Bestselling Books in Australia 2013

Well the figures are in. Nielsen Bookscan have released their list of the 10 bestselling books in Australia for 2103.

Even though the validity of these figures have been questioned, I always find them interesting. They are at least representative of something.

It's always a bit surprising to me the books that make these lists.

1. Hard Luck: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney. Puffin. 228, 400

2. Jamie's 15-Minute Meals, Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph. 173, 800

3. Inferno, Dan Brown. Bantam. 173, 400

4. Save with Jamie, Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph. 157, 300

5. The 39-Storey Treehouse. Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. Pan Macmillan. 136, 200

6. The Tournament, Matthew Reilly. Pan Macmillan. 114, 400

7. Guinness World Records 2014. Guiness World Records. 97, 300

8. I Quit Sugar, Sarah Wilson. Macmillan. 92, 400 (see my review)

9. Ponting: At the Close of Play, Ricky Ponting. HarperSports. 89, 100

10. The Storyteller, Jodi Picoult. Allen & Unwin. 88, 600

Hmm, I've managed to read one. I Quit Sugar. And have meant to read another one- The 39-Storey Treehouse. I've read the first two books in the series, but haven't got to this third one yet.

I don't understand the legs of the Wimpy Kid series. I read the first one, and maybe the second. I forget. Even though I'm not the target audience I would have lost interest a long, long time ago. Well, actually I did. Still I'm heartened that 2 of these books are kids books- nice to know that children's writers are thriving.

And I was quite surprised at three omissions, two debut novels- Hannah Kent's Burial Rites and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project (see my review) which sold 69, 000 and 65, 800 respectively. Both books seem to have been everywhere so I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't make the Top 10 for the year, even though they both sold very well. Tim Winton narrowly missed out on a spot with Eyrie, which managed an impressive 84, 900 since its October 14 release date.

Whisperinggums has looked at the same figures this week too.

Readings has now released their 100 bestselling books for 2013, which looks more like the books I see about on blogs, have read or want to read.

Made in Paris, or not

Sometimes the lazy days of summer allow you to watch some old movies on the tele. If the cricket isn't on, which is almost always it seems. 

Recently I caught a movie called Made in Paris. Starring the lovely Ann-Margaret, it is your typical girl goes to Paris, and finds fun, fashion and adventure before finding love kind of flick. 

Picture source
That covered British bobby hat has to be seen to be believed
it barely fits in the shot most of the time

Naturally I was intrigued, and expecting that it would indeed be made in Paris, and would feature lots of delightful Paris scenery to get me through the dated, silly script and acting. Like when I watched Funny Face in 2012. 

Sadly this was not to be. Made in Paris was most definitely not made in Paris. There was an occasional second or two of stock footage that didn't match the movie film, and an even rarer outside shot by an obvious painting of a Seine waterfront. 

The internal building shots were more convincing, although  "like other Pasternak films, Made in Paris, featured a lavish backlot version of a European locale, in this case Paris." Perhaps it passed as Paris in 1966, but it certainly doesn't now. 

Dreaming of France is a wonderful Monday meme
from Paulita at An Accidental Blog

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed The Secret Life of Walter Mitty today. I haven't traditionally been much of a Ben Stiller fan. I did like There's Something About Mary, and grudgingly came to enjoy him in Night at the Museum, having been somewhat dragged there by Master Wicker, but I'd avoided all his other films, as being not my kind of thing.

For some reason I was really keen to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I'm not sure why. I'm not even sure how I knew about it. I didn't know a whole lot about it going in- which is a good thing in some ways I guess.

Walter Mitty is a bit of a dreamer- a daydreamer who zones out and imagines a much more exciting life than the one he owns- working as a negative assets manager at Life Magazine in New York. He lives a small life in the big city, he is single, but looking on eHarmony, which gets way too much product placement IMHO, and has some interesting interactions with his mother (Shirley Maclaine) and his sister.

It is sufficient to say that Walter embarks on a quest of some kind. I was worried that it was all going to be a bit like the secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup of Kung Fu Panda. But thankfully that wasn't the case.

Which is all quite different from the original James Thurber short story published in the New Yorker in 1939. The original Walter is a rather henpecked husband who uses a vivid daydream life to escape from the drudgery of the weekly trip into town with his wife. Walter's capacity as a daydreamer is the only similarity between the story and the movie, still it's interesting to go read the original story (and it only take a few minutes, it's very short).

The cinematography is particularly beautiful and creative, and there is a very imaginative use of music throughout the film, but do watch out for this blast from the past.

