New Blyton Work Discovered

Image by Tony in Devon

The late, renowned children’s author, Enid Blyton has made headlines this week thanks to the discovery of a previously unknown work. ‘Mr Tumpy’s Caravan’ was found in a collection of manuscripts that were auctioned last September and has caused great excitement amongst fans and experts alike.

Discovered by archivist Hannah Green of the Seven Stories gallery and archive of children’s books, based in Newcastle, the 180 page manuscript was originally believed to be an early version of Blyton’s picture book, ‘Mr Tumpy and His Caravan’, published in 1949. After consulting with Tony Summerfield, the head of the Enid Blyton Society, the content of the manuscript was found to be completely different to that of the published book.

Described as a humorous, fantasy adventure which features a magical, walking caravan, ‘Mr Tumpy’s Caravan’ is another addition to the prolific author’s catalogue of over 800 novels.

There has been no officially news of a publication date for the book at present but more than forty years since her death, Blyton’s popularity still endures. Her works have come into criticism in recent years and there have even been accusations of racism and sexism in her treatment of some characters due to the use of non politically correct language. Despite these issues, 8 million copies of Blyton’s works are sold annually in over 40 different languages. The discovery of ‘My Tumpy’s Caravan’ then is sure to make a lot of boys and girls, big and small, very happy indeed. Pass the ginger beer please Timmy.

Borders US Applies for Bankruptcy

American Bookshop chain Borders US has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today.

 A statement released by Borders' headquarters in Ann Arbour, Michigan (the site of the first Borders store in 1971)

“It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and other vendor related parties, and the company’s lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor and which are essential for it to move forward with its business strategy to reposition itself successfully for the long term." 

The move had been expected for some time due to previous reports of problems including the resignation of their chief financial officer and distribution cuts. An estimated 200 of the chain's 642 stores have been reported as being earmarked for closure. Chapter 11 bankruptcy enables the company to receive a large, loan aid during the restructuring process, thereby allowing them to remain trading.

Issues facing the book industry including growing online shopping habits and an uncomfortable squeezed position between bigger book chains and discount book sellers (ie supermarkets) are problems which are not limited to the American market. The UK branch of Borders, which became independent from the US Branch in 2007, went into administration and all stores were closed for the final time in December 2009.

Top high street bookseller Waterstones has been in the spotlight recently as the struggling HMV group has been undergoing consultation. 11 Waterstone branches have closed so far this year. Meanwhile, British Bookshops and Stationers also moved into administration in January of this year, although there was some relief for the beleaguered industry with the news that WH Smith would buy 22 of the stores in the South East of England.

Books on the BBC

 Good news for bibliophiles, the BBC has commissioned a glut of programmes based around my favourite use for paper- the wonderful book, as part of their Free Your Imagination, Books on the BBC season. Here’s a quick round up of the programmes which have been or are currently being aired as part of the season:

Faulks on Fiction, BBC2, Saturdays at 9pm. Also available on BBCiplayer

Birdsong author Sebastain Faulks hosts a four part series dissecting the features of the British novel. Opening last week by analysing the fictional hero, the second episode looks at the role of the lover within the narrative.

The Beauty of Books, BBC4, Mondays, 8.30pm

Focusing on the craft and presentation of the traditional paper and binding book. From Illuminated Bibles to the humble paperback, this series looks at the beauty of the book as an object as well as for the ideas they contain.

The Birth of the British Novel, BBC4, Mondays, 9 pm

Henry Hitchings explores the lives of 18^th century novelists who helped shape and define the British book market today.

In addition to these, several more shows are in the pipeline to be released later in the year including Fry’s Planet World, a documentary exploring how the spoken word has developed worldwide. The documentary has already received news coverage after a planned visit to Japan was scrapped following comments about the war time events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki on host Stephen Fry’s QI show. The comments were deemed by the Japanese Embassy as making light of the tragedies.

Other less controversial additions to the season include Richard E Grant’s analysis of the importance of the Arabian Nights Tales on Western culture and an in-depth look at the Viking Sagas. In addition, the BBC have adapted numerous works of literature  for the small screen, with Michael Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White,  DH Lawrence’s Women in Love and a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations all vying to keep the public’s attention. 

Needless to say, there is more than enough programming scheduled to keep even the most voracious of readers happy throughout 2011. More information can be found here.

Save Our Libraries Day

Protests, read-ins and author events have taken place today as part of Save Our Libraries day. Government budget cuts are threatening the existence of over 450 libraries and additional services across the country and it is hoped that the day of protest will highlight the importance of the library system both to the local community and to local councils.

Support for the campaign has flooded in from both the public and high profile authors. Philip Pullman, author of the acclaimed series His Dark Materials, has been lending his support to the campaign in Oxfordshire, where 20 of the county's 43 libraries are under threat. Author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson will be presenting a petition to the Scottish Parliament on the matter. In Gloucestershire, a team of authors  have been racing against each other to visit as many libraries and events in the county as possible whilst members of the public have been engaging in a number of protest forms: from mass SHH-ins to the simple act of visiting their local library and taking out their maximum book allowance.

The public outcry has been supported by the National Literary Trust who published a report yesterday which they say confirms the link between the use of libraries and good reading skills in children and young people. The findings suggest that young people who use their local library are almost twice as likely to be above average readers than children who do not use the service. Trust Director, Jonathan Douglas, has released a statement in support for the campaign,

“The National Literacy Trust campaigns to improve public understanding of the vital importance of literacy. We are supporting Save Our Libraries Day and encouraging everyone to get involved and show how passionately they feel about the importance of literacy and libraries.”

