Dan Brown's books are most donated to Oxfam

Charity givers donated more Dan Brown books to Oxfam than any other author for the third year in a row, its annual survey revealed today.

Dan and Frank share a shelf in my backroom with Captain Corelli and Bryce….

The writer of The Da Vinci Code also moved up the Oxfam shop best seller list from last year's number 10 to this year's number three, the charity said. Next most donated after Brown were crime writer Ian Rankin, prolific author of the Detective Inspector Rebus series, and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who last year became the first non-fiction author to enter the top 10, and has moved up from number eight to number three.

The most donated authors to Oxfam shops are (with last year's position in brackets):
1 Dan Brown (1)
2 Ian Rankin (2)
3 Jeremy Clarkson (8)
4 Stephenie Meyer (New entry)
5 Alexander McCall Smith (4)
6 Stephen King (New entry)
7 Maeve Binchy (9)
8 James Patterson (New entry)
9 JK Rowling (7)
10 Jackie Collins (New entry)

In my shop the list is similar, with Jeremy Clarkson not really featuring, and with the addition of Wilbur Smith, Patricia Cornwell, Frank McCourt and Danielle Steel. In fact, I can see a time when my backroom stock will consist of the authors listed above, accompanied by piles and piles of black and red Stephenies.

BEST SELLERS
The best seller was Swedish author Stieg Larsson, who penned the Millennium trilogy, who moved up a place from number two, while new entry Sophie Kinsella's books were the second most sold, illustrating the enduring popularity of chick lit. Twilight author Stephenie Meyer was a non mover at number four, sharing that place this year with Terry Pratchett, who moved up from number eight. Last year's best selling author Ian Rankin dropped out of the top 10, but was still selling well.

Joanna Trollope, a new entry in the top 10 best sellers list, at number eight, said: ''I am very gratified to be one of Oxfam's top sellers. Their bookshops are most impressive - for the careful condition of the books as well as for the huge range of titles. I am so pleased to think that sales of my books are helping to support the vital work that Oxfam does.''

Meanwhile here in new Zealand, at my Waipapa shop, the authors I have been asked for most often over 2010 have been Stieg Larsson Lee Child and Bryce Courtenay, with Stephenie Meyer coming in a close fourth, but fading now. Jodie Picoult remains popular among my female customers, as does Lesley Pearse, but sadly, Joanna Trollope doesn’t even feature in my top 100!

The Oxfam lists were compiled to mark the launch of their annual nationwide book festival, Bookfest, which runs from July 2 to 17.  My lists and my shop are ongoing events.

(Original article source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8614903/Dan-Browns-books-are-most-donated-to-Oxfam.html )

My flipback books have arrived....

The new face of paperback publishing



I was so intrigued by the idea of a little book which would fit in a handbag and stay open without needing to be held, that I promptly ordered a few titles from the UK, because I couldn't wait until they hit the shops here. Today they have arrived and they are soooo cute, measuring 11cm by 8cm.

  

As a hobby bookbinder, I am fascinated by their construction -  the cover is only attached via the rear endpaper and the front endpaper is split so that the cover lies flat when the book is open.

Although the pages are made from "bible paper" the text from the underside of each page is not visible enough to be intrusive when being read and they are  printed in landscape format, so they lie nicely in the hand while being read.

I was discussing these with one of my customers and they wondered how different these would be from the original Penguin paperbacks, which were compact and intended as convenient for commuters to carry on the bus/train. These flipback books are half the size but with an easily readable size font.

The initial range of titles currently available varies across the spectrum, from John Le Carre to James Frey, and Jodie Picoult to Melvyn Bragg. The publishers appear to have attempted initially to attract readers of all ages and interests, so not pitching this format only to a select type of reader. It remains to be seen which group, if any, becomes the main user of these little gems.

... so the words can sing

In his posting on The Independent today, Johann Hari looks at the impact of electronic media and the increased importance of the "book". I found myself saying, yes, yes, yes as I read his article. I'd love to hear what you think.

In the age of the internet, physical paper books are a technology we need more, not less. .... We have now reached that point. And here's the function that the book – the paper book that doesn't beep or flash or link or let you watch a thousand videos all at once – does for you that nothing else will. It gives you the capacity for deep, linear concentration. As Ulin puts it: "Reading is an act of resistance in a landscape of distraction.... It requires us to pace ourselves. It returns us to a reckoning with time. In the midst of a book, we have no choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. We regain the world by withdrawing from it just a little, by stepping back from the noise. .....  An e-book reader that does a lot will not, in the end, be a book. The object needs to remain dull so the words – offering you the most electric sensation of all: insight into another person's internal life – can sing."

A book has a different relationship to time than a TV show or a Facebook update. It says that something was worth taking from the endless torrent of data and laying down on an object that will still look the same a hundred years from now. The French writer Jean-Phillipe De Tonnac says "the true function of books is to safeguard the things that forgetfulness constantly threatens to destroy." It's precisely because it is not immediate – because it doesn't know what happened five minutes ago in Kazakhstan, or in Charlie Sheen's apartment – that the book matters.

 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-how-to-survive-the-age-of-distraction-2301851.html

So what exactly is a book ?

With all the current hype in the electronic world I am constantly reconsidering what it is that I define as a book and measuring that against what others think also. The traditional view of something made from paper and bound between a couple of boards is fast going out the window as Matthew Ingram has described this tech site:
 http://gigaom.com/2011/04/22/what-is-a-book-the-definition-continues-to-blur/

It's all about the book....

Welcome to my blog, wherein I will attempt to share my thoughts and opinions solely about books - about stories, reading, what makes a good story, what makes a good object, what's happening in the e-reading world, what's happening in my shop at the moment, what I can do to help you connect with the book you are looking for, how I can help find a way to repair your old treasures, who's creating the most stunning hand made books, suggestions for what you can read after you've exhausted all other ideas.....and so the list goes on. It will always be all about the book.

Please feel free to add you comments - argue with me, agree with me, put another point of view, suggest other stimulating or relevant blogs or web pages.

This is going to be GREAT