Reading Copy

The Future of Reading (A Play in Six Acts)

Popularity: 31% [?]

Chip Kidd’s take on what effect the new Kindle will have on book design - none. Succient, pithy and probably correct - for now. The son (or daughter) of Kindle and it’s ilk may be something to take notice of.

Popularity: 14% [?]

It’s never too early to start thinking about your plans for next year’s garden or, in the short term, Christmas presents for the soil worker in your life.

The Times of London has put together a great list of the best gardening books of the year.

I am not what you would call a green thumb, in fact if plants could talk I’m sure they would shout black death which is why I cut the grass and make the compost and my partner guards the plants from my cursed spade.

Times Bestselling Gardening Books

1. Grow Your Own Veg by Carol Klein
2. The Allotment Book by AM Clevely
3. RHS Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers by Christopher Brickell
4. Alan Titchmarsh’s The Gardener’s Year by Alan Titchmarsh
5. Small Garden: Hundreds of Brilliant Ideas for Small Spaces by John Brookes

Popularity: 15% [?]

The Guardian reviews The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved by Judith Freeman - the latest biography of the noir fiction crime writer.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Today’s recommendation for Christmas is for those of you with young children….Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson. Firstly, Donaldson is an excellent writer of kids’ books. I have several at home and they can be read out loud at bedtime again and again. Room on the Broom is a particular favourite in my household and The Gruffalo is loved around the world.

Children love dinosaurs and there seems to be an unending appetite for books about them. Kids seem to love the fact that dinosaurs were huge animals that once ruled the Earth. This book tells the story of a placid duckbill dinosaur’s egg that ends up in the wrong nest and, after hatching, the dinosaur is nicknamed Tyrannosaurus Drip by his new scary family.

I’d also recommend Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp as another great present.

Popularity: 14% [?]

We have a third charity auction coming up in December and this time we have some very, very special signed books for sale. A signed copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and a wonderful boxed limited copy of Margaret Atwood’s poetry book, The Door, are the headline items.

More details here.

Two AbeBooks.com employees went to Toronto in October and attended JK Rowling’s signing event where they obtained the signed copy, which comes with all the memorabilia from the event.

The Atwood book is, frankly, stunning. Everyone who has seen the book has commented that it’s something special - it’s housed in a beautiful box, there’s a signed block print and the book is beautiful with remarkable marbled endpapers. Only 150 hand-numbered copies were produced - this one is No.4.

Also up for grabs is a signed copy of the illustrated edition of Life of Pi and also two signed Kiran Desai books.

Popularity: 16% [?]

One last tribute to Norman Mailer - the bad sex award.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Star Wars seems as big as ever… or it just the marketing? Today, we’re recommending for Christmas The Star Wars Vault: Thirty Years of Treasure from the Lucasfilm Archives. Hey, 1977 seems like yesterday to some of us.

This book is the official illustrated edition celebrating the 30th anniversary of George Lucas’ ground-breaking movie of an old story told with a new spin. It includes two CDs containing vintage radio ads, original cast interviews, commentary from Lucas, and even Carrie Fisher singing in the Star Wars Holiday Special. There are hundreds of photos and classic artwork too.

My favourite story from the movie is that Alec Guinness opted to take a cut of the profits rather than a salary. Of course, the movie earned him more money than he had earned in his entire career.

Popularity: 13% [?]

A 17th century book believed to be bound in the skin of a priest executed for treason appears to bear a “spooky” image of his face on the cover, according to the auctioneers who are selling the book.

Sid Wilkinson, from Wilkinson’s Auctioneers in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, who will be selling the book on Sunday, said he could see the Jesuit priest’s face peering out from the cover. He said: “It’s a little bit spooky because the front of the book looks like it has the face of a man on it, which is presumed to be the victim’s face.”

From The Guardian

Popularity: 23% [?]

There are certain people who are always more difficult when it comes to finding a good thoughtful gift that they will enjoy. Generally teenagers, especially boys, are a tough lot, and if you’re trying to think outside of the electronics box doubly so.

When I was in high school I was pretty much married to my CD player so here are a couple ideas, and if these aren’t exactly right just spy on his or her mp3 collection and see what’s out there:

From Pieces to Weight - 50 Cent’s memoir recounting the story of one of today’s hottest rap artists and his rise from the streets to fame.

Keep Your Eyes Open - A photographic history of Fugazi, one of the most influential bands in indie rock / post punk.

Get In The Van - Tour Diaries from 1980-1984 written by Black Flag front man Henry Rollins.

The Vibe History of Hip Hop - From the Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Flash all the way to the turn of the century.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Today’s recommendation for Christmas gifts is…. The Sound of Music Companion by Laurence Maslon. Hold on a minute - don’t move on yet. This is something my mum would love. For Brits, watching movies like The Sound of Music and The Great Escape are an essential part of Christmas. They are rerun again and again and again. I’m no fan of The Sound of Music but I must have seen it from start to finish at least 10-12 times. I can remember most of the words to most of the songs - “Doe, a deer, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun, Me, a name I call myself, Far, a long, long way to run.”

My mother went to the cinema to see The Sound of Music on the week it came out. Imagine that? I’ve only ever known the movie to be shown on TV on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.

Any way, this book - I’m sure it’s great if you love Julie, Christopher Plummer and those singing children. There’s 150 photos from the film, lyrics to all the songs (you know them all any way), a guide to the movie locations, and lots, lots more.

Popularity: 18% [?]

On Sunday, I pulled into a gas station. After cursing about the latest five cents price hike for petrol, I walked into the store to pay. There was a teenage girl behind the counter and she was clutching a copy of A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. She was reading intently as I approached and barely looked up as I passed over my money.

“Are you enjoying the book?,” I asked, immediately recognising the cover.

“Yeah, it’s about a recovering alcoholic and junkie who’s in rehab,” she said.

She was back to her reading before the change reached my hand. The girl had folded over the pages she had completed so she could easily hold the book in one hand while conducting the gas transactions with the other. I could have given her monopoly money and she wouldn’t have noticed.

I was going to make a smart alec remark - something like…”You know it’s a fake memoir by some bloke who made up large amounts of the story.” But she was so intensely involved with the book that I just couldn’t.

Popularity: 13% [?]

The winner of the annual pimp my bookcart contest has been announced. This years winner took the design of a UPS truck, complete with working lights. The slogan “What Can Brown Do For You” refers to the school librarian, Mr. Brown.

Popularity: 22% [?]

The Guardian offers some suggested reads for ex-pats feeling a little homesick on Thanksgiving.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Today’s recommendation for a Christmas gift is Helen Mirren’s Snapshots of my Life. Helen Mirren has been around for as long as I can remember and she’s surely one of the best actresses treading the boards. I watched The Queen in the summer and, frankly, it’s a great film and should be watched by anyone from outside the UK who wants to understand the Royal Family. She was stunning in the Prime Suspect series, particularly the first one.

I find it hard to beleive that she’s been acting for more than 40 years now. This illustrated memoir documents her acting but much more as well. Her Russian grandfather, Pyotr Vasielivich Mironov, was sent to London by the Tsar and was left stranded and penniless by the Russian revolution. The book includes evocative pictures of Helen’s Russian ancestry as well as her family life, childhood, teenage and early acting years.

Popularity: 19% [?]