Three things

    ~    Writing my Oxford crime post a few months ago had me making several additions to my wish list, among them the novels of Sarah Caudwell. Happily, some of them (Thus Was Adonis Murdered, The Shortest Way to Hades and The Sirens Sang of Murder) are re-issued today in both paperback and e-book form, so a little purchase may be in order ...

    ~    When I give away books via the blog I certainly don't expect anything in return, but Alison - who recently won a copy of The Snow Child - has most generously sent me a gift. Helen Dunmore's The Greatcoat is a book I noted when I saw it reviewed recently, and I'm delighted to have this "elegant, literary flesh-creeper" and I'm looking forward to reading it. Thankyou, Alison!

    ~    Lastly today, 'social engineering' for the book business? I don't agree with this article's point at all: "Another prize for Hilary Mantel was unnecessary, and a missed opportunity to invigorate the books world". Whatever happened to merit? Surely it is the job of the judges to award the prize to the book they consider to be the best of those entered (see Ion Trewin, Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation, on the sole criterion here); their choice is not to be based on what might "invigorate the books world", support small publishers or smooth the publishing path for "innovative, genre-bending writers" - those aims or concerns are not part of their remit. "Mantel does not need a second Booker," says the article; since when was the prize awarded on the basis of need?