Petrona

Typepad, the blogging platform of Petrona, has just updated its commenting forms, hooray. The comment form is now on the post page itself, so you don't have to click through interstitial pages to comment. The comment field itself is now at the top of the form, so you can make your comment first before inputting your name and address, and the anti-spam CAPTCHA window is immediately below the comment field, all on same page. I hope this will make commenting a more pleasant experience. There are also one or two other tweaks, eg a preview feature and a more intelligent message, so that you know your comment has been received - this should be helpful to people who end up making multiple comments because the system isn't very clear about whether the comment has "worked" or not.

I guess I will now receive no comments to this post, having written all that. It was nice while it lasted, though.

Hakan Nesser, the prizewinning winning author of the Swedish Inspector van Veeteren novels, will be attending Crimefest next year (14 - 17 May 2009). His first two books translated into English are Borkmann's Point and The Return, both highly enjoyable police procedurals, full of dry wit and social comment, as well as featuring a main character that I can only define as "out-of-date maverick", lovely! I haven't read his latest, The Mind's Eye, but clearly must before next year's festival. The fourth book of Nesser's to be translated, Woman with a Birthmark, will be published next year.

Crimefest is launching an online reading group. The first title to be discussed will be Jericho Point by glamorous but dangerous Meg Gardiner, toastmistress at next year's Gala Dinner. Meg has just started a new thriller series with the excellent The Dirty Secrets Club, "but her Evan Delaney books paved the way for her international success. They are as addictive as a class A-drug, but a lot more fun. The first 20 people to contact the Crimefest organizerswith their postal address will receive a free copy of Jericho Point with details of how to sign up and participate in the online reading group."

Other authors attending the festival are Simon Brett, author of the Fethering series, the Mrs Pargeter novels and the Charles Paris detective series, and of various radio and television scripts; M.C. Beaton of the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series, who spoke amusingly at this year's Harrogate festival; Giles Brandreth, author of many books including crime novels featuring Oscar Wilde as the sleuth; and Andrew Taylor, twice winner of the Historical Dagger and shortlisted again this year for Bleeding Heart Square. And to celebrate 21 years of bookshop Murder One, its owner Maxim Jakubowski will be the festival's special guest.

There's also a competition. "You have until November 17 to come up with tagline for next year's Crimefest. For the 2006 Left Coast Crime we had 'For a bloody good time' as the tagline. This year it was 'a new international crime fiction convention'. For our second outing we are looking for something new--'simply the best' is too easy and not allowed--so if you can come up with something original (email suggestions here) we will reward the winner with a selection of prizes."

You might be surprised to know that there has been, to date, no debate in the House of Commons about the financial crisis. On Monday of this week (3 November) the Lords had their first debate on the subject. Lord Taylor of Warwick summarizes the main points in this blog post, concluding "you do not have to be a prophet to make a profit. However, this recession is a time for fresh, creative thinking out of the box. We cannot have a financial system which allows a hedge fund boss to pay less income tax than his office cleaner. It is time for fresh thinking. Seek and Ye Shall fund."

The House of Lords is such a civilized place. Baroness Murphy writes her account of the debate on the Counter Terrorism bill on the same blog (Lords of the Blog). "One of the “noble and learned” Lord Lloyd of Berwick’s amendments was graciously accepted by the Minister, “noble and gallant” Lord (formerly Admiral) West, but a second one he resisted but suggested an alternative of his own. I listened very carefully but thought the arguments finely balanced. In the end I voted for Lord Lloyd’s amendment. The votes cast were equal, 130 on each side, which caused a great deal of consternation on the part of the Clerk who had clearly never encountered this before. The Blue procedure book was consulted and it emerged that the amendment could only prevail if a majority voted for it, so a tie  meant it was lost.  West is a listening Minister, he’s inclined to refer to himself as a simple sailor, but one can see how he became an admiral, he’s certainly steering his departmental ship in the Lords in admirable fashion."

And on the matter of the US election, of the many blogs and comments about it today, my favourite is author Nick Hornby's post, both for the story he tells about "Its been a long time coming", and for his list of UK newspaper headlines this morning (bear with it, it is worth reading to the bottom, and hence the Mail's take on world events.)

