PW: Brandywinebooks.net It's late in the day, and dawn has come.

I've decided to abandon Blogger and Blogspot for my own web space, URL, and a new blogging software. Thanks to Bill Roberts of Out of the Bloo and Thinklings for the cool, but still in alpha version, software with which Lars and I will be blogging at Brandywinebooks.net. I'm not sure if using an alpha version software is especially risky, but it feels good so far. Maybe we should back-up the posts regularly.

I haven't added all the links to the blog rolls yet, and I'll still have to make blog directory changes, let the ecosystem know where to find us, call the state department, etc. There are plenty of old posts to repost (I guess), but I don't plan blog here again. Please change your blogrolls, if you link here, and let us know what you think of the new blog. It should be more useful all around. Have a good weekend! - phil  ¶ 6/24/2006 05:00:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Red, The Color of the Dawn Laurie Bertrand, the designer of the stealthy Teensy Ninjas, has a beautiful photo of red books on her blog, Liquid Paper. I'd like to take photos like this, but I'm sure I can't. No, no--it's beyond me.

But red is the color of the dawn, you know, and there's a new dawn coming to Brandywine Books. I hope to tell you about it tomorrow. - phil  ¶ 6/23/2006 06:06:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Box of Interviews Ella of Box of Books is on vacation, and she's lined up several interviews with lit-bloggers to have posted while she's away. She explains her idea here. Fourteen days of good interviews with people you may be reading online and offline, even me later on. - phil  ¶ 6/23/2006 08:14:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:The Macavity Awards Sand Storm has a list of nominees for the Macavity Awards from Mystery Readers International.  ¶ 6/20/2006 09:37:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Ups and Downs of Book Club Sales Tess Gerritsen, who was recently nominated for an award from Mystery Readers International, blogs about book clubs in this post from last Friday. She says book clubs can launch your career:

It’s what happened to me, back in 1996, when my very first hardcover, HARVEST, was a Literary Guild Main Selection. Back then, I was unknown to booksellers, just a former paperback romance author. But when the Literary Guild chooses your novel as a Main Selection, the publishing world takes notice. Suddenly, you’re not just another new hardcover author; you’re the writer of that month’s Big Book.

So, what’s the down side to being a book club pick? Well, there is the possibility that it may dent your sales in the brick-and-mortar stores, because so many readers are receiving your book in the mail instead. And book club sales aren’t applied to any bestseller lists. A million book club readers may have chosen to receive your book, but it won’t get you on the New York Times list.

Still, the real secret to building a bestselling career is word of mouth. And when hundreds of thousands of book club members are reading your book and talking about it, you can bet that will boost your sales in bookstores as well.

  ¶ 6/20/2006 09:28:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Only Dull Art Has Merit London Museum rejects an artist's laughing head sculpture for its exhibition but accepts the stand made to support it. "The plinth and hastily carved wooden support were, according to an official statement, 'thought to have merit.'" - phil  ¶ 6/20/2006 12:54:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Say It Again, In English The Literary Saloon points out the oddities of an announcement in the Chinese press of a book which was written in English but published first in Chinese. I hope the Chinese readers make it through the "transitional period of hardships." I may be in one of them myself. - phil  ¶ 6/20/2006 12:27:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Interesting, Not Informative, Sales Brent Sampson reports on Amazon's sales ranking provides "marginal sales data at best." Through field testing, he determined that the top 10,000 books are ranked hourly according to how they sold compared to each other, and then "a trending calculation is applied to arrive at a computerized sales trajectory. So, hypothetically, a book that held a ranking of 2,000 at 2pm and 3,000 at 3pm, might hold a 4,000 ranking at 4pm, even if it actually sold MORE books between 3-4 than it did between 2-3."

