Countdown to Christmas...Bad Sex in Fiction and the Oddest Book Title of the Year...

For anyone wondering what has happened to the annual Bad Sex in Fiction award, sadly this did not run. You can read why on the Bookseller website here. Personally, it might have provided a much-needed giggle in these tough times...

The Literary Review's comment does raise a smile... Organisers warned the cancellation “should not be taken as a licence to write bad sex”.

As for the Diagram Prize for The Oddest Book Title of the Year, that crept by with little notice. The winner was a Canadian author, and a publisher from the country too. 

Again, the Bookseller website has the result, and at the bottom of the article, the shortlist of contenders and their percentage vote.

(I'm not quoting the winning title here, but follow the above link to find out more.)

Hopefully, next year there will be an abundance of entries to choose from...

Here's to next
year's
contenders...

image courtesy of pixabay.com

Bad Sex and the Oddest Book Title...

A quick post to update on the results of the recent Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of 2019, and the Bad Sex in Fiction award.

To the
Winners...

Now the Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title has been getting less press coverage than in past years, which is a pity as there's been many chuckle-inducing titles over the years.

My favourite for the title was the bible stories, Noah Gets Naked..., with the Ending the War on Artisan Cheese as a strong contender. Sadly the Cheese related book came in second place with 24% of the vote; While the Bible Stories title came third, garnering 18%.

The winner for 2019 was The Dirt Hole and its Variations by Charles L Dobbins that won 40% of the public vote. Sadly he died twenty-two years ago, so a posthumous winner.

Read more about it at the Bookseller.

The Bad Sex in Fiction Award (like the Booker Prize this year) has announced two winners; Didier Decoin for The Office of Gardens and Ponds- my choice for this year. And John Harvey's Pax.

You can read about the judge's dilemma in choosing a winner also over on the Bookseller.

That's those two awards for another year...

The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title 2019...

I was beginning to think that this may not be happening this year as the shortlist announcement is later than in 2018.

The mystery is solved and you can read the wry introduction to the 41st year of the prize over on the Bookseller website and the mention of last year's winner- kettles and water were involved...

This year's shortlist:

• How to Drink Without Drinking by Fiona Beckett.

 (As it's not due out until January 2020 I'm ruling it out of my possibles.)

• The Dirt Hole and its Variations by Charles L Dobbins.

 (Hunting related.)

• Viking Encounters: Proceedings of the 18th Viking Congress by Anne Pedersen and Søren M Sindbæk.

• Ending the War on Artisan Cheese by Catherine W Donnelly.

(Sadly not released until 28th November.)

• Noah Gets Naked: Bible Stories They Didn't Teach You at Sunday School by Xanna Eve Chown.

• Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich by Eric Kurlander.

 (Published May 2018.)

You can vote via the link at the bottom of the page on the Bookseller website (link above) and there's time to consider the options before the 22nd November deadline.

This is going to be a tough choice. But I think many of them aren't so odd when you read the other text on the cover- you can find most of them on Amazon.

I suspect the Noah one will get lots of votes, it's definitely odd... so odd I voted for it.

It's a fun annual prize and the winner gets a bottle of Claret...

It's red wine from
Bordeaux...

Image by gerttaeymans from https://pixabay.com