Amazon aims for record Christmas, says the Bookseller blog. "Amazon is preparing to buck the economic gloom with another record-breaking Christmas. According to the Sunday Times, the online retailer expects to sell more than one million items on its busiest day this year, up from 900,000 last year." Yet, a day later, Barnes and Noble predicts terrible Christmas, asserts the same blog. "A "terrible" Christmas season is in store for US chain bookstore Barnes & Noble, according to an internal memo from the retailer's chairman seen by the Wall Street Journal. In his memo, Leonard Riggio, the retailer's largest shareholder, noted that comparable store sales, a key retail indicator, recently declined for the first time in the retailer's history. "Never in all of the years I've been in business have I seen a worse outlook for the economy," wrote Mr. Riggio. "And never in all my years as a bookseller have I seen a retail climate as poor as the one we are in."

What can one say? Buy books for Christmas presents, I guess. If you are short of ideas, here are the top ten most wanted toys, according to The Times Alpha Mummy blog. I am amazed at the low rankings of 8, 9 and 10 (anything Dr Who, High School Musical and Hanna Montana*, respectively). [*real name Miley Cyrus, or even realer name, Destiny Hope Cyrus.] Here are some Christmas present ideas for a DS-owning adult (I'm tempted even though I don't own a DS, though I live with someone who does). But returning to business, i.e. books, here is Richard and Judy's Christmas list of 20 books(no 'adult' fiction!).

Congratulations to James Long, on his appointment to head of digital development for Pan Macmillan books. A very wise decision on the part of Macmillan. James's well-deserved promotion is part of a restructuring of the digital and audio departments at the publisher, as described in this Bookseller blog post.

Here's a sample of a recent post by James, about a book called Cliffhanger by T. J. Middleton, which in true literary spirit, James read near the best coastal cliff he could find. The book is an e-version of a title that was published as a conventional hardback: but the e-book (DRM-free - that is, without the ‘wrapper’ that ties the ebook file to a specific device) reveals, as James writes, "an alternative ending, a missing love scene, and other small changes not yet changed… character names, details of plot, and so on. To give us a broader understanding of why it’s an exciting accompaniment to the print book, we asked the key people involved in its creation to give us their perspective on the idea....."

The special editions ebook programme now includes Clive James's Cultural Amnesia, Sid Smith's China Dreams and Adrian Tchaikovsky's Empire in Black and Gold. You can read more about these projects by following James's links at the bottom of his Cliffhanger post.

Well done, James; I am sure we'll be reading about many future imaginative projects using the digital medium as you get to grips with your new role.

A roll of drums for B. I.'s fave, "the greatest librarian in the Galaxy" [Books, Inq. the Epilogue], who "truly makes the Internet a more human place" [Petrona]. Also for Dave.

Many thanks to Dave Lull, without whose efforts and generosity this interview wouldn’t have taken place."[2 Blowhards] on "Websurfer magnifique and thinking-guy extraordinaire Dave L."

From When Falls the Coliseum: "Thus I have a deep appreciation for the art of reference. But times have changed. Since the advent of the internet I no longer have to nag and be a nuisance at my local library. The thrill of tracking down an elusive tidbit is all but gone. Almost everything I ever wanted to know is available with the stroking of a few strategic keywords.  When it is not? No worries. There is always Dave Lull — a jewel.

Jodie Lane: "The magnitude of Dave Lull’s presence on the net is awe-inspiring. It’s true. Dave is the real force behind the blogosphere. Sadly, I do not know the man, but I find him absolutely fascinating. He is the super-hero of the internet. Everywhere I read — Dave has already been there. Corrected, amended, and moved on down the lonely information super-highway."

Scott Stein: "apparently, the entire blogosphere owes all of its content to Dave Lull."

Patrick Kurp at Anecdotal Evidence: "I still get the question: “Who is this Dave Lull guy?” As Pascal said of God (no blasphemy intended) Dave is the circle whose center is everywhere in the blogosphere and whose circumference is nowhere. He is a blogless unmoved mover. He is the lubricant that greases the machinery of half the online universe worth reading. He is copy editor, auxiliary conscience and friend. He is, in short, the OWL – Omnipresent Wisconsin Librarian."

Susan Balee: "Thank you Dave Lull, you are indispensable."

Nassim Nicholas Taleb Warm thanks to Dave Lull for tracking reviews".

OWL's Friend Feed room, Librarian's Place (a collection of articles found by Dave, and occasionally his friends) is free for all to join and comment on these articles. (An earlier archive is here.)

