A few weeks back, we took a look at Bookworms With Ink, a literary blog book-obsessed tattoo enthusiasts where it’s hard to get cooler than this. It only gets better, that blog. Its growing community surprises me more and more with the varied quotes and illustrations people choose to have permanently etched on them. I’ve yet to come across anything quite as fascinating.

The other day, though, I found Lou Reads, a blog by a Louisville teacher that is basically a log of every book, well, that Lou reads. Each book is logged, dated, and reviewed. I’m loving this as much as the tattoo blog—Lou’s reviews are some of the sharpest and warmest I’ve ever read. Her taste spans Cormac McCarthy to Michael Chabon to Jennifer Crusie. She’s as spot on in her comments on pop trash as she is Pulitzer winners, and searching her archives is great fun when you start clicking random, dated tags wondering, “what will Lou read next!?”

Lou is fascinating in her own way. In her “About Us” section, she notes that she used to keep a log of all books she read, and she read a lot. Until Hurricane Katrina, when every book started was soon abandoned. In “the last six months or so” (from June 2007), she notes that she has again been able to read books to their ends, and so has re-started her logging.

Every book stirs a memory of a time and place in my life. I read the bulk of Love Warps the Mind a Little in the bed of the man that I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. I bought Lady Gregory’s Toothbrush in a small bookstore in Sligo, Ireland. The only books I was able to devour post-Katrina were genre pulp fiction like Tom Corcoran’s Gumbo Lindo and Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein … Now that I’m reading again, I thought I would pick up where I left off—in a more public and more thorough form.

My favourite thing about Lou is a hear-me-roar honesty. Check out this exceprt from her review of Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld:

I was also a scholarship kid at a tony New England prep school (although it was a day school). I wasn’t as much of an outsider as Lee, but I was definitely in the “unpopular” clique. And shit happened to me too. And I changed and grew during the course of my four years there. At the end of the book (I don’t consider this a spoiler) when she nearly flunks out her senior year for giving up on her math exam, I couldn’t believe that she was the exact same train wreck that she was when she first came to Ault.

Not your average review, right? Yet, still an opinion both shocking and utterly relevant. These are the sorts of reviews I want to read.

On Cormac McCarthy’s The Road:

Ooof. It seems like the only way to properly describe the effect that this book had on me is to make unintelligible, grunty, despairing sounds. Oooof. Uuhhh. Shhhh. Ohhhhh. Insert long, deep, desperate sigh here ... I read the last chunk of the book in a single sitting in Starbucks. Huge mistake. Unwilling to sob in public as I turned the last few pages, I swallowed my despair and ended up haunted by it for days. Don’t take that comment lightly. Quite literally, I went home, made myself comfort food, and then curled on the couch, despondant, for the rest of the evening. Simply revisiting the book right now has hurled me into a funk.

I don’t think I’ve read a review of The Road yet that nails the books breathtaking effect as well as this. Her ability to grab at the heart of stories. their settings, and subtexts is just glorious.

One more great moment from Lou Reads, this one in reference to Ernest J Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying:

Tragic, heavy book ... one where it takes you clear ‘til the end to actually feel sympathy for any of the characters. But what an impact. I was stunned, disappointed, when I met with my seven ninth grade advisees this week and found out that they all thought it was b-o-r-i-n-g! But to my surprise (and honestly renewing my faith that 14-year-old girls are still GIRLS) they were way put off by the somewhat explicit sex scenes!

You won’t find that stuff in the New York Times.

—Nikki Tranter

Zadie Smith is the headline grabber of the day, with her comments on the Willesden Herald web forum slamming literary prizes. Smith is quoted in the Times:

Most literary prizes are only nominally about literature. They are really about brand consolidation for beer companies, phone companies, coffee companies and even frozen food companies.

Her clear dismissal of the Whitbread, Orange, Costa, and Booker prizes comes following her inability to select a winner of the Willesden Herald short story competition. According to Smith, of the 850 entries, not a single one enticed her enough to give away the 5,000 pound prize.

Further comments on the forum suggest entrants pandering to Smith. The Times quotes her again:

To be very clear: just because this prize has the words Willesden and Zadie hovering over it, it does not mean that I or the other judges want to read hundreds of jolly stories about multicultural life on the streets of north London.

The post concludes (not quoted in The Times):

Nor are we exclusively interested in cutesy American comedies, or self-referential post-modern vignettes, or college satires.

