Used Books Blog

Restless by William Boyd is a fascinating novel that exposes the British Security Coordination (BSC), an extensive British covert spy operation aimed at persuading the US to enter World War II. However, this engrossing spy intrigue is hamstrung by non sequitur characters and over-reaching thematic metaphors.

Restless takes place in two time lines: the mid-1970s and early 1940s. The reader joins Ruth Gilmartin as she discovers the mysterious and heretofore unknown past of her mother - Eva Delectorskaya.

The chapters that chronicle Eva’s indoctrination and participation in the BSC are absorbing and suspenseful. Unfortunately, the chapters that follow Ruth’s daily life wind up a disappointment. Her world is populated with a number of characters and plot lines that never connect to the rest of the story. At the end of the novel I simply regarded these passages as unwanted filler. Instead, I wanted three more detailed chapters on Eva and her relationship with Lucas Romer, her BSC mentor.

The activities of BSC agents, the cat and mouse tactics, are what drive Restless. The concept behind the BSC was to use the media to actively bring the US into WWII. The BSC did this by surreptitiously planting fake stories that pointed at Nazi aggression or expansion past Europe. The BSC was an extensive spy network dedicated to information and spin!

Information wasn’t neutral … if it was believed or even half believed, then everything began subtly to change as a result - the ripple effect could have consequences no one could foresee.

In today’s information rich society, particularly in an election year, this theme resonates strongly. The fact that it was taking place 60 years ago is both interesting and frightening given what could be accomplished today.

The other downfall of Restless is Boyd’s seeming need to make the novel about more than just the personal stories that reveal the BSC. Does anyone really know another person? Are we all waiting for the proverbial other shoe (aka death) to drop? These themes and metaphors are a stretch and, frankly, detracted from my enjoyment of the taut spy thriller that was at the core of Restless.

Last but not least, there was no acknowledgment or afterword that told me what parts of the novel were based on fact. Instead I had to search the Internet to find … a fantastic piece Boyd did in The Guardian titled The Secret Persuaders. If only Boyd had used more of this material in Restless!

I’m being hard on Boyd because Restless was good but had the potential to be great. Ladies, don’t be scared away by the idea that this is a nuts and bolts spy story. It isn’t. The main characters are strong women embroiled in a great and sometimes romantic intrigue. Both my wife and I enjoyed Restless by William Boyd, with reservations, and recommend it as good summer reading.

I recently found a stunning international collection of cover art for The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. This first one is a favorite simply for the laugh factor of putting Star Trek’s Enterprise on the cover.

The site allows you to explore the covers by a number of methods including date, language, artist, publisher and design. The ‘Enterprise’ edition is classified under the aptly named ‘Huh??’ category. Other categories include ‘Screaming Humans Running at You’, ‘Humans Grabbed by Tentacles’, ‘Damsels in Distress’ and the popular ‘Tripods’. You can even view the covers by color.

I’m not a cover art aficionado, the kind who knows all the history and the actual artists. But I appreciate interesting cover art and am lucky to have inherited some spectacular examples from my dad’s collection. I read Frank Herbert’s Santaroga Barrier and got into Keith Laumer’s Retief series because of interesting covers.

I highly recommend that you visit and browse The War of the Worlds book cover collection if you are at all interested in science fiction, cover art, or art in general. A hearty thank you to Chez Zeus for putting together and maintaining this fine user contributed collection.

Is Amazon UK putting the squeeze on publishers? Hachette, the largest UK publisher, certainly thinks so and has decided enough is enough. The fracas may have started when some publishers began to offer deeper discounts to customers if they bought directly from them on their websites.

I can understand how this might disconcert Amazon. They want to be the price leader and they see publishers trying to take more of the retail business. 10 years ago there was no conceivable way that publishers could sell direct to the public online. They needed Amazon if they were going to sell books on the Internet. But … things have changed.

It’s not easy, but publishers can build a customer facing website with most of the necessary bells and whistles. Many publishers see this as an easy investment decision. A small portion of business that eliminates the middleman would be a boon to revenue.

