Vote for the Oddest

It's not the kind of literary award that makes an author's heart beat faster but last year's winner of The Diagram Prize (otherwise known as the odd book title competition) received a big sales boost because of the international attention.
For some reason, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, was selling only half a dozen copies a week in America before the award. Afterward it peaked at just under 100 copies in seven days (although I suspect sales have been a little uneven since then).
Now you have a chance to give another author the kind of publicity that money can't buy.  This is the shortlist for the 31st annual award and if you click on the title of this post you will be taken to The Bookseller's website where you can cast your vote.
The Shortlist:
8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings
Various authors (TWI)
The Generosity of the Dead
Graciela Nowenstein (Ashgate)
The Italian's One-night Love Child
Cathy Williams (Mills & Boon)
Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way
Michael R Young (Radcliffe)
Myth of the Social Volcano
Martin King Whyte (Stanford University Press)
What Color Is Your Dog?
Joel Silverman (Kennel Club)
I don't see how the Dental Practice one can win - it's far too good and this is a competition for UNintentional odd titles. Mr Young knew exactly what he was doing when he linked the Mongolian Emperor with mouth washes and root canal work. I don't think the Mills and Boon entry is odd enough: I am sure I read Bedded by the Italian Stallion when I was judging The Love Story of 2010 and surely that has far stronger claims...
I wondered if The Generosity of the Dead was another vampire romance but it turns out to be about organ donations in France. The Social Volcano is the idea that popular anger about inequality in China will erupt and topple the Communist Party. Mr King Whyte obviously doesn't think it will.

The dog book seemed the least promising until I found out it was about teaching readers to train their dog according to its  "colour" personality.

Dogs apparently come in five colors. RED is "off the wall".... ORANGE is "high strung".....  YELLOW is "mellow yellow".... GREEN is "apprehensive".... BLUE is "skittish and very afraid". Actually it probably contains a lot of commonsense and is a just a new way of re-packaging the idea that one size does not fit all and training that suits one dog won't work for another.
I haven't the heart to find out what Friction Stir really is. (I'm ignoring the welding element.) I'm hoping it might be fiction with attitude...what do you think?

Going UP

The Bookseller compile The Accelerator Chart of books that have increased their sales and been on sale for at least two weeks. This week Jo Shapcott tops the poll by a long way which isn't bad for a poetry book priced at £9.99. The next week she sold 2,008 copies.
And it cheered me to see that one of the MOG books by Judith Kerr and written in 1970 was in third place because of sales over Christmas - my children grew up with them and we had our very own Mog for several years, a beautiful and highly intelligent tabby.

Banned Books

British libraries are launching a range of events to celebrate brilliant books that have been banned.

The list of 50 makes surprising reading. Included is:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. 

Apparently it was no.37 on the American Library Association's 100 most frequently challenged books 1990 - 2000. Some claimed it was anti Christian and pornographic. I remember being reluctant to read anything else by Margaret Atwood after this, scared that she couldn't possibly equal it.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

Banned by some American libraries and schools because of its violent and sexual content. Ye Gods! That's one way of silencing survivors of  violence... 

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

An extraordinary book of great heart and intelligence. John Irving has a distinctive voice, no one else writes quite like him. 

It's been banned in some US states because of its criticism of the  Vietnam War and Iran-Contra, so that's another reason to go buy it.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum

This one really surprised me. It has been banned by many libraries in different American states for different reasons - in the South because of witches being referred to as 'good' and in the 1950s in a wave of anti Communist hysteria because it was thought to have socialist values. It's a long time since I read it but the left wing flavour passed me by unless anything intelligent that explores the human condition and doesn't talk down to children has to come under the heading of socialism.

But America doesn't have the monopoly on bad decisions.

Until quite recently any Irish author worth reading was banned in their own country. It's no surprise to find Edna O'Brien on  this list because her unsentimental look at life as it was lived in the 1960s was just too much to take. But the fact that John McGahern lost his job as a teacher because of The Dark is even more revealing of a time and a way of thinking. His crime was that his beautifully written novel suggested that some priests sexually abused children...

But the one that really gave me pause for thought was The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Of course it shouldn't be on this list, or indeed any list of books worth reading, but I didn't realise that Christian leaders in the Lebanon went so far as to ban it. Sadly, not on the grounds of good taste.

 click on the title of this post to look at all 50 books

Books to read before voting

How about...

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell because we're facing Hard Times (by Charles Dickens) and we need to be reminded whose fault it isn't...

How do you organise your collection?

By Colour?

I'm almost tempted. I spent many, many hours boxing up the living room books over the weekend as Sam the Painter is coming in while we are in Spain. When they go back on their newly painted shelves perhaps I will have a bash at a rainbow filing system. (Only that would mean Zola's Rome in blue would be separated from the red bound copy of Zola's Paris. Would they pine? ).

Elvis Costello ordered his record collection geographically - west coast to east coast - and my eldest says he has a similar system for his already extensive library.
Any other - non alphabetical - method for books, vinyl, CDs, DVDs....?

A reading slut's confession

If you consider yourself well read check out  the blog of a 50s something book addict from Seattle. I laughed so much I just had to add a comment. I feel part of the blogosphere now. My passport's been stamped...I can go anywhere.