In today's New York Times Book Review section there was an interesting article on literary novels going straight to paper. It appears that more literary novels or novels by lesser known authors don't seem to sell as well in cloth as say "knock-offs of The Da Vinci Code". Humpf. Actually I think I prefer to buy paperbacks to cloth anyway, as I can fit more of them on the bookshelves (well maybe not at present since all the shelves are full...). Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, Interpreter of Maladies (which is sitting high up on my TBR pile) was mentioned as an example of a "paperback original". It is sad to think a novel that would later win the Pulitzer Prize was not deemed a good enough seller to be published in cloth. Is this really any surprise though?
Thanks to Bookglutton I found this link to The Neglected Books Page. Just think of all those forgotten books sitting on used bookstore bookshelves (or untouched for years on library shelves). Sometimes I will buy a book even if it seems quite dated, just to get the feel of the period it was written. Take for example my lovely copy of Pamela Moore's Chocolates for Breakfast. Sadly(?) this is long out of print (originally published in 1956), but copies can be had for a mere pittance through Amazon's used books network. Working in a library where there is constant weeding going on, I always feel bad for the cartloads of books that come down, which haven't been checked out in 30 years and are destined for the recycling bins!
Whenever I am looking for book news I always turn to Bookslut. They do an exceptional job of gathering all the daily book news. Everytime I stop by there I find something new and interesting. They link to a great Salon review of The Amalgamation Polka by Stephen Wright, which I have sitting next to my bed and am looking forward to reading! It also appears that the 2006 Tournament of Books has just started. Of the 16 contenders I have only read three, and have one sitting (yes, you guessed it) on the TBR pile! I am looking forward to seeing how Kazuo Ishiguro and Ali Smith do! A literary sporting event right up my alley!