According to Tim Hely Hutchinson, Hachette CEO, Amazon already receives on average more than 50% of the recommended retail price (RRP). So you can see how selling direct would have it’s lure. If a publisher could discount and sell a RRP $20 book for $15 on its own website they’d be up $5 on that transaction versus a sale via Amazon that would net them $10. Some speculate that Amazon might try to ignore the RRP and instead base the retail price on what publisher’s charge on their own website.

So what did Amazon do? Reports are that Amazon has demanded a greater share from publishers, asking for 2 or 3 percent more of the take. In the past, publishers caved into these demands because Amazon was too great a source for sales and revenue. This time the demand also came with a threat. Give us the extra percentage points or we take the ‘buy now’ buttons off your titles. (I’m assuming they mean the Add to Shopping Basket functionality.)

Seems like that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Hachette decided to take a stand and not give in to Amazon’s terms. Sure enough, Amazon followed through on their threat.

Here’s how a regular listing looks with the Add to Shopping Basket button.

Here’s how an affected listing looks without the Add to Shopping Basket button.

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware Blogs! has done a great job documenting all the action and write-ups. In particular, some publishers and ancillary groups are making noise about bringing this to the attention of the Competition Commission, a governmental agency that investigates unfair competition and/or monopolies. Amazon UK would have to be deemed in a dominant position in the industry, usually pegged at 25% market share. At present they’re at about 15%, but growing.

While I understand that Amazon is irked at the apparent revolt by publishers, I find their course of action very emotional. This is business and they should get used to having a bit more competition from publishers.

Does Amazon really think that publisher direct sales is going to substantially erode their sales? Couldn’t they have found a way to perhaps negotiate some ‘exclusive’ titles from publishers, with the lure of additional promotion?

From my perspective they’ve overplayed their market position, and the negative fallout among authors, publishers, booksellers and potential customers isn’t worth the relatively low risk to their continuing business.

Dave Rosenthal and the team at Read Street have put together a great Google Map of favorite bookstores away from home as compiled by Read Street readers and contributors, including yours truly of the Used Books Blog.

View Larger Map

It got me thinking about what other bookstore maps were out there. I immediately thought of the Abebooks Frappr. I won’t embed that map because it’s ugly (think MySpace of maps) and doesn’t seem to be working that well. (Frappr itself has seen traffic drop by over half in the last year.) Still, it holds an impressive 646 listings from around the world.

It was the international aspect that intrigued me and after a few searches I stumbled upon Bookstore Guide, “an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe..” (Yes, two periods for some reason.) This is a neat site (minus the black background) and their city coverage is impressive. Sure enough, they recently added a new mapping feature!

Thanks to Nomao and Google Maps, we have the pleasure to introduce a new feature to our guide. Namely, it’s a map where we’ve marked all the bookstores in our guide. This should help you locate the bookstores more easily. Unfortunately, not all the cities have a detailed map of the streets but should at least give you some sense to where the place with the bookstore is. We have just started adding the bookstores to the map, so stick around to see the whole map of Europe become filled out with your favorite bookstores.

Of course you can use Google Maps and just type in ‘bookstore’ without any geographic parameters. But there’s no easy way to sort the nearly 200,000 results or remove chain stores like Borders. There’s a good deal of search and scroll involved. A tagged taxonomy might go a long way to making it easier to find the right bookstore.

I’ve been getting more email lately which isn’t a bad thing in my book - keep it coming! One from Fiona King caught my attention and will interest readers who find me through a variety of Kindle searches.

I’m not particularly fond of the Kindle overall, but I do see it being useful for students and textbooks in particular. Hack Your Kindle: 100+ Tips, Resources, and Tutorials to Get More Out of the Amazon Kindle is a good list and I feel better promoting it because it’s on a college-themed site. Sure, it’s link bait, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good or useful.

For easy reference, here’s a list of all my posts mentioning Kindle.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is like that old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups advertising campaign. You know, the one where the peanut butter and chocolate lovers clumsily bump into each other.

“You’ve got peanut butter on my chocolate! You’ve got chocolate in my peanut butter!” they exclaim before finding out just how delicious the combination turns out to be.