Or see Seth's blog

Many more acknowledgements of contributions by Dave Lull can be seen here

Two of my reviews have appeared this week, both of excellent books. First is The Arsenic Labyrinth, the third of Martin Edwards's Lake District mysteries. From my review: "you don't need to have read the previous two books to enjoy this one. The main protagonists are again historian Daniel Kind who, with his media-darling girlfriend Miranda, have "downsized" to a life in the Lakes; and Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett, whose increasingly unsympathetic partner Marc owns a local bookshop-cafe. Daniel and Hannah are connected because Hannah worked with Daniel's father Ben (now deceased), but over the course of the series they have increasingly come to realise they have more in common - a theme that is continued in this volume." Read on here.

Martin Edwards's website.

Bibliography of Martin Edwards's books, with links to Euro Crime reviews.

The second review is of Bad Traffic, by Simon Lewis, "a book that epitomises all that is great about the crime-fiction genre. It has a tight plot that unfolds at breakneck pace; it depicts an alien world vividly; there is a range of believable and sympathetic characters; it constantly unsettles the reader; and the events it describes seem as if they could really happen. Although the book has strong elements of the noir genre, with its atmosphere of Greek tragedy in which events and characters fulfil the dictates of fate and there is an absence of sentiment, the book is by no means boiled as hard as noir often can be - hope and humanity are there to be found, like specks of jewels glistening in the depths." Read on here. 

Bad Traffic is in the SPREAD THE WORD promotion in the UK, the only book prize decided by members of the public. The publisher writes that votes are now needed to allow this title the profile it deserves. It takes just a few moments to register and vote but would mean a huge amount to the author and to this tiny publishing company, Sort of books. The publisher is offering free books to the first 25 voters who post a comment about Bad Traffic on the Spread the Word website. All you need to do is email the comment and their postal address to Nat [at] sortof.co.uk.

I suppose I should write something about the David Tennant Hamlet (no point in calling it the RSC 2008 Hamlet, or the Gregory Doran Hamlet, David Tennant is bigger than everything), which I saw on Monday of this week. But writing about Hamlet, probably the greatest work ever written in any medium, and blogging, are rather at opposite extremes of a spectrum in my opinion.

The production is good. It is very much a "David Tennant vehicle" Hamlet, but he's up to it. He's most convincing, magnetic even, in the first half, where his long, lean and pale looks are admirably suited to the grief and the horror of discovery of his father's death. This Hamlet is one torn between the old ways, epitomized by the old warrior father, and the modern, epitomized by the pin-stripe suited, suave Claudius (downplayed effectively by Patrick Stewart).

David Tennant is best when conveying emotion, which he does very well, and when being intellectually playful; the relish with which he demonstrates his quick-wittedness and superior intellect approaches pure brilliance. Hamlet is a character of so many facets, however, that it is probably impossible for one actor to master them all. Tennant, for example, is too self-centred. He does not indicate to us, the audience, whether or not he's aware that Polonius and Claudius are eavesdropping on his "get the to a nunnery" encounter with Ophelia, which detracts from the scene, the poignancy of her death and his later reaction to it. He is also not one of the most poetical Hamlets I've seen - but is very confident and natural with the lines, unlike some others.

I also take issue with the staging. We had good seats near the front in the middle, but too often, bit-part actors stood for long minutes with their back to the audience watching the action, blocking the sight-lines. I could not see Gertrude (the superb Penny Downie) at all during her moving speech about Ophelia's death, for example, and there were several similar instances.

The audience of course were ecstatic. At the end everyone stood up and cheered for a very long time. One enterprising person threw red roses at Tennant. Two of them were well-enough aimed to reach him, so he put one inbetween his teeth and presented the other, with a flourish, to Gertrude.

It was a good production, with the usual (for the RSC) excellent supporting cast, particularly John Woodvine as a (severely cut) Player King. David Tennant was damn good, occasionally lapsing into a touch of the matinee idol in the second half but turning in a sincere, committed performance with lots of physical action, revelling in his youth, pitifully anguished in the passionate Gertrude bedroom scene, full of grace and agility in the climactic final fights. London is in for a treat next year when the production (already sold out) transfers there.

RSC website on this production.

BBC review of the production.

Guardian review of the production with links to other reviews and Hamlet material.

David Tennant's website, explains why he is famous, adored by many, more about his interpretation of Hamlet, lots of pictures, etc. 

Richard Akerman of Science Library Pad draws attention to a crime map (of Ottawa as it happens). If you happen to live in that fair city, you can use the map to see which streets are most popular with criminals. They don't really need to have such a map for Kingston upon Thames as there are only two sites for crime (two "nightclubs", O------ and The W-----), as well as the river itself of course which is convenient for dumping the bodies. (Three people who met premature ends have been found there in the 18 years I've lived here, according to the local paper.)

I wonder if someone could make, or has made, such a map for fictional crime?

However, as Richard points out about Ottawa's latest: "If this doesn't seem too novel, keep in mind that chicagocrime.org was one of the original crime map mashups, and it was only created in May 2005 (see In memory of chicagocrime.org )".

A rare event at Petrona towers is a weekday when everybody is on holiday. Such a day was yesterday. Having spent Sunday night in Gloucester and with the prospect of Monday evening in Stratford upon Avon, it was perhaps inevitable that we decided to spend a few hours in Tewkesbury, well known to us as the site of the famous battle and other events in the Wars of the Roses, but also by repute a beautiful town which nobody had any recollection of previously having visited.

So on an intensely sunny, late autumn day, we found ourselves walking round this lovely town full of mediaeval and Tudor buildings (well, there were a few teenage and grandparent-age Tewkesburians sitting around outside Blockbusters smoking fags and mooching or messing about, and a slew of mainly women with young children bustling between carpark and Tesco Express, but you get the drift).

One unusual aspect of the town is that it is built entirely on one side of the river - or rather, rivers - the confluence of the Severn and the Avon and site of unprecedented floods in the summer of 2007. The other side consists of beautiful water-meadows, thankfully a site of special scientific interest so likely to stay that way. At the end of our walk along the towpath and past the ancient houses is Tewkesbury Abbey, a magnificent church building dating from 1100. It escaped ruin by Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries when the townspeople stumped up £453 to buy it from the king - a tradition that continues to be relevant today, as the church gets no financial support from the church commissioners or the state. We walked around the nave and transept (yes, there are flying buttresses); past many hives of activity of restoration, repair, creativity and commerce (i.e. a little shop); admired the stained-glass windows; and read the short biographies on the tombs, of warriors who fought the Vikings to a succession of priests. The most famous person buried here is George, Duke of Clarence (he who was drowned in a butt of Malmsey) with his wife Isabelle (daughter of Warwick the kingmaker), but many other ancient knights, lords and abbots, including Edward Despenser, standard-bearer of the Black Prince, are laid to rest here.

Nevertheless, although lost in admiration for these brave souls, many of whom were hung, drawn and quartered or worse, my favourite alcove is a peaceful one, with modern windows of vibrant turquoise, yellow and green. This is the chapel of one John Reid, born on the island of Jamaica in 1756 and who died many years later at nearby Cheltenham. His epitaph put me in mind of a dear friend: "... having passed his days in the quiet occupations of retired life, distinguished for the goodness of his heart, and the mildness of his character."

Tewkesbury abbey: Wikipedia.

More on the Wars of the Roses.

Lessons learned from the 2007 floods.

Last night was the second 'humanities evening' at Cathy's and Jenny's school (Last year's inaugural event is described here.) Although it was not put quite like this, the evening is for students who "aren't scientists, mathematicians or linguists". Attending, therefore, were assorted lawyers, politicians, managers (eg health service, theatre), investment analysts, educationalists, journalists, publishers, a clerk to the House of Commons, armed services staff (RAF), academics, and others. Thanks are due to them for taking the time to volunteer to tell young students (age 13 to 18) about their lives and career choices.

Stars of the evening, so far as Cathy was concerned, were Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who gave the keynote speech, and Mr Chris Skidmore, a young (my adjective) historian and politician. Malcolm Rifkind is currently MP for what I think of as "Alan Clark's seat", that is, Kensington and Chelsea. Before that he served as a minister in several departments for 18 years of Tory administration under John Major and Margaret Thatcher, and before that was a lawyer. He spoke entertainingly and informatively about why he chose to study law at university - he was in the school debating society - and why he went into politics - both debating and law taught him to be articulate and to see both sides of a question. While studying as a postgraduate he went to Africa (Rhodesia as was) and subsequently taught there for two years, a broadening experience of the type he recommended to everyone. After his witty speech, he kindly stayed behind to answer questions and chat to the students, which he did very openly and amusingly. (I now know who is going to be the next US president ;-). )