So, Wodehouse's The Mating Season may have sold one or two, jumping in rank from ~53,800 yesterday to ~22,500 today, whereas Joy in the Morning hasn't sold anything, dropping from ~37,300 to ~65,800? Is that about it? Does this scuttle my idea to send one book's rank skyrocketing by getting a few people together to buy a total of 25 copies within the same hour?
[seen on Return o'the Reluctant]

- phil  ¶ 6/19/2006 01:04:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Are Art Awards Worth Anything? Terry Teachout asks: "Has there ever been a prize in the arts that was worth having? Is it possible for any institution to give an award for artistic achievement that has real significance?"

As a reader, viewer, or listener, I think of awards as knowledgeable recommendations and resume enhancements for the artists. - phil  ¶ 6/19/2006 08:43:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Overloaded Market In a lengthy post on the problems with submitting fiction, Finn Harvor describes an email sent to journalist Laura Miller which received this reply in part:

Books, especially fiction, are unfortunately something that many, many people want to write and relatively few people want to read, at least not in commensurate amounts. (See last year’s NEA survey, “Reading at Risk.") People tend to point their finger at the part of the process where the book they’ve written has gotten stuck. If it doesn’t make it to the agent, it’s the agents’ fault; if it doesn’t make it to a publisher, it’s the publishers’ fault; if it doesn’t get reviewed, it’s the press. But, in reality, the whole system is overloaded. Everything that most people dislike about the system really derives from this fact. If people were as enthusiastic about reading (or rather, buying) books as they are about writing them, the industry overall would not be in the poor economic situation it’s in now.

Tags: books, fiction, bookselling, writing  ¶ 6/17/2006 10:16:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Movies: Pride & Prejudice, X3 Do you remember talking about Dawn Treader’s impression of Pride & Prejudice based on the most recent movie version? I saw that version a few days ago, and don’t blame Dawn Treader one bit. I was prepared for a very short story adaptation, but I felt the director, script writers, and whoever was responsible for the story didn’t understand the book or characters. The point of the Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice came through in the minutes of emotional cinema focused on Elizabeth Bennet--the swing in farmyard, the rain on the meadow, standing on cliff—beautiful to watch, but unessential to the story.

Besides the story's brevity being a fault, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley didn’t look like themselves. Darcy’s face seemed consistently blank, his lines delivered in a rush. Mr. Bingley came across like a nervous teenager, not a good-hearted, energetic man. And why did they do that to his hair?

In summary, Pride & Prejudice was an attractive film I don’t care to see again.

Last night, my sweet wife and I enjoyed X-Men: The Last Stand (I suppose the fourth movie will be called, “Episode 4: A New Hope,” and feature the minor character Fluke Piehawker who spreads happiness by putting a pie in your face). It’s about as good as X-Men United, though a little more complicated. Why are critics saying it’s impersonal and a bit dumb? The lines delivered by the movie’s U.S. President are dumb, but the movie as whole isn’t. Ok, the more I think about it, the more I could complain: Some characters say things I think are inconsistent with their personalities. Some of the fighting is clearly for dramatic effect and consequently looks dumb; but then if you start imagining these characters in a realistic environment, none of the stories make sense. Why doesn’t Magneto bring cases of bullets with him to strike through his opposition?

Still, I enjoyed the movie. The PG-13 rating was unneeded. I think it could have risen to PG and gained critical praise by replacing the foreplay between Jean Grey and Logan with more psychological struggle within Jean, but I shouldn't give film advice. If I made films, they would probably be too slow.  ¶ 6/17/2006 07:58:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:A Creation Hymn Since Lars brought up creation, I'll direct your attention to Psalm 104, a poetic account of the Lord's powerful work at the beginning of time.

O LORD My God, You Are Very Great
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.

He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth. . . .

That's beautiful. Read the rest from the English Standard Version here. - phil  ¶ 6/15/2006 09:30:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Books Against the War For a list of books against the free world's war against terror, see this USA Today article. I don't understand the lose-at-any-cost crowd, especially with the success we've had in the past couple weeks. - phil  ¶ 6/15/2006 09:13:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Rare Book News Speaking of really old documents, Rare Book News has several interesting headlines, including the sale of articles by Albert Einstein for $42,000 and some attention to Scotland's National Booktown, Wigtown.

"Run your fingers down my spine. You know how much you want to." Oh, my. - phil  ¶ 6/15/2006 12:54:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:300,000 Tiny Fragments The University of Manchester's Center for Jewish Studies is using digital imaging to assemble thousands of manuscript fragments found in a Cairo synagogue. Libraries around the world have pieces of the work of Moses Maimonides, "a scholar and writer whose findings were hugely influential on modern Judaic thought," according the AP. The Center plans to assemble the fragments without physically bringing the pieces to Britain. [seen on Nextbook] - phil  ¶ 6/15/2006 12:39:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Classic into Pulp Fiction Slate solicitied some artists to compose covers for classics in the garish style of pulp fiction. See the salacious results here. [First seen on Sacred Fems] - phil  ¶ 6/13/2006 11:00:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:CS Lewis, a Writer of Pulp Fiction? Writer Rod Bennett believes “[C.S.] Lewis was heavily influenced by his many early experiences with ‘trashy’ literature.” He calls him a pulp fiction writer and lays out his case in four posts, quoting from Lewis’ letters where he confesses his enjoyment or exposure to Amazing StoriesAstounding and , both pulp sci-fi rags, and many other works considered “trashy” by critics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, Bennett says. In fact, it was through Narnia that Bennett found interest in Mere Christianity.

Lnks to the series on Bennett's blog: one, two, three, four

If Bennett’s premise raises the eyebrows of any Lewis fans, I think the trouble may be in the words “pulp” and “trashy.” I don’t think Bennett thinks Lewis’ science trilogy is trashy, but influenced by mass market stories of his day which were thought to be trashy by those who claimed to know what good and bad literature should be. But calling Lewis’ stories “pulp” may be the same as calling them “trashy” for some. Pulp fiction is lurid, tantalizing material written for commercial gain or cheap entertainment--nothing of lasting value. Again, I don’t think Bennett is arguing that Narnia and The Space Trilogy are cheap little thrillers, but that may be what comes across in the word “pulp.” - phil

Tags: pulp fiction, fiction, pulp fiction, books, CS Lewis  ¶ 6/13/2006 10:48:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:How Much Is That Cat on the TV? From Reuters--"Ten cats in search of owners will spend the next 10 days in a New York store window, their every move caught on camera for a reality TV show on which they will compete for best sleeper and mouse-catcher."

Would you buy that for a dollar? - phil  ¶ 6/13/2006 06:17:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW: Another Popular Book Award That great little online bookseller, BookBrowse, has announced their annual readers' choice awards. The site reports: "In April 2006, BookBrowse's subscribers rated their favorite books of 2005. 942 respondents cast a total of 5,631 votes." The three winners, based on a weighted point system, are:

Most Popular Book: The Closers by Michael Connelly

Most Popular Debut: The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Most Popular Category Winner: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Votes for these awards were cast on the list of favorite books from 2005, which includes Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down, Mitch Cullin's A Slight Trick of The Mind, Harlan Coben's The Innocent, and Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid Chair. - phil

Tags: books, book awards, awards, readers  ¶ 6/12/2006 09:58:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Bambi Movie Untrue to Book I suppose if you suspected Walt Disney or his team did not write the Bambi story on their own, you would also suspect they didn't hold true to the original tale. That is Disney's reputation. David Rakoff has looked into that tale, written by Felix Salten in 1923:

Salten's writing has not a trace of anthropomorphized cuteness. Bambi's forest is peopled (creatured?) with characters by turns arrogant, venal, gossipy, and engaging—as flawed and varied as the cosmopolitan fauna Salten must have encountered daily in his life in Vienna.

Tags: bambi, original  ¶ 6/12/2006 09:11:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:GodBlogCon 2006
Last year's convention of Christian bloggers sounded like a good time, so I would expect this one to follow suit.

Should be a good time for photos.

