Reading Copy Book Blog

In Kentucky, the folks at the Lexington Public Library are working to save countless rare books and documents after a burst pipe flooded their building.

Selling books can be dangerous - well apparently it is in the Wiltshire town of Swindon in the UK. (Spotted on Galleycat).

Author Iain Banks is interviewed in The Times (of London). Although I’ve never read his science fiction, I really enjoyed The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road and some others too. The Steep Approach to Garbadale is his latest release.

Stephen King again. This time the King of Horror has listed his favourite book of all time - it’s The Golden Argosy, according to the BBC.  The Golden Argosy is an anthology of 55 short stories from folks like Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

He bought his copy of The Golden Argosy in a sale for $2.25 in 1955.

“At the time I only had $4 and spending over half of it on one book was a hard decision,” King said.  “I never regretted it. [It] taught me more about good writing than all the classes I have ever taken.”

In looking around for items related to Cat in the Hat 50th anniversary I came across this site for literary stamps (and here’s the Dr. Seuss entry)

The Boston Globe bucks a trend and reports on several used bookstores that are doing well. One of the bookstores featured, The Book Store in West Bridgewater, MA, has sold with AbeBooks since 1997 although the reporter doesn’t mention this. The Book Store, run by Dave Johnson, has some truly original books - this one made me smile Dog Tricks, Pop-up Pooches

Do you think Meg Gardiner, author of China Lake, is thrilled to have the No.1 bestseller on AbeBooks.com? Take a look at her blog. Her books are still moving this week. I can’t help thinking that $50 for a signed first edition of China Lake is actually a good investment. What happens if she’s actually as good as Stephen King says? What happens if she is the next Michael Connolly? These first editions are already five years old and she’s just about to explode in the US. The Pub Lunch newsletter reports this morning that 10 US publishers are in a bidding war for her books and a deal will be announced soon.

Meg Gardiner, a little known American crime writer based in the UK, has just become our No.1 bestseller after being recommended by Stephen King - even though her books are not published in the US.

Gardiner and her thriller China Lake, published in 2002, claimed the top spot last week as North American buyers purchased copies from our UK-based booksellers. There are only a handful of copies in the States.

Stephen King first praised Gardiner on his website in December and interest in her work, particularly among bloggers, has been growing since. He wrote extensively about Gardiner again in his Entertainment Weekly column published on February 9 where he said he was “staggered” that she was not published in the US. “I mean, this woman is as good as Michael Connelly and far better than Janet Evanovich,” wrote King, who advises readers to start with China Lake - Gardiner’s first book in her Evan Delaney series.

Another of Gardiner’s novels, Jericho Point, was the sixth most popular book. China Lake is currently out-selling Oprah’s recommendation,  The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, three to one.

I have lifted this interesting piece of comment from this morning’s Shelf Awareness e-newsletter about The Higher Power of Lucky - the award-winning children’s book that dares to mention the word ’scrotum’.  Diane Capriola, co-owner of Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Ga., writes:

“I wanted to comment on today’s brief article about all the controversy surrounding The Higher Power of Lucky. Ironically enough, I began reading this book on Saturday night, only to wake up Sunday morning (kind of late I’ll admit) to have my husband tell me about a front page story in the Sunday Times about a children’s book with the word scrotum in it.

I was a bit surprised by the use of the word, since after all, it’s not a word you see often in a book for kids. But I do think that the controversy is completely uncalled for. There is nothing at all subversive about this book–rather, reading it is like the slow motion unwrapping of a much-desired gift on Christmas morning. It is that good. To take it off bookshelves or to refuse to lend it would be an incredible shame for children, parents and teachers.

The use of that word has both nothing and everything to do with what the book is about. Lucky, the plucky 10-year-old protagonist, is trying to find her way in the world. She is curious and looks to the small circle of adults in her life to outfit her with what she needs, even if she sometimes gets the information from them through plain old eavesdropping.  She is seeking her “higher power”–that intangible force which will help her overcome, or at least survive, some seemingly insurmountable events in her life. But it is also a coming-of-age-story as she begins to feel the stirrings of adolescence and to let go of some of her young child ways.

I’m not sure why people still shy away from giving things, especially parts of the anatomy, their true name to children. Realistically, most nine year olds probably already know a slang term or two for this area of the male anatomy. But Patron offers us a perfect teaching moment on the first page of this wonderful book–give kids the facts because they certainly can handle them. And they certainly need them as well.

As my litmus test, I asked my two boys, ages 11 and 8, what their thoughts were on this controversy. My 8 year old laughed loudly and immediately walked off to create a cartoon about the controversy. My 11 year old, always willing to consider both sides, read the first page of the book.  He came back to me, nonplussed about seeing the word scrotum in print, but wondering why adults were not concerned that the narrator of the dog’s unfortunate story was so drunk that he could not stand up when the dog was bitten.”

Michael Dirda at the Washington Post takes a look at the work of Clark Ashton Smith - one of the great writers of fantasy, horror and science fiction. (Link from Bookslut)

I spent the weekend in San Francisco at the 40^th California International Antiquarian Book Fair. There were over 200 booksellers and the selection of books was amazing. For me, the highlight was a giant illuminated Koran from Aceh, Indonesia: circa 1850. This Koran (pictured) is over 2 feet in width and nearly 4 feet tall, it’s filled with ornate script and color and bound with buffalo hide. This Koran was sold to raise funds for rebuilding after the 2004 tsunami.

Some other great highlights were Che Guevara’s original tourist visa; a handwritten autograph letter from J.R.R. Tolkien; the first Christmas card circa 1843; a copy of Dylan Thomas’ “Selected Writings” autographed for Charlie Chaplin during a night of drinking; first editions of Mozart’s “Magic Flute” and two signed ink drawings by Beatrix Potter.

In addition to browsing books, many people attended the “Rare Books Roadshow” - a book appraisal session hosted by the Northern California Chapter of the ABAA. This was much like the Antiques Roadshow, members of the public brought in their rare books for a free appraisal. New book collectors were offered the opportunity to learn more about collecting in Book Collecting 101 and What’s This Book Worth, both courses were presented by ABAA booksellers. This fair was not just about bookselling, it was also a celebration of the art of book-making. There were several San Francisco area book arts groups that included; book binders, calligraphers, printers and conservators. Each of these groups exhibited their work and provided demonstrations throughout the day, one of the most popular demonstrations was an exhibit demonstrating the art of paper marbling.

This book fair alternates locations each year, next year the fair will take place in Los Angeles, February 15-17.

Still catching up after a couple of days away, Bibliophile Bullpen alerts us to this free PDF download of John Carter’s ABC For Book Collectors. This book has stood the test of time and is highly recommended by both collectors and booksellers. 

Yesterday’s Boston Globe had an article on one columnist’s favourite books on alternative medicine.

I spotted this article in the Bargain Book News e-newsletter this morning. My favourite is No.47…

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. —C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)

As reported in the San Jose Mercury News, an LA auction house put a collection of books owned by Elizabeth Steinbeck Ainsworth, John Steinbeck’s sister, under the gavel last Sunday.  Among the books auctioned off were several John Steinbeck first edition’s, including The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and In Dubious Battle.  The collection as a whole brought in $200,000 with the big ticket item being the first edition copy of The Grapes of Wrath, selling at $47,800.  A spokesperson for the auction house believes that this is a world record setting price for a Steinbeck novel.