Perhaps more appealing to Cathy was to see and hear Chris Skidmore, who is either 26 or 27. He studied history at Oxford, then embarked on a PhD, at the same time joining various political groups and networking compulsively (his fingers typed imaginary emails while he explained how he did this). He did various "casual" jobs, including one for Robert Lacey, helping the author with his famous (to us) "tales from history" series of books. Apparently Mr Lacey offered to introduce Chris to his agent, who signed him up. Chris was writing a book about Edward VI, so wrote his outline and sample chapter, which the agent took round the publishers. "After about 10 rejections" (not giving up being a theme of his talk), Chris won a contract and then had to write the rest, so gave up his PhD and set himself the task of writing 1,000 words a day. He said his history degree came in very useful for this purpose as he'd had to write so many essays - the process of writing the book was very similar. He's currently working for Michael Gove, Tory shadow education minister, and is now parliamentary prospective candidate for Bristol Kingswood, which is where he grew up. What made him throw his hat into that particular ring, he said, was when David Cameron became leader of the Conservatives. He could see the party was onto a winner, so applied to be "listed" as a possible candidate. He could not apply for the Bristol Kingswood vacancy when it first came up because it is an "A list" seat (?!), but the person who won that job lost heart in 2005 and resigned, which meant by party rules that Chris could apply. He was relieved to be appointed, not only because he knows the area but because he was previously prospective candidate for an Islington (central north London) constituency - not a good place for a Conservative in any event, and certainly not when the sitting MP has the persuasion and majority of this gentleman. 

In the meantime, Edward VI: The Lost King is doing very well, being chosen as Guardian book of the week when published in 2007. Chris is currently writing another book, this time on Elizabeth I.

My review of The Likeness by Tana French is up at Euro Crime. From the review:

The protagonist, Cassie Maddox, is a detective working in the domestic violence department of the Dublin police force. She was part of the investigating team in Tana French's previous novel, IN THE WOODS, a story that ended in an emotional mess - a fact of which we are frequently but obliquely reminded in the new book, which is a bit frustrating if, like me, you have read the earlier book but can't recall the exact details of how it turned out. In between the two novels, Cassie has left the murder squad and worked undercover for a while, but after being attacked with a knife by one of her targets, she next transferred to the boring (to her) world of domestic violence, which is where she is working, somewhat depressed and at a loose end, at the opening of THE LIKENESS.

Cassie's undercover life comes back to haunt her in an unusual way when her boyfriend Sam (still on the murder squad) and her old 'undercover' boss Frank, a Machiavellian-like but charming figure, contact her to tell her that a dead body has been found in a dilapidated cottage in a field in the countryside- the body is that of a girl who is identical to Cassie and who is calling herself Lexie Madison, one of Cassie's previous fabricated undercover identities. Read on here.

I'm not sure if I will read any more of Tana French's books; it depends on how long they are.

Other Euro Crime reviews this week are Paying for It by Tony Black, Paul Blackburn's debut; Terry Halligan on The Art of Remonstration by Alan Miles; and Michelle Peckham on The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi - a quest for an Earthly paradise.

"The case of Iceland, which in recent weeks has nationalized its three major banks, shut its stock exchange and halted trading in its currency, is by now well known. Less well known is the speed with which the Icelandic disease is spreading." So writes Anne Applebaum in the washintonpost.com. She goes on: "The banks of Iceland had debts larger than Iceland's gross domestic product, Hungary's finances were long mismanaged, and Ukraine, whose president just called for the third election in as many years, is badly governed. But the speed with which some of these defaults are happening, coupled with the paranoia inherent in the political culture of small countries, has led many to suspect political manipulation as well....Political instability will follow economic instability like night follows day. Iceland is not alone. Serbia, the Baltic states, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, South Korea and Argentina are all in financial trouble; so, too, are Russia and Brazil."

These are troubled times and everyone wishes they were different. Nevertheless, next year's crop of Euro and other translated crime fiction novels should be buzzing! Not only might we expect excitements from our favourite Icelandic authors (also pointed out at Crime Scraps), but, it seems, Eastern Europe, Russia and beyond as well. Not a silver lining by any means, but a small chink in the gloom to which we can look forward, perhaps.

Isn't it nice when you go out and not only have a lovely time but on your return to the blogosphere you find your companion has written the perfect post about it, saving you the bother! Not only can you find out where I was but also find links to reviews of the production concerned and an interview with Ken Branagh - including a little about his upcoming role on TV as Kurt Wallender, Henning Mankell's miserable but endearing detective.