Of course, not everyone appreciates this sort of to-the-point honesty. Ion Trewin, organizer of the Booker Prize, criticizes Smith for lambasting literary awards while accepting their financial benefits (Smith is a former winner of both the Whitbread and the Orange Prize). Author Joanna Trollope says Smith is utterly incorrect in her evaluations, noting that such prizes often dig better books out of potential obscurity, which makes it all worth it.

Good points, both. But Smith has a point, too. I can’t help but appreciate her honesty. Responders to her post are shocked and appalled that not even a shortlist could be culled from the Willesden entrants, and Smith has been chided that she’s simply incapable of being impressed. Read her comments a little more closely and what starts out as a bit of a catty backslap to the entire literary community becomes an impassioned plea for wannabe writers to immerse themselves a little more in research. To read better in order to write better. More from the Willesden post:

For let us be honest again: it is sometimes too easy, and too tempting, to blame everything that we hate in contemporary writing on the bookstores, on the corporate publishers, on incompetent editors and corrupt PR departments—and God knows, they all have their part to play. But we also have our part to play. We also have to work out how to write better and read better. We have to really scour this Internet to find the writing we love, and then we have to be able to recognize its quality. We cannot love something solely because it has been ignored. It must also be worthy of our attention… We got into this with a commitment to honour the best that’s out there, and we feel sure there is better out there somewhere.

We must do better. I don’t think this is a bad thing to say. I don’t think it’s particularly rude. If the entries weren’t up to scratch, try again. It shocks me that we all talk about finding truth in literature, in the moments, in the thoughts, and sensations, but when, in “real life”, someone decided to speak their personal “real life” truth, all hell breaks loose.

I only hope her frustration pays off, and those who submitted to her competition do try again, and do get better, rather than turning away in some kind of hoity disgust. We writers are sensitive folks, you know.

—Nikki Tranter

Hobbit first edition up for auction
A signed first edition of Tolkien’s book, complete with black and white sketches by the author, will go under the hammer at London’s Bonhams auction house in March. It’s estimated the book could draw bids of up to $US70,000. This article, published in The Age, notes that over 100 million copies of the Hobbit have been sold, with “the US Library Association declaring the novel to be the most significant children’s book of the century”.

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West Virginia Record calls John Grisham a hypocrite
On tour with his latest book, The Appeal, Grisham has apparently spent much airtime slagging of West VA for alleged high court corruption. The Record fights back in this article that claims Grisham isn’t one to throw stones:

Grisham continues to defend convicted judge-briber and ex-Scruggs associate Paul Minor, sentenced last October to eleven years in prison. Once president of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, Minor was found guilty of a range of charges, including racketeering and bribery of two judges presiding over his cases.

Grisham’s Flat Earth Society analysis: “I never saw what the crime was.”

When it comes to trial lawyers, especially ones he likes, he can’t see well at all.

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James Patterson is the UK’s most borrowed author
No shock there, really. This article tells us that Patterson’s works were borrowed from UK libraries in the vicinity of 1.5 million times in one year. He is the UK’s most popular author, while At Risk by Patricia Cornwell is the most popular book. Ugh. Re:Print readers are well-aware I’m a reformed Patterson fan. So, I find it hard to stomach the rate at which folks lap up his mini-chapter pomposities. I was once like you, Great Britain! If I grew out of it, so can you!

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Man attempts to mail gun parts inside books
Seattle Police, so says this article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, are hunting a man who attempted to mail gun parts to France hidden inside books:

Searching the books, officers found a disassembled Beretta handgun, three loaded magazines and two boxes of 9mm ammunition hidden in hollowed copies of Richard Tarnas’ “Cosmos and Psyche,” Isaac Asimov’s “Chronology of the World” and a communications text.

Read further and the whole things sounds like a Bond film in the making. Apparently the sender was an elderly man with liver spots on his face and a slight French accent.

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Art exhibit showcases unloved books
I love this story. The Birmingham Free Press reports on an art exhibition featuring sculptures and other works created using the remains of branch-room library books, those old, unloved tomes no-one has borrowed in too long a time. Cut, pasted, bent, and burned, the books have been refashioned to give them new, the article says, “a second life”. The exhibition, titled “Un-shelved: An Altered Book Project” features 60 pieces and is on show at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center and the Cranbrook Art Academy’s student gallery.

When some pictures are available, Re:Print will take a closer look at this one.

—Nikki Tranter

It’s 5am and I’m about ready to get on the Maiden Bus—a three-hour journey to the city for the first Australia Iron Maiden tour in more than 20 years. The nails are black, the head is partly shaved, and I’m feeling the part.

We’ve been delving into all-things-Maiden, my partner and I, since we bought our tickets nearly six months ago. Who knew there was so much out there? Live and doco DVDs, bootleg CDs, even a comprehensive library.

I thought today, I’d show off some of the best Maiden-based works and heavy metal tomes. For the metalhead in us all…

Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal
by Ian Christe
HarperCollins Publishers
February 2004

Considered the definitive history of the first 30 years of heavy metal, this one is filled with interviews with members of Black Sabbath, Metallica, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Kiss, Megadeth, Public Enemy, and others. From the B&N review: ‘Though Christe draws some sharp distinctions between and among subgenres, his basic position is that all heavy metal is good until proven bad. “Though metal is larger than life,” he writes, “it ultimately comes from life: inflaming the intellect, shaking the senses and stroking the libido more completely than any sound before.’

Run to the Hills: The Official Biography of Iron Maiden
by Mick Wall
Sanctuary Publishing

It’s unauthorized, but my partner tells me it’s excellent. The book charts Maiden’s rise from London’s East End to the biggest metal band on the planet. It covers the band’s highs and gets quite dark when exploring the lows. The best thing about this one, I hear, is it’s humour. It’s quite a fun read, channeling the band’s own style of dry humour.

Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal
by David Konow
Crown Publishing Group
November 2002

Konow is a Guitar World writer and his metal fandom seems to make him a perfect candidate for exploring all aspects of the genre and its subgenres. From the metal Maiden explosion through the era of the monster metal ballad, hair rock, and all that came after, Konow takes us through it all. I don’t agree with all of his assumptions, and I don’t know if Bon Jovi was ever really a metal band, but there are some fun tidbits here.

Too Fast for Love: Heavy Metal Portraits
by David Yellen (Photographer), Chuck Klosterman (Introduction), Chuck Klosterman
powerHouse Books
September 2004

Dave Yellen’s longing for days gone by when metal was huge and metal hair was bigger still is pretty much exactly what we’re experiencing this morning. With word that Maiden are to be performing nothing but hits and other classics tonight, we’re expecting flashbacks that hit so hard and so deep that we may actually go back in time. Yellen’s book makes us feel like we’re not so alone, that perhaps not everyone was oh-so happy to see the spandex era end. There’s a lot to be learned about bands and band politics here, as Yellen wins the trust and friendship of some major metal names.

—Nikki Tranter

I found this most adorable:

Do you like mysteries? Then The Ghost, The White House and Me will really get your motors going. When KayKay and Annie move to the White House things change—a lot of things.

Their mom is the President. Everything is spectacular—until they hear rumors that Abe Lincoln’s ghost haunts the White House.

KayKay does not believe in ghosts. So while they are eating with Uncle Matt, she asks if she can sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom—nope. Then her mom says yes to Uncle Matt. So, the girls try to scare Uncle Matt out of the Lincoln Bedroom.

Things don’t go as planned. Can they figure this puzzle out? Don’t just stand there, go get this book!
The Ghost, The White House, and Me is written by Judith St. George, is well suited for ages 6-10, costs $16.95, and is published by Holiday House.

So writes Jack Parke, a student at the Forest Hill Elementary School in Noblesville, Indiana. His review is just one of a handful published at the Noblesville Daily Times. Reading these makes me wish more kids reviewed books for major publications. They cut to the chase, don’t they? Here’s what the book’s about, and here’s why you’ll like it—it’s a simple, yet informative.

I also enjoyed Kate Holtkamp’s review of Violet Bing and the Grand House wherein the reviewer notes: “If you need to get out the habit of saying no, this is the book for you.” That’s all I need really, and Bing is on my Amazon WishList.

The reviews come from teacher Carol Lohe’s FOCUS class. Lohe’s teaching has been in the Nobelsville news quite often of late. Here’s an article discussing the world lessons taught by Lohe during Cultural Awareness Week, such as the typical color of a wedding dress in China and Japan’s most popular pizza topping.

Forest Hill Elementary sounds like my kind of school.

—Nikki Tranter