Blooks

The Blooker prize is awarded each year for a published book based on a blog or website. The name comes from combining the words books and blogs, and plays on the famous literary Booker Prize. Last year, I read Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, winner of the 2006 Blooker Prize. The book is subtitled "365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" and humorously accounts a year in which the author attempted to cook all the recipes detailed in Julie Child's "The Art of French Cooking." Julie was unsure what a blog was when her husband suggested she wrote one shortly into her journey, but she soon began the Julie/Julia Project and attracted many readers. Rather than review the book, I suggest you visit her first blog entry.

Save Karyn was the first blook I read, about the last ditch effort of a girl who spent too much money on clothes, handbags and lattes and ended up with a $20,000 credit card debt. The shopaholic set up a website asking for donations and repaid the debt in twenty weeks! Proving that blook authors are not one hit wonders, Karyn has also published a second book that I am yet to read. In 2008, the Blook I want to read is Petite Anglaise, based on the blog of the same name that I have followed for years.

If you have a blook you want to share about, post us a comment below.

E-Books and Bendable Electronic Paper

There have been quite a few articles lately that discuss e-readers and most agree that they haven't hit their "ipod moment". If I were a producer of an e-reader I'd be worried about a better Apple product. Apple didn't start producing mobile phones until recently; the iphone was an instant success.



I'm waiting for the ipod moment too. I hope it has something to do with the electronic paper Fujitsu developed in 2005. Ever since their announcement several years ago I've been waiting to see a book made of the paper. I suppose it would only have to be one to two pages thick.

See this article from Fujitsu for more details on the paper.

Manly Library's Novel ideas blog

The Manly Library has a great blog called Novel ideas.  They cover lots of interesting topics, book reviews and sites like this Booktagger review. :)

Bookseller+Publisher and Booktagger

Last month we were covered in a short article on Bookseller+Publisher, a fantastic source of Australian book industry news. They kindly referred to our Australian based Web2 community and the features we provide right now.

Today Boomerang Books, an Adelaide based online bookstore, has stated it's plans to join the Australian Web2 initiative for booksellers. The article states their future plans for their website will take it to a new level not seen to date. However I was left wondering what that will be after the examples stated were limited to 'integration of data sources, exploitation of the "long tail", and user-generated content'; all of which are currently provided by Booktagger to some degree. The features aren't currently available from their site.

I like competition, it's healthy. We have a way to go before our product is perfect.

Jumper: a Book then a Movie

I don't really read Science Fiction. A designer I work with sent me this trailer/banner ad for the movie Jumper a month ago where two characters create havoc in your browser. Only later did I realize the movie is also a book, written by Steven Gould. There is even a whole blog collecting movie trailer's from the web; Jumper Blog. So I've decided to read the book and then watch the movie. I'll write a review when I'm done.

Valentine's Day

What's your favorite book of poems or love story? Tell us about it in the comments below or tag it on Booktagger as Valentine's, love or "love story". I find I'm always drawn to the classics. Here are some of my favorites: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, A Room With A View by E. M. Forster.

My favorite cartoons on love come from Michael Leunig. They are somewhat abstract and a contributor to my decision to marry; Rebecca bought one of Leunig's books for me on Valentine's Day 2000.

Don't judge a book by the size of its cover

I have always been intrigued by miniature items, and have recently been looking at pictures of miniature handmade books on flickr. These books have beautiful stitching and colourful covers, and are only the size of a coin. I also discovered recently a book titled Miniature books: 4,000 years of tiny treasures that was based on a fascinating exhibition I wish I had seen. Items include a Babylonian tablet c. 2000 BC to miniatures illustrated by Picasso.

Put a Booktagger Shelf on Your Website

I'm pleased to announce that we've released a Booktagger widget to display your shelves on other websites. Like this example site on Blogger/Blogspot.

Once you've signed into Booktagger select My Bookshelf and you'll notice a new link on the right hand column.



Once you click on the link you'll see our Booktagger widget generator screen which will help you generate the HTML code to Embed into your website. As the code is in JavaScript some websites like Facebook don't support it. However others like Blogger do. We're compiling a list of supported sites and are also working to extend our widget base to work on all platforms.



"Web widgets...can be embedded in a web page" Wikipedia.

Booktagger and Le Chic Geek

Booktagger is mentioned in Digital Media Magazine this month. It's available online here, also refer to page 26. I'm seen sneaking onto the front page on the far right. Booktagger and I are a part of the feature story "Digital Young Guns". I've included a magazine clip below.



At the end of the day on Friday, also Digital Media's release date, I returned to my car to find a parking ticket. Just what I needed. When I opened it I noticed the ticket was handwritten. The note indicated I deserved a parking ticket because I was "Le Chic Geek". I also noticed a generally mischievous colleague had parked his car across the road from mine. Needless to say, he shortly received a parking ticket as well.

Booktagger reviews have me adding to my bookshelf

Booktagger readers have started to contribute book reviews. I have added The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett to my list of books I want to read after reading this review by Mara A.

Grundeldores recommended a something funny, Sherrie W shared a great book for teens, and a review of Simple Chinese Cooking contributed by Booktagger Jo E may mean I don't have to order Chinese takeaway again.

I also read an interesting and personal response by Heather W to La Historiadora/The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and Eduardo G. Murillo.

Have you read or written a review on Booktagger? Post us the link below.

Booktagger in the Sydney Morning Herald

Thank you Susan Wyndham for covering Booktagger in the Sydney Morning Herald. The article appears to be in print only as I haven't been able to find it on Susan's blog, Undercover. It was in Saturday's paper, page 28 of Spectrum. I'll update this post if I find a copy online, or transcribe it.

*Update:

Here's the link to the article, it's on Susan's blog now: Readers Connect.

Mumbai Mirror

Thank You Mumbai Mirror, we noticed you. My mother lived in India for 4 years when she was little and loved it. I'll visit one day.