I am not particularly a Kenneth Branagh fan: I saw him onstage in London in his breakthrough role in Another Country, which dates both me and him, and in the interim have experienced many years of watching his rather self-regarding persona in various films (mainly) and the odd play. But yesterday, he was wonderful as Ivanov. The play is not performed that often compared with the rest of Chekhov's output (Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard and The Seagull are most often performed). And it is true that the play has some of the hallmarks of being an "early work". Nevertheless, the translation by Tom Stoppard is excellent and the ensemble work superb. As Times critic Benedict Nightingale writes:

"Michael Grandage bolsters his reputation as an actor’s director by getting fine performances from the (variously) ebullient, malicious and wanly affable topers played by Lorcan Cranitch, Malcolm Sinclair and Kevin McNally, but he’s equally successful at evoking a tiny, mean-spirited world where the diversions are playing cards, exchanging scandal and making anti-Semitic remarks. And the sum effect is so glumly comic you’re left wondering how Ivanov could ever have been dismissed as minor Chekhov." Cranitch and McNally in particular had the three of us laughing uncontrollably; but Branagh was truly superb, well inside the skin of this man whose irony, and tragedy, was that he was the honest person among a large group of pretenders for the accolade. The logic of his self-diagnosed condition was faultless, emotionally gripping, played-down and pacy. This is not a play with longueurs, thankfully. But it is a play with which those of us of a certain age, or at a certain stage in life, can identify, all too well. That is the genius of this particular author.

Which are the best books that never existed? asks David Barnett at the Guardian blog.

That's an easy one.

The obvious answer aside, however, many are suggested in the article and comments of which I've never heard, and a few of which I have (eg the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which seems to be a Guardian readers' favourite.) Here are a few from the comments: Jason King's great "Mark Caine" adventures, including The Lady Is Ready; Frank Bascombe's collection of short stories and also Nathan Zuckerman's Carnovsky (would it be better than Portnoy's Complaint, I wonder?); The Life and Letters of Silenus, Nymphs and Their Ways, Men, Monks and Gamekeepers: A Study in Popular Legend, and Is Man a Myth? are all on Mr Tumnus's shelves in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; and Camel Ride to the Tomb, by X. Trapnel, a character in Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time and The Doubtful Asphodel by Sebastian Knight, from Nabokov's The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, are two non-existent books I'd like to read, but Stanislaw Lem wrote a whole marvellous volume - A Perfect Vacuum - of reviews of books which did not, and in some cases could never, exist. There are plenty more suggestions, including the inevitable few from people who haven't (yet) got their own works published.

Apart from Hitchhiker's, David Barnett's choices (links at Guardian post) are: Necromonicon (H. P. Lovecraft); the Ficciones of Jorge Luis Borges; books in the library described in The Abortion: a historical romance 1966 by Richard Brautigan; The Pension Grillparzer from The World According to Garp (I thought John Irving pretty much did write that in reality, in a subsequent novel); and The Blind Assassin by 'Laura Chase' (Margaret Atwood).

Henry Gee is pleased at the sales of his novel By The Sea. He writes that  "lulu has sent me my first tranche of revenue, a thrilling £6.27, based on my first ten sales. As befits this truly twenty-first century publishing enterprise, the money sailed my way by PayPal." Well done, Henry - well on his way to his first million.

Henry's raking it in, but for those worried about the world situation, help is at hand. From The Great Beyond: "Nothing is immune from the current financial crisis / credit crunch / liquidity meltdown / world doom. Even Nature News is not immune, as we’ve just launched our ‘Finance in crisis’ specials page." In The Great Beyond's 'financial doom' round-up, find summaries of what the world's media is saying about forest finance, food finance and university finance.

Kim of Reading Matters blog draws attention to an article in the Daily Telegraph about how the organisers of World Book Day asked publishers to submit titles that they thought "deserved a wider readership" (don't publishers think that about all their books? I would!). From these submissions, the World Book Day people created a list of 50 fiction and non-fiction books, and invite readers to "vote for your favourite book on the list, so that we can find The Book to Talk About 2009".  As Kim points out, this is going to be hard if hardly anyone has read the books. Kim (who is a reading marvel) has reviewed only one, which I take it means that she's read only one. I haven't read any.

The full list is here.

World Book Day page, with voting details.

I received an email from Mack Lundy of Mack Captures Crime (previously Mack Pitches Up), which asks the questions:

On average, how long does it take you to write a book review of a novel? Do you take notes as you read? Again for a novel.