Replace peanut butter and chocolate with science fiction and humor and you get Douglas Adams’ brilliant The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Follow the rollicking exploits of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect as they pinball around the universe, getting into tight scrapes and meeting up with a zany assortment of outlandish characters. You won’t find hard science here or a complex tale mirroring a modern day social issue. In fact, Adams lampoons these staples of science fiction and instead creates a wild parody without equal.

Here’s a secret. You’ll even learn the puzzling answer to the meaning of life, provided by Deep Thought, the second greatest computer in the universe.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy begins when a nasty bunch of officious aliens called the Vogons destroy Earth to make way for a ‘hyperspatial express route.’ Arthur and Ford survive by thumbing a ride on the Vogon spaceship. They’re able to do this only because Ford happens to be an alien and, more importantly, is a researcher for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a type of electronic tome which is a cross between a Lonely Planet guide, a George Carlin cassette (remember this was published in the late 70s) and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Adams uses entries in the Guide with great effect, providing quick tongue-in-cheek explanations or background information without it feeling forced. The cast of characters are entertaining and undeniably memorable: the wisecracking Ford Prefect; straight man to the farce, Arthur Dent; the swashbuckling Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, who happens to have two heads and three arms; Marvin, the Paranoid Android, a severely depressed robot; and a beautiful woman by the name of Trillian.

This motley band of characters jet about the universe on The Heart of Gold, a stolen ship powered by an Improbability Drive and equipped with an annoyingly cheery computer named Eddie.

Forget about highly defined plot lines and let yourself bounce from one screwball situation to another. Give in to the lunacy and snappy dialog that drive the novel. Douglas Adams is without a doubt the funniest science fiction author in the universe. Sadly, we lost Adams well before his time.

Don’t panic! The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is just the first in a classic and oddly titled five book trilogy. So there’s plenty more to read if you enjoy this introduction to the series.

Think twice about reading this in public, since a bark of laughter in your local cafe may earn you some odd looks. Though this could work to your advantage if you want some space during your commute to or from work.

No, I’m not talking about The Paper Chase, the novel, movie and TV series featuring John Houseman. Instead, I’m referring to the UK stationary retailer that Borders purchased in 2004. Yes, according to Todd Sullivan of Seeking Alpha, Borders has hired Goldman Sachs “to conduct a review that ought to lead to a sale.”

Indeed, if you eyeball a May 27, 2008 Borders press release you’ll note the following under the International heading:

Management indicated that the strategic alternatives process for its Australia/New Zealand/Singapore and Paperchase businesses is ongoing.

Can I say again how much I dislike the euphemism “strategic alternatives process”. Putting aside this pet peeve, Borders has already sold the Australia business, so they’re not just talking but actually following through on these “strategic alternatives”.

This is yet another move by Borders to focus on the core business and the domestic (US) market. It makes sense whether they’re in it for the long run or simply making themselves pretty for a Barnes & Noble purchase.

As one Borders employee commented, “Paperchase is also losing money, and is a big waste of space.”

The 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report by Yankelovich and Scholastic contains some interesting statistics that may provide insight about the future of books in the digital age.

• 75% of kids age 5-17 agree with the statement, “No matter what I can do online, I’ll always want to read books printed on paper”
• 62% of kids surveyed say they prefer to read books printed on paper rather than on a computer or a handheld device.

Those are some pretty shocking(ly good) statistics given the prevalence of online media and handheld devices. I’ve blogged previously that eBooks and the Kindle have an uphill battle because of the passive nature of books and the lack of a motivating agent of change for the medium. Books are already portable, can be printed in color, and don’t get better due to new technology (e.g. - Dolby or HD.)

To be fair, there does seem to be a place for digital books.

• Two thirds of kids age 9-17 believe that within the next 10 years, most books which are read for fun will be read digitally – either on a computer or on another kind of electronic device. Eighty-seven percent of kids think people will be able to tag and share their favorite parts of books with others.

So perhaps there is room for both eBooks and the musty regular old book. The problem may be whether the digital book market can be a large enough and viable business.

Ready for some more good news?

• A majority of kids say they like to read books for fun and that reading books for fun is important. Most kids perceive a correlation between reading and success.
• One in four kids age 5–17 reads books for fun every day (high frequency reader), and more than half of kids read books for fun at least two to three times a week.

A part of me doesn’t believe these statistics given all the doom and gloom you often hear about reading and literacy. But the study was done to a 90% confidence level. It’s gratifying to see books still being linked to success.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), which tracks the progress of more than 20,000 American schoolchildren from kindergarten through the fifth grade, showed a correlation between the number of books in a child’s home and their test scores. This was referenced in Freakonomics and also cause for some sniping regarding correlation versus causality.

The crux of the report was this finding:

• A child with at least 50 kids’ books in his home, for instance, scores roughly 5 percentile points higher than a child with no books, and a child with 100 books scores another 5 percentile points higher than a child with 50 books.

Yet, there was no correlation between a parent reading to the child and test scores. This led many to believe that books, and the number of books, in the home wasn’t the primary factor, but instead was linked to the parent’s income and education.

I find that a weak argument for a couple of reasons. The first being the difference in scores between 50 books and 100 books. If you believe this argument, then the parents of the 100 book group are richer and better educated than those in the 50 book group. I’d be surprised if this was the case. It would have been a major finding in the report had this been true.

The second reason is that the environment has so much to do with a child’s growth and development. Akin to the Montessori idea of the prepared environment, it makes sense that having books around greatly increases the chance that they’ll seek them out on their own.

Parents reading to their child might not be correlated to success, but having access to books for children to seek out and explore on their own makes sense. You could be rich and intelligent parents, but if you’re feeding your kids a diet of Halo 3 on a daily basis you might get some odd results.

So how am I linking these two reports together? I know, it seems like a stretch, right? Here’s how.

• Most kids say there are not enough really good books for boys/girls their age, and they say finding books they like is one of the key reasons they do not read for fun more frequently.

This important statement comes from The Reading Report, making it clear that finding books is a key to reading. The odds of you finding books is far higher if you’ve got them in your home.

The Reading Report goes on to show the dramatic effect Harry Potter had on reading habits and attitudes. Again, I’d offer up the question: would a child be more or less likely to read Harry Potter if the books were in the home?

Yeah … parents, buy more books.

The Rider by Tim Krabbe is a bicycling book that will appeal to more than just hardcore cycling fans. In fact, The Rider is the best sports book I’ve ever read. This slim fast-paced novel follows bicycle racer Tim Krabbe on a grueling one-day race in mountainous France. Krabbe chronicles the cat and mouse strategy of cycling; the competitive camaraderie; the blinding physical pain; the superstitions; and the internal stream of consciousness battle that takes place as a rider pushes themselves to the limit.

I know a bit about bicycling because … I ride. Since the age of 13 I’ve been rewarded with great personal victories like riding from Philadelphia to Long Beach Island with my Dad and finishing the Mount Diablo Challenge in 1:25:10. I’ve also fought back from pain and tragedy, pushing through exhaustion and getting back on the road after being hit by a car.

Bicycling gives you perspective and insight that you translate to your life and career. Yes, it all sounds very new age and perhaps you’ve heard other athletes lecture monotonously about the subject. But it is … the truth. When you crest the summit of a mountain or finish a 100 mile century ride there is an immense sense of accomplishment. Not just for the actual deed but for how you overcame your own weaknesses. You think about all the times your body wanted you to stop and how many times the lesser part of your nature shouted persistently and persuasively: “turn around, you can’t do it, just give up, there’s no shame in stopping.”

Tim Krabbe captures this perfectly in The Rider. No other bicycling book I’ve read details that roller coaster of emotions and the ebb and flow of pain, determination and elation that is cycling. Even those not into bicycling will be drawn into this personal battle and will want to know how the race turns out. Does Krabbe win? This can’t fail plot device is executed with precision.

Amid all of this the hardcore cyclist is treated to anecdotes and references to some of the most revered names of cycling such as Merckx, Anquetil and Coppi. One of my favorites comes at the beginning of the novel:

Jacques Anquetil, five-time winner of the Tour de France, used to take his water bottle out of it’s holder before every climb and stick it in the back pocket of his jersey. Ab Geldermans, his Dutch lieutenant, watched him do that for years, until finally he couldn’t stand it any more and asked him why. And Anquetil explained.

A rider, said Anquetil, is made up of two parts, a person and a bike. The bike, of course, is the instrument the person uses to go faster, but its weight also slows him down. That really counts when the going gets tough, and in climbing the thing is to make sure the bike is as light as possible. A good way to do that is: take the bidon out of its holder.

So, at the start of every climb, Anquetil moved his water bottle from its holder to his back pocket. Clear enough.

This is such a perfect way to illustrate the ways in which cyclists deceive themselves in order to succeed. On the face this makes no sense at all, but as a rider, I can absolutely understand the ‘value’ of this behavior.

The style of The Rider also makes it an easy read. The short journal like entries that document the kilometer by kilometer progress throughout the race are tight, visceral and compelling. The prose isn’t detailed or overblown. It matches the dichotomous experience of the rider, mixing an economy of words with free association.

First published in Holland in 1978, it took and obscene 14 years until The Rider was translated into English. Now is your chance to read The Rider by Tim Krabbe. It is entertaining, informative and inspirational to both cyclists and non-cyclists.

Now … off for a ride of my own.

Darwin’s Children by Greg Bear is a satisfying but imperfect follow-up to Darwin’s Radio that reaches too far outside the scientific realm and into politics and religion. Bear is a gifted storyteller with a knack for building great suspense. Bear uses a scientific framework to create interesting characters and places them in situations that compel you to read on to find out what happens next. Darwin’s Children is no different.

Darwin’s Children picks up 11 years after where Darwin’s Radio ended. Bear doesn’t do a whole lot to catch the reader up, so if you haven’t read Darwin’s Radio you might be a bit confused. I definitely recommend reading Darwin’s Radio before Darwin’s Children. (Jeez, how many Darwin’s can you fit into a paragraph!)

The story revolves around the treatment and integration of a new type of human, children born through a retrovirus embedded deep in our DNA. As with all Bear novels, you’re treated to a bit of hard science. I personally enjoyed learning about the differing nature of viruses; a disease but also as a carrier of information. But the story is really about the Rafelson family who were central to Darwin’s Radio.

We follow Kaye Lang, a scientific researcher who essentially discovered the new virus; Mitch Rafelson, a former archaeologist who made a critical discovery in Darwin’s Radio; and Stella Nova, their “virus child” daughter. Stella is the most interesting because we get insight into these new humans.

Virus children have a hyper developed sense of smell that allows them to sniff out emotions. In addition, they can produce scents that can persuade others, a subtle type of mind control. Their faces are freckled and these freckles can be manipulated to produce patterns that allow non-verbal communication. In the verbal arena, they’re able to carry on two streams of conversation at once. Bear does a fine job of exploring the evolving ways in which these new humans will form relationships and develop new social patterns.

Alone, this type of speculative sociology would be interesting but Bear places his characters in tense, explosive situations. Can the Rafelson family evade capture by government agencies bent on placing Stella, and all of her kind, in internment camps? Will Stella survive a new disease that is ravaging this new breed of humans? And that’s just the first act of Darwin’s Children.

In fact, Bear creates three consecutive suspense stories which is both good and bad. The set-up is great but in many cases the climax never came. Instead you’re thrown head long into another set-up. So just when you’re warming up to how the situation would be resolved … the rug is pulled out from under you and you’re back to square one.

Yes, they all did support the final resolution, but I found the final story weak, the novel petering out near the end, ambling into cliche territory. In addition, Bear takes on a bit too much, straying into politics and religion.

On politics he takes very transparent shots at governing by fear and the erosion of freedom. I completely agree with Bear’s clear sentiment, but didn’t need or want them in this context. Yes, it’s easy to create some parallels but inference would have been better than exposition.

Bear also brings religion or God into the mix when it does nothing for the story and doesn’t lead anywhere. It’s simply his own personal observation and, from reading the caveats section, personal experience. My advice is to write up an essay or put this into another novel entirely. It’s distracting here and unnecessary.

Despite these failings Darwin’s Children is a good read as Bear deftly draws you into a new reality. Not his best by any stretch of the imagination, but worthwhile if you’ve read Darwin’s Radio and appropriate for those who enjoy readable hard Sci-Fi.