I collapsed into peals of laughter at that particular scene. I was the only one to do that in the theatre, which does make you wonder, but still it makes me smile thinking of it. Signs of a misspent youth perhaps? I'd watch the whole movie again to see that one scene again. Maybe I will...

Stop Dreaming. Start Living. Indeed.

The Oopsatoreum

The Oopsatoreum is perhaps Shaun Tan's quirkiest book yet. Which is saying something. Shaun Tan is something special. So creative. Each book is quite different. And this one is more different than any other I've read so far. It seems I've only managed to blog about two before. The Lost Thing and The Arrival. But I have read quite a few more.

I'd read the reviews for The Oopsatoreum eagerly a few months ago, as it's always exciting to find a new Shaun Tan on the shelves. In the intervening months I'd forgotten the premise of this book, and so initially found it quite perplexing. It's a rather unusual concept. The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney approached Shaun to make up stuff about some of the objects in their collections. The Oopsatoreum is the result of this collaboration.

Shaun Tan has imagined the world of radical Australian inventor Henry A. Mintox from Burrumbuttock, NSW.

What does it mean to be truly original? Should creativity be measured only by success? Or is it the thought that counts… no matter how impractical?

Thus a hand from a resuscitation mannequin becomes a handshake gauge.

And two ceramic medical jars become a literacy test.

There is a story and a postcard written for every object. They're hysterical.

You can see more of a preview from the clever designers at
Symple Creative

The Oopsatoreum is more delightful, more intriguing, more beguiling each and every time you pick it up. And more funny. I think this is the most overtly humorous work that we've seen from Shaun Tan. The Powerhouse is now showing an exhibition of The Oopsatoreum. It looks fantastic. I can feel a field trip coming on.

Paris Windows

Many, many things caught my eye in the shop windows of Paris. Here are a random sample of some favourites. 

Hello Kitty x Kiss!
If these hadn't been 50 euros each I would have bought the set
Album 32 rue Saint-Jacques 75005
a very cool shop,
but this fine Paris summer day it smelt much too much of smelly man

Kurt Cobain chair at Urban Gallery
163 Boulevarde du Montparnasse 75006

Y fronts as a lamp? at Urban Gallery

iphone cases
My e-case
61 rue Bonaparte 75006

I've always wanted an opium candle.
Rue de Sevres 75007

It seems Australian classics have a longer reach
 than you might suspect...

Saturday Snapshot is a wonderful weekly meme now hosted by WestMetroMommy

Books on France 2013 Wrap Up and 2014 Warm Up

Books on France is a fabulous year long year long reading challenge organised by the wonderful Emma at wordsandpeace. It's a great place to hang out. I read books about France anyway (although never as many as I want to read), and it's great to see other people reading about France, and check out what they're reading. 

I didn't really set a strict goal for this challenge. I figured I get to at least 12 books (Level 3, passionnement) but also figured that I wouldn't make the 52 books needed for Level 4, a la folie. Which turned out to be a rather accurate prediction. 

I ended up reading and blogging 14 Books on France in 2013. I love wrap up posts, but found a great expression recently to cover them- If You Haven't Seen It, It's New to You. I love that. 

Half of my Books on France were nonfiction as it turned out. Required reading for my trip to Paris in June 2013. 

January started off on a sweet note. With Amy Thomas' Paris, My Sweet.

I was so intrigued by Amy's Top 10 for Paris, that I turned it into a real life adventure undertaking my own Paris, My Sweet Challenge. 

My next sweet excursion was Michael Paul's Sweet Paris. 

He has a top 10 list too. Perhaps that can be my next Paris challenge adventure?

Or I could take my advice from Clotilde Dusoulier's Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris. 

Other books helped to inflame my wanderlust too.

Vivian Swift's gorgeous Le Road Trip. 

Diane Johnson's Into a Paris Quartier. 

Horrible Histories' France taught me all sorts of things.

As did Ina Caro's fabulous Paris to the Past. 

I read both kids and adult fiction too. 

Wendy Harmer's Pearlie in Paris. 

Michael Morpurgo's Joan of Arc.

Goscinny and Sempe's classic Nicholas.

Natalie Savage Carlson's Pigeon of Paris.

Kate Knapp's Ruby Red Shoes Goes to Paris

Two adult fiction reads rounded out my French reads. 

Gregoire Delacourte's The List of My Desires.

Francois Lelord's Hector and the Search for Happiness.

To finish up the 2013 year I got to wondering Why Don't French Books Sell Abroad. The complexity of how notions of language and culture affect what books are available to us to read is fascinating.

I read a number of other books, but haven't got to blogging about them yet. 

Asterix the Gaul

A Family in Paris

Hