Dan Brown has topped another best seller list – this time for the author who’s books are most donated to British charity shop Oxfam.

It’s a dubious honour and one the American author has taken out for a second year in a row according to Oxfam’s annual survey. He’s joined in the top ten by a veritable who’s who of popular fiction including Patricia Cornwell, Alexander McCall Smith, John Grisham and Danielle Steel.

But when it comes to his books being purchased, Brown only scarped in as tenth most popular author. He was resoundingly beaten by Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin who took out the top spot followed by Millenium trilogy author Stieg Larsson, JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer.

Oxfam is Europe’s biggest high street retailer of second-hand books and the third-biggest bookseller in the UK. The charity sells £1.6 million of books a month from its 686 stores.

It’s a little hard to feel sorry for Dan Brown though; he’s amassed a staggering fortune on the back of his best selling novels which are adored by the public but routinely savaged by critics. If you need reminding of just how popular he is, his latest novel The Lost Symbol sold over 1 million copies in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada on its first day of sales - which must make me one of the only people on earth to not have read it yet.

It’s not that I don’t like Dan Brown’s books. I really enjoyed the Da Vinci Code for the fast paced entertaining fiction it is. But I find the more an author or a novel is hyped up, the more resistant I am to joining the reading fray surrounding it.

So, do Dan Brown’s novels grace your bookshelves at home or like the British appear to have done in their droves, have you rehomed them after reading?

It’s been all eyes on the Brits this week in the book world…

• The explosive memoir of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was released this week. A Journey is full of intrigue and drama from his ten years in office. Read the edited highlights here.

• Also making news was publishers HarperCollins win in court over the BBC allowing them to print an autobiography of Top Gear’s The Stig. Shortly after their court room win, HarperCollins released a statement confirming one of telly’s best kept secrets; The Stig is Formula Three driver Ben Collins.

Meanwhile…

• Downunder True Blood fans rejoice! Author Charlaine Harris has announced a tour to our fair shores in October. Click here for Australia and here for New Zealand dates.

• Suzanne Collin’s final instalment in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, has sold a staggering 450,000 copies in its first week as well as topping the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Meanwhile debate rages over who should play the main characters in a film version of the young adult books.

• Oprah’s Bookclub is back! The next title is a hotly guarded secret (although widely tipped to be Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom) but whatever it is, it is guaranteed to become an international best seller.

• Puffin have released a new Roald Dahl collection titled The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets. It contains a previously secret ending to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and teacher’s comments from Dahl’s actual school report cards. It seems his incredible talent was not apparent at an early age!
Lastly…

• Don’t forget the 2010 Man Booker Prize is whittled down to its shortlist this week. What are your picks to make it through from this year’s long list? We’ll bring the announcement of the top six novels to you on Tuesday.

Just two weeks ago news came out that the Oxford English Dictionary was adding such modern terms as “chillax,” “vuvuzela”, and “tweet up” to its lexicon. Now it seems the hallowed one of the word world is in danger of becoming obsolete – in the printed form at least.

The popularity of online dictionaries means the next printed version of the OED may never happen. The publication date is unknown due to the mammoth amount of revision required to keep it current but is estimated to be over a decade away. It was last published in 1989 and weighs in at a shelf splintering 340kgs for the complete 20 piece set.

Other factors which may hinder its print popularity include the price tag (approximately AU$230) and the fact you need a magnifying glass to actually read it.

I’m about to show myself as a hypocrite here. Having outed myself as a self confessed – and deliberate – Luddite when it comes to book technology, where is the first place I head to when I need to check the spelling of a word or a definition? Yup, the web. It’s quick, convenient and accurate as the Oxford English Dictionary can appreciate; their website gets over 2 million hits per month.

But I can still lament the passing of the humble dictionary. I remember my trusty concise OED; I won it in at Form Two (that’s year 8 to you young uns) current events quiz and it travelled, quietly but loyally, in my backpack through high school and university, saving me from many an embarrassing spelling stuff up. Now tattered and dog eared, it’s resigned to my bottom desk drawer.

So come on, be honest; when was the last time you picked up a trusty old book version of the dictionary? Or are you like me and head for the net for your definition dilemmas and spelling snafus?

This week’s literary links that have taken my fancy:

• The BCC, makers of the TV car show phenomena Top Gear, are embattled in a court case with Harper Collins after the publisher announced plans for an autobiography of The Stig, the show’s super secret stunt driver.

• Britain’s Durham University is offering what is thought to be that country’s first paper on Harry Potter. Would you study the boy wizard?

• Speaking of JK Rowling, six year old Leo Hunter says he wants to be more famous than the billionaire author and could just well do it; he’s been signed to a US publisher to write 24 books.

• For the JD Salinger fan who has everything: the reclusive author’s former toilet is for sale on ebay, complete with letter of authenticity and in an uncleaned state. Classy.

• For some light relief, read this year’s winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for the worst opening sentence for a fictional novel.

• Unless you’ve been living in a cave all week, you’ll know Mockingjay, the final in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins was released this week. Read one of the first reviews of this Young Adults novel here.

• Mr Bean is back! The books on which the cult tv series were based are being re-released.

• How far would you go to show your love for your favourite author? As far as this guy?

To most book lovers that notion is akin to blasphemy, but in a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, the authors believe advertising is indeed coming - to an e-book near you.

Advertising hasn’t been an issue for the traditional book the article states because “ads depend on volume and timeliness to work, and books don’t provide an opportunity for either.” Advertisers want immediacy and books, with their long process from author’s conception to actual publication and purchase by the consumer, just cannot provide that.

And that’s where e-books come in.

They naturally lend themselves to advertising with their digital format; users need to log on frequently to update their ebook reader, meaning advertisements can be updated too – and kept relevant to the consumer. Then there’s the “tempt them” option; provide free sample chapters with advertising but the full product, sans commercial plugs, comes at a premium price.

The results of a recent Marketing and Research Resources survey shows ebook advertising makes good commercial sense to a floundering publishing industry; 40% of the 1,200 ebook owners surveyed said they now read more than with print books. Meanwhile 55% of the respondents thought they’d use the device to read even more books in the future.

And those ads may be closer than you think; Amazon has already filed a patent for advertising for its Kindle.

So what do you think of the idea of ads in books? I’m not an ebook kinda gal; I love the smell, feel and weight of books far too much to go digital. That said, if I did “go over to the dark side” my acceptance of advertising would have to come with some caveats; if we are talking authors being forced to drop commercial product into their prose then ugh! No thanks! But if it’s a tasteful banner ad similar to what many search engines display then I guess I could probably live with it. What about you?

Title: The Solitude of Prime Numbers
Author: Paolo Giordano
Year: 2009

Alice and Mattia are two very damaged children who wear their pain like armour.

Mattia harbours a dark secret; on the way to the first birthday party he has ever been invited to he leaves his mentally disabled twin sister alone in a park. Upon his return hours later, his sister has vanished and is never seen again. The torment of his actions manifests itself in dangerous self mutilation and burying himself in schoolwork.

Alice, an only child, struggles to impress her demanding father and suffers a cruel skiing accident which leaves her partially crippled. Feelings of rejection, humiliation and despair turn into an eating disorder which ravages her body.

Locked in their twin miseries, Alice and Mattia find in each other a soul mate; someone who understands their hurt and ostracism from the rest of the world.

Together they traverse the pain of their teenage years with a bond that is like the prime numbers of the book’s title: close but never touching.

But when that bond threatens to become something more than friendship, Alice runs to the arms of another and Mattia flees for North Europe to immerse himself in his beloved mathematics.

It is only when Alice sees Mattia’s lost twin sister, the two are reunited and the past might finally be resolved.

Essentially a coming-of-age story, it is darkly compelling with a searing insight into loneliness and isolation that trauma can bring.

The initial scenes, detailing the traumatic events which shape Alice and Mattia’s lives are tautly written and dramatic. The novel slows through the middle stages as the pair navigate adolescence, as Mattia cuts and Alice starves, and their families watch on in a state of paralysis, before picking up pace again in the final, agonising chapters of misunderstanding and missed chances.

This novel, Giordano’s debut, is staggeringly beautiful to read. Tightly composed with breath-taking language, you would never suspect it was originally written in Italian; it flows seamlessly in a way that is rare for translated books to do.

But don’t just take my word for it; this achingly gorgeous novel has sold over 1 million copies in 30 languages and was the 2008 winner of won Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the Premui Strega. And at just 28 years of age, Giordano certainly has a long and glittering career ahead.

Financial powerhouse Forbes magazine this week revealed the highest earning authors in the book business - and the numbers are staggering.

Combined, the ten authors who made the list earned an astonishing US$270 million dollars from books, film rights, television and gaming deals. The figures are taken from June 1, 2009, through to June 1, 2010.

In the number one spot was American thriller author James Patterson. His novels, which include the popular Alex Cross series, saw him walk away with US$70 million dollars. He is contracted to write 17 books by the end of 2012 for an estimated $100 million, all but guaranteeing to keep him on the list in future years.

Twilight saga author Stephenie Meyer made US$40 million dollars in the past year helped by the movie franchise and accompanying merchandising. Horror maestro Stephen King rounded out the top 3 with a total of US$34 million dollars earned, only just piping romance favourite Danielle Steel who took home US$32 million dollars.

Rounding out the list was:

5. Ken Follett: US$20 million
6. Dean Koontz: US$18 million
7. Janet Evanovich: US$16 million
8. John Grisham: US$15 million
9. Nicholas Sparks: US$14 million
10. JK Rowling: US$10 million

These are simply mind-blowing amounts of money, akin to what the hottest in Hollywood are earning annually. And since these authors are perennial best sellers (with no sign of that changing) we can expect to see more of the same in future.

I do wonder however where Stieg Larsson places, given the phenomenal success of the Millennium Trilogy and am surprised to see him omitted from the list.

Some of the literary links that have caught my eye this week:

• Twenty of the greatest endings in literature – do you agree?

• Terry Pratchett’s new novel I Shall Wear Midnight has been given a midnight release in the UK – would you sacrifice your beauty sleep and queue up?

• Vuvuzela makes it into the Oxford Dictionary of English.

• Sentenced to Read: Texas lawbreakers are being sentenced to reading groups, not prison cells, with startling results.

• French horror as Gaelic comic hero Asterix appears in an American commercial for junk food giant McDonald’s.

• Think you know the English language? Try this quiz and test your word power.

That’s the question I am asking myself after reading this story from BBC News.

Publishers Frederick Warne have confirmed Hollywood actress Emma Thompson is being given the reins to write a new Peter Rabbit story to mark the 110th anniversary of this much loved story in 2012. It is also hoped the
Oscar winner’s updated story will reintroduce the little rabbit’s antics to new generations of young readers.

Of the new book, Thompson told US chat show host Craig Ferguson; “They asked me to write a new story, so I’m going to take him to Scotland.”

Publishers are still looking for an illustrator to provide drawings for Thompson’s tale.
Beatrix Potter first introduced the character of Peter Rabbit - based on her own pet - to her stories in 1902 after its beginnings as an illustrated letter in 1893. He subsequently appeared in five more installments between 1904 and 1912.

There is no doubting Thompson’s writing pedigree, having written the screenplay for films including Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee and the forthcoming remake of My Fair Lady. But I can’t help but wonder if a more seasoned, specialist children’s author might have been more appropriate to recreate this beloved character. I hope her handling is as sensitive and faithful as the recently released “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood” by David Benedictus was to that other children’s favourite Winnie the Pooh.

What are your thoughts on Thompson’s appointment to this rather hallowed role? Do you think she is right for the task? Do you think it is even necessary to have a new story written in the series? I’d love to hear your views.

Nifty book trailer for The Beaufort Diaries. Now with David Duchovny…

• Fighter ace.  Secret agent.  Legendary ladies man.  No, it’s not James Bond.  It’s Roald Dahl…

• Twenty five hot pickup lines to use on bookworms – “Wait until you see the size of my… Philip K. Dick library.”

• What’s the deal with that Scott Pilgrim all the kids are talking about? The Millions investigates…

• Karl Marlantes lists his Top 10 books about war.

• The Baby Sitters Club gets the Brett Easton Ellis treatment…

• Neil Gaiman’s hair gets the Russian photoshop treatment…

• And the Kama Sutra gets the audiobook treatment….

• Words for which English has no words.

• An article listing the 15 most overrated contemporary American writers. I get the feeling things are going to get litigious…

• Stephen King delivers faint praise to Glenn Beck. Well, kind of.

• The Guardian discovers that there is fiction in historical fiction.

• Wikipedia’s lamest edit wars.  For example, there have been 6,372 edits of an article concerning whether Limp Bizkit is ‘rapcore/nu metal’ or ‘nu metal/rapcore’.

• And that’s it for this week’s Link Roundup.   I’m going overseas for a few weeks – so stay tuned for further updates.  But I wouldn’t leave without first leaving you all a gift. Enjoy!

Jordan – TheNile.com.au