Learn more at the GodBlog Conference site.  ¶ 6/09/2006 11:51:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Literary Contest; $500 worth of prizes Buy a Friend a Book has coordinated an interesting contest for the start of July. The procedure for entry: solve six puzzles to be revealed on the first six days of July, then use the solutions to answer a question. Three correct submissions will be randomnly selected to win a load of books and a few related literary things. Read some of the details at MetaxuCafe; follow the links for the rest. - phil  ¶ 6/09/2006 11:40:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Unplain English King Wenclas criticizes a book review that is difficult to understand. - phil  ¶ 6/08/2006 06:30:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Alternative Best Fiction List Beth Quittman has tallied the results of her blogger poll of best fiction: "The work that received the most votes as the best work of American fiction in the past 25 years is The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster." Leif Enger's Peace Like a River came in second. - phil

Tags: books, awards, lists, fiction  ¶ 6/07/2006 11:10:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Literary Awards Ian McEwan's novel Saturday wins the James Tait Black Memorial prize. Judges are calling it a "tour de force of skilful writing." The award is the oldest literary honor in the United Kingdom, started in 1919.

Zadie Smith's novel On Beauty succeeds in taking the Orange prize for fiction by women. Her competition was stiff, according to the report.

The Crime Writers’ Association will hand out Dagger awards next Monday in London.

The Christy Awards for Christian fiction will be announced July 8 in Denver, CO. (corrected date)  ¶ 6/07/2006 10:39:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Lit Magazines/Journals This Saturday in New York City, editors and fans of several literature magazines will congregate for readings and drinks. It's the Legion of Lit Mags.

But in case that isn't your thing, The Emerging Writers Network has an ongoing offer on literary journal subscriptions. If you subscribe to at least three magazines, you pay for one subscription less than you receive. - phil

Tags: magazines, literary, literary magazines, lit mag  ¶ 6/07/2006 10:11:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Field-Tested Books Author James Finn Garner says, "Summer reading should be, by definition, that which Fall-Winter-Spring reading is not. . . . I set aside Summer to enjoy the things no one is talking about. At my family cottage I have a personal rule to read only books more than 50 years old. In this way, modern novelists and their narcissistic obsessions get the heave-ho . . ."

That's how he begins his report on reading a collection of Damon Runyon stories. Garner is one of many contributors to Field-Tested Books from Coudal Partners. By coincidence, I was reading some of Garner's Politically Correct Bedtime Stories this week--funny stuff.

I learned of these experience reports from Laura Demanski (Our Girl in Chicago) who reports on a series of mysteries chosen by the family for her vacation reading. They made her an offer what she could not refuse, if youse know what I mean. - phil

Tags: books, novels, reading, mystery  ¶ 6/07/2006 09:24:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Norman Rockwell Tried to Tell Us Something Speaking of secret knowledge, a short documentary exposes a secret society, which included Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, and Norman Rockwell, dedicated to preserving a bloodline and protecting the innocent. Learn the truth of The Norman Rockwell Code. - phil  ¶ 6/06/2006 09:43:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW:Plain English Roy Jacobsen asks, "Why don't people write in plain English?" He offers a few reasons.

In my experience, the worst offenders seem to be covering up the fact they have little to say. You can't write a few paragraphs without saying anything unless you use convoluted language. - phil  ¶ 6/06/2006 07:27:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

PW: Christian Fiction Kevin Holtsberry is wading into more fiction from the Christian Booksellers Association with a year old network called Christian Fiction Blog Tours. He has reviewed his first novel from the network, The Hidden by Kathryn Mackel. Kevin has written a thorough review as usual and enjoyed it, praising the author for being a good storyteller.

Also in the vein of Christian Fiction, editor Terry Whalin blogs about the book The Making of a Christian Bestseller, which he thinks is mistitled but a great book. His first post addresses the title problem. His second post praises specific points inside the book, including insight from editors who rarely comment in print. [by way of Active Christian Media] - phil  ¶ 6/06/2006 12:31:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |