South East London reading

I'll be talking about and reading from Speaking of Love tonight at Penge Library in south east London. It's part of The Blurb, Bromley's June festival of Books and Reading and it's free, but if you'd like to come you need to book. The event has been organised in association with Spread the Word's bookchat series ... because Speaking of Love came fifth (of 500) in Spread the Word's Books to Talk About competition earlier in the year.

It would be lovely to see you there ... .

Cover story ... and fab reports

In October I asked people to tell me the short story that Speaking of Love's paperback cover told them. I promised a copy of the paperback to the writer of the story that most appealed to me (see original post here) ... and the one that most appealed to me was Richard Gray's.

It's in the post, Richard.

Also, the wonderful Mark Thornton at Mostly Books blogged yesterday about the event that Eliza Graham and I did at Mostly Books on Monday 3 March. He's got YouTube videos of us reading and all ... how do you do that Mark? And Simon Thomas at Stuck in a Book also blogged about the Mostly Books event, here. Fab reports both ... thank you.

Congratulations to ...

... Jonathan Trigell and Boy A on becoming THE Book to Talk About, 2008. (Press release here.) And thank you to everyone who voted for Speaking of Love. It has been a privilege for the book to be on the shortlist.

It's a little bit funny ...

... this feeling inside.

The rest of Elton John's song doesn't apply, but today is a day when it's difficult to concentrate because I'm feeling a bit funny inside and I'm not even trying to MAT: a MAT is being forced upon me because ...

... in 24 hours' time the author and the publisher of THE Book to Talk About 2008 will know the result. But until then the other 9 authors and all 10 publishers must be feeling a little bit funny inside too, must be having at least some difficulty concentrating, must be wondering about the result. I can't be the only one ... .

So ... what to do until this time tomorrow? I think I'll read.

Do you live near Oxford (England)?

If you do, and you aren't already doing something tonight, you might like to come to Mostly Books in Stert Street, Abingdon at 7.30 to hear Eliza Graham and I talking about the effect that the Spread the Word, Books to Talk About shortlisting has had on our writing careers, and how our books made the shortlist.

It'll cost you £3, redeemable against a book bought on the night, and the wonderful indy bookshop, Mostly Books, are here.

The winner of the award, THE Book to Talk About, will be announced on World Book Day, Thursday 6 March 2008, from the ten books on the shortlist.

Spread the Word / World Book Day - last chance to vote

As I write this there are less than three hours to go before voting closes on the shortlist for THE Book to Talk About 2008 award.

If you'd like to vote for Speaking of Love, go here. Or click on the link on the paperback cover over there on the right.

Thank you ... and may the best book win.

Results will be announced on 6 March which is, as I'm sure you know, World Book Day.

Book reviews ... to blog or not to blog ...

... is a very interesting question.

And there's a very interesting post about it all over on Vulpes Libris which I've only just discovered - from dovegreyreader - all about whether blogging book reviewers are the saviours of small publishers, have caused the end of decent criticism or are unpaid cheerleaders.

My vote goes to the SoSPs and the UCs because, without them, Speaking of Love would have been remaindered (that lovely trade euphemism for crushing books to death in a pulping machine) by now, instead of being in with a chance for an award. So here's a big THANK YOU - in several languages (from this site) to all of you who've reviewed it and helped spread the word.

Merci, grazie, cheers, dankon, tashakurr, mamnoon, tankje, gracias, danke, efharisto poli, mahalo, takk, arigato, obrigadu, eso, yo-twa, shukria, kulo, webale nyo, tika hoki, oneowe, aio, lim limt, hambadiahana, tak sa mycket, yegniyelay and syabonga.

Spread the Word some more ...

On 4 February Richard Lea listed, on the Guardian Unlimited's Arts Blog, the ten books on the Spread the Word shortlist under the heading: 'What Goes into a "Book to Talk About"?' Then he wonders why 'the Kennedys, Enrights, Adichies et al were never in with a sniff'. He goes on, 'It looks like a clear case of "ask a funny question, get a funny answer".'

But the award is for works by 'living authors whose work has not been selected for high-profile media promotions or awards. Hidden gems deserving wider notice'. Perhaps Lea didn't know that ... but that's why there aren't any Kennedys et al on the shortlist, nor were they ever on any long-longlist. Anyway his post has provoked discussion about the award and about what a Book to Talk About is and that's a good thing. You can read the debate here ... the comment that appeals the most to me, so far, is this one, from inhouse:

That they are books to talk about is a way of saying they're great for book groups - they examine big issues. No need to intellectualise it so much! You might want to stick with the lit crit stuff, where the writing is all, but some people just want to argue about the moral issues raised by a book, because reading is a great way to get a perspective on our lives and society. It's all good, but perhaps not for everyone. It's easy to be sniffy, but why other people read is not a matter for supervision!

Hurrah for inhouse. No supervision! What do you think?

Spread the Word

Speaking of Love has been shortlisted for World Book Day's The Book to Talk About award. It's very exciting ... .

You can see the ten books on the shortlist here; you can comment on and vote for the ten books on the shortlist here or you can go straight to Speaking of Love's very own page on the Spread the Word site here to vote and comment.

Please do vote, please do comment, please do spread the word ... .

Speaking of Love and The Book To Talk About

Speaking of Love has been longlisted for Spread the Word's Book to Talk About, which is wonderful news for the book, and for all the books on the list (there are 100 of them). The award will be announced in the UK's Year of Reading (2008). The short list will appear in February - voted for by book groups and individuals - and the Book to Talk About will be announced on 6 March, which is World Book Day.

If you or your book group would like to vote for Speaking of Love go HERE. (You have to log in and then register to vote.)

To find out more about Spread the Word, Books to Talk About go HERE.

To see the longlist and read what the Guardian wrote about the prize on Friday, go HERE.