Judging a book by its cover

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love the idea of books as objects. Part of the enjoyment of reading, for me, is the physicality of the book. It’s about feeling the weight of it, flicking through the pages. It’s about dust jackets and embossed lettering, font style and evocative illustrations. I love that stuff. E-book readers, then, are not for me. As much as they have a certain gadgetty appeal, it just feels like doing things by halves. I’ll stick with my unwieldy, weighty tomes every time; inevitable old age hand and wrist ailments be damned.

The problem is though, that because I love the look and feel of books, I fall into the old trap of judging them by their covers. A big literary no-no, right? Maybe, but not always. It serves a very important purpose after all, so let’s not forget the amazing publishers and designers who do some brilliant work turning dog-eared manuscripts into eye catching works of art just dying to be picked off the shelf. Here are some of my favourites from my shelves at home.

Seth Grahame-Smith: whatever comes next has a lot to live up to in the cover art stakes.

Megan Abbott: I love these - perfectly capturing the genre.

Philip Pullman: attention to detail.

Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies series: cheerful.

1970s editions of Agatha Christie: sinister.

Cheap Penguin editions of James Bond: saucy.

Adelaide Writers' Week 2012

I spent a lovely morning in the city today, making my way through throngs of Clipsal 500 and Soundwave Festival revellers to attend the (comparatively demure) first day of Adelaide Writers’ Week. 

The Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden makes a pretty, leafy setting for this event. I found the set up this year to be better than ever, despite a few noisy interruptions thanks to the Clipsal 500 militray air display (which was actually kind of cool, but why must everything in Adelaide happen all at once?).

I caught two very interesting sessions today. The first was The Art of the Story, with Kelly Link (USA), Ron Rash (USA) and Wayne McCauley (AUS - standing in for Israel's Etgar Keret who was unable to attend). The panel spoke about the workings of the short story with Kate de Goldi, and each of the panelists also read a piece of their work. Ron Rash's reading was particularly moving, and I will definitely be reading some of his work very soon.

The second session was On and Off the Page, with Robert Shearman (of Doctor Who fame), Megan Abbott (one of my new favourite authors), and Paul Callaghan (writer and games designer) engaged in conversation with Ian Mond. On and Off the Page was concerned with negotiating the writing landscape as it shifts between and across different mediums including novels, films, television, and video games.

Robert Shearman, Megan Abbott and Paul Callaghan in conversation with Ian Mond.

My morning was hugely inspiring. So inspiring, in fact, that it caused this overdue resurrection of my poor ailing blog. It has also caused me to dig out the revision notes for my frustrating, languishing novel and shuffle them around a bit. Given that's the most attention they have had this year, I'd say things are looking up. It's amazing what one good dose of inspiration can do.

I'll be back into town on Wednesday to catch some more of the event, and may update you then.

 

2011 Recap

2011 has been a strange year, filled with ups and downs and everything in between. I didn’t achieve so much writing wise and certainly failed to keep Paperback City up to date. That said, the last few weeks have seen some serious progress on the second draft of my novel, with much scribbling out and rewriting, and one or two ‘did I write that?’ moments of the good and bad variety. I’m on two week’s holiday at the moment so I hope, in between the never ending seasonal eating and drinking sessions, I get some time to really knuckle down. Basically, I’m not sure it’s any good, nor what I really want to write, but it’s about time I finished something I started, so I can’t let myself off the hook so easy. Challenge accepted.

I’m looking forward to 2012. In particular, I can’t wait for Adelaide Writers’ Week (Megan Abbott, yay!), new Sookie Stackhouse (book 12) in May, and I’ve got a huge list of great books to get through.

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, though, here’s a list of the books I read this year:

1. Neanderthal – John Darnton
2. Miss Webster and Cherif – Patricia Duncker
3. Die a Little – Megan Abbott
4. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
5. Shades of Grey – Jasper Fforde
6. Dead Reckoning – Charlaine Harris
7. The Fellowship of the Ring – JRR Tolkien
8. The Two Towers – JRR Tolkien
9. The Return of the King – JRR Tolkien
10. Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne Du Maurier
11. When We Were Orphans – Kazuo Ishiguro
12. The Gates – John Connolly
13. My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell
14. A Game of Thrones – George RR Martin
15. The Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood
16. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
17. The White Queen – Philippa Gregory
18. The Devil Rides Out – Dennis Wheatley
19. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith
20. Blue Shoes and Happiness – Alexander McCall Smith
21. Due Preparations for the Plague – Janette Turner Hospital
22. Jazz – Toni Morrison
23. The Angel’s Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
24. The Song is You – Megan Abbott
25. The Brief History of the Dead – Kevin Brockmeier

Wishing you all a safe and happy new year. Catch you in 2012.