I thought I would share the answer that I sent him:

I draft a review in an hour or so, but I go back to it about five more times to read through, edit etc before sending it off or posting it- sometimes I change substantially or add things. Sometimes I take notes or bookmark pages, sometimes I just write general impression at the end. If I come across things in the book that I especially like I bookmark or note them. I don't have any general rule, though - sometimes I have a strong impression from a book while I am reading it and it is very clear to me what I think, so I won't take notes. Other times I am less sure so I do - but not to the extent that it spoils "the reading experience".

Thanks to Clare Dudman, who has a good memory, here is a site that lists films by almost any category you could care to think of: science and scientists, for example, nuns with guns and women cops. Whether you are interested in the top-grossing movies of a particular year, or amputation and body parts, there is something here for you.

But the reason Clare sent me the link is because of its comprehensive listing of books into film. Last year we discussed "movies better than the books that spawned them", suggestions including The Graduate, Brokeback Mountain, Farenheit 451, The Election, The Birds, Children of Men, and more. (Someone even had the temerity to suggest Harry Potter!) Now, those interested in identifying titles for the honour can indulge to their hearts' content, with what seems to be about 100 entries for "books to film" for a wide range of authors. Enjoy! And thank you again, Clare.

Further to my earlier post about the Booker shortlist's lack of readers (thanks to the non-selection of popular authors on the longlist such as Salman Rushdie) Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies (John Murray) has had 9,646 lifetime sales to date —27.5% of the six shortlistees' combined sales, according to the Bookseller blog. The Bookseller notes that "Linda Grant's The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago) proved the most popular purchase through the market last week with a sale of 1,008 copies, more than double the amount of its nearest rival, Philip Hensher's The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate), with a sale of 519 copies. Combined sales of all six shortlisted titles through the market to date total 35,096—some 90,096 copies less than Katie Price's latest work of fiction, Angel Uncovered (Century)." The prizewinner is announced tonight.

Someone who has read most of the shortlist is Dovegreyreader scribbles, so if you want a quick summary, see here for a post about that (and Cliff Richard). We shall hear the results of the £10 bet in due course.

Via The Great Beyond, I learn of “A Vote For Science”, in which scientists video themselves explaining who they will be voting for in the US election next month. Daniel Cressey writes: "So far only one video is available on their YouTube site, but it’s a big fish: new Nobel laureate Martin Chalfie (as featured in a Nature interview published yesterday). Chalfie has previously announced that he will be backing Barack Obama. In his new video he says: 'I’m a scientist and I am voting for Barack Obama'. Hear why in the video" [Video embedded in the Great Beyond post.]

Via Dave Lull, from Britannica Blog:

Peter Blake "In honor of the 100th birthday of London’s famed “Roundel” (shown below), symbol of the city’s famed Underground (”Tube”) subway system, the Transport for London has commissioned 100 artists to produce 100 “brand new works of art that are inspired by the Roundel as a contemporary symbol for a world class transport system.”  Two prints will be made of each work: the first print will go into the Underground archive of famous art, by such artists as Man Ray, and the second will be offered to the public through an online auction.  The new works are on display through October at the Rochelle School in Shoreditch, London, and many of them will also appear as posters throughout the Underground system." The Britannia Blog will be posting one of these new works of art per day during this month.

Art on the Underground will be presenting other exciting activities to coincide with the exhibition, including artists’ talks and events in collaboration with London Transport Museum.

My review of A Killing Frost by R. D. Wingfield is out at Euro Crime today, to coincide with the UK paperback publication. From my review: "I loved this crackingly paced book, which follows the same formula as the previous five novels in the series. Inspector Jack Frost is messy, disorganised and impulsive, incapable of looking after himself, yet totally dedicated to his job. He's also hilarious. He is one of those cops whose work ethic has nothing to do with external factors, which is just as well, as he is in a grade beneath his natural ability and his superiors are out to get him: specifically, to transfer him to nearby Lexton, a dump compared with the (not particularly nice) town of Denton, where Jack is stationed." Continue reading here. 

Today's other new Euro Crime reviews include Kate Atkinson's When Will There be Good News, Frank Tallis's Fatal Lies, Manda Scott's A Crystal Skull and Val McDermid's A Darker Domain. 

Some award news:

Katherine Howell's Frantic has won the Davitt award for best crime novel by an Australian woman writer in 2007. 

Barry awards BEST THRILLER The