AbeBooks' Reading Copy

In a misguided attempt to celebrate Bloomsday an Irish software developer has put the power of computing to the task of solving the age old James Joyce riddle of can you cross Dublin without passing a pub? The Belfast Telegraph reports: Using online maps, the Dubliner worked out an algorithm – a computer equation – [...]

One of AbeBooks’ most searched for books over the past weekend was The Lambeth Method of Cake Decoration and Practical Pastries by Joseph Lambeth. The William and Kate royal wedding sparked renewed interest in this classic cake book from 1934. Apparently, the Lambeth Method is derived from a style of decorating that uses intricate piping [...]

Apparently, there is a wedding tomorrow…. a royal wedding at that. With all due respect to the Prince William, weddings are really about the bride. Authors agree. There are few novels about bridegrooms but there are thousands about brides. In fact, AbeBooks has almost 150,000 listings where the word ‘bride’ is mentioned in the title. [...]

Polish-born illustrator Arthur Szyk created what is arguably the most beautiful book of all time. His magnum opus is The Szyk Haggadah – a book completed in the style of an illuminated manuscript where the text is supplemented by decorated initials, borders and deeply vibrant illustrations. It was created under the shadow of Adolf Hitler [...]

Did you know that people who are obsessed with Gone With the Wind are called Windies? Watch out Atlanta! The Windies are coming your way.

The finalists for the 2011 BC Book Prizes have been announced

My colleague Beth has written a nice piece about one of her favourite authors. Roald Dahl lead a very interesting life and if you haven’t read his two autobiographies, Boy and Going Solo, they are worth a look. The two books document his own childhood at boarding school as well as his time working in [...]

I’m thrilled to hear that Oxford is bidding to become UNESCO World Book Capital in 2014. I lived in the town from 1990 to 1996 and again from 1999 until I came to Canada in 2004. It truly is a bookish place. Yes, it’s a world famous university town but it’s also packed full of [...]

On September 15th we celebrate Agatha Christie’s 120th birthday and the folks at AgathaChristie.com have an interesting way to remember the author. With their own interpretation of the deadly cake that Miss Blacklock used as a murder weapon in Christie’s 1950 novel A Murder is Announced. The recipe was developed by none other than, former [...]

Happy 90th birthday, Ray Bradbury!