General opposition towards cuts to public services has been building as more announcements are made and much of the argument against library closures take into account the role that the service plays within local communities. As an informal meeting place for all ages, with free access to the internet, a place for children to do homework and a welcoming place for mother and toddler groups as well as its primary book lending service, the point which Pullman and other supporters of the campaign have tried to put across to local councils and central government in the media today is that the value of library services cannot be measured in terms of cost and profit alone.  

The effectiveness of the day of protest is yet to be decided but it is clear from the participation levels today that there is still a significant amount of support and love for a free, public library service throughout the UK.

Phil Bradley has made some excellent mock ups of WWI and WWII propaganda posters to support the campaign  The full collection can be found here http://www.flickr.com/photos/philbradley/sets/72157625923493122/ and a selection on the Guardian's website http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2011/feb/04/save-libraries-protest-posters-cuts#/?picture=371246723&index=0

Costa Award: And the Winner is....

Poet Jo Shapcott was declared the winner of the 2011 Costa Book Award on the 25th of January with her collection  Of Mutability. 

Of Mutability faced stiff competion from favourite The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell, but managed to scoop the grand title of Book of the Year, becoming the seventh collection of poems to win the award since its creation in 1985. Hailed as a 'paen of creativity' by the judging panel, Of Mutability was the first new collection Shapcott had published in over ten years.

Sherlock Holmes and the Surprising Sequel

The announcement that writer Anthony Horowitz has been granted permission to write a brand new Sherlock Holmes novel has been met with mixed reviews.  Sir Arthur Conan’s Doyle’s character has been reinvented on numerous occasions over the years, from 21^st century forensic sleuth in the latest BBC adaptation to the Deerstalker wearing trendsetter Basil Rathbone, Holmes is the man with a thousand faces. Horowitz however seems keen not to put his own stamp on the iconic literary character, but rather in the style of writing itself.   

An official statement on the author’s website states 

'…my aim is to produce a first rate mystery for a modern audience while remaining absolutely true to the spirit of the original'.  

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in the 2010 BBC adaptation.

Best known for his work on the popular television series Foyle's War and for his Alex Rider children's series,  the title of Horowitz’s Holmes novel is being kept under wraps by publisher Orion and is expected to be released in September this year.

Sherlock is not alone in receiving this kind of revisionist treatment as sequels of this kind become more and more popular. The James Bond franchise has continued to grow without original author Ian Fleming, thanks to Sebastian Faulks' 2008 novel, Devil May Care and looks set to continue to expand this year when crime writer, Jeffrey Deaver, releases Carte Blanche in May. In a world where readers have countless opportunities to revisit their favourite characters and plots, presented to them in various formats, sequels are inevitable. With television, film and even the Internet cashing in on the popularity of well written stories and characters, why shouldn’t the book world benefit to? Does this practice stifle or encourage creativity?

It’s no secret that a popular series is desirable in all formats for everyone involved. The enormous popularity of the Harry Potter books and their subsequent film franchise has been deemed as the Holy Grail of success in both print and celluloid.  An astonishing array of films aimed at children have been adapted from successful book series in recent years, with varying success. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga and  C.S.Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia have each successfully spawned three film adaptations whilst Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle,  Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart Trilogy and the Spiderwick Chronicles each add one film credit to their portfolio. Adapting already successful and well received books into film is not only a financially sound move for studios in times of spiralling costs (practically guaranteeing a profit) but also taps into the incurable vein of human curiosity which children in particular seem to posses in high concentrations. As long as somebody asks ‘and then what happened’ they will be inclined to search for answers, from sanctified sources like official films, or from their own imaginations.

The growth of the mainly Internet based phenomenon ‘Fan Fiction’ is a case in point. Capitalising on the natural inclination of the inquisitive to know what happens to the characters and world we have come to love as we reach the final page of a novel, Fan Fiction websites allow the average reader web-space to share their version of an incident or a scene that they would have liked their favourite characters to come up against. Set in a world with parameters that have been created by the original authors, some daydreams have stretched further, with novel sized stories appearing online in homage to the author and idea that they love.

As the age old practise of authors other than the originals writing sequels becomes more accepted, it is also being embraced at an increasing rate by the publishing world. Numerous sequels and spin offs to our most beloved novels and authors seem to flood the market at the moment.  Pride and Prejudice (already no stranger to this publishing trend) has had a recent resurgence thanks to Quirk Classics and their Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (not to mention Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Android Karenina).  In a similar fashion, Gregory Maguire built on the parameters set up by L. Frank Baum in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz  to tell unique stories about peripheral characters and their interaction with each other before and after the arrival of Dorothy Gale. He is the author of the highly acclaimed and wildly popular Wicked,which has since been re-imagined itself as a Broadway musical.  Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, is a novel which not only opens Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre for further understanding, but stands so strongly as an individual book that it is now studied for its own merits. In short, without the freedom to revise and revisit an author’s world, we would have missed out on some brilliant and inspiring books.

It’s far too early to tell how Horowitz’ Holmes will stand up to the test of time or if it will live up to the expectation and the high standards of the Baker Street fans. Undoubtedly it will be scrutinised with ferocity by the legions of fans keen to safeguard the reputation of a much loved character. Like all sequels and spin offs, it will be the quality of writing and plot which will ultimately determine the success of the book after the initial publicity furore dies down. For now, we wait as the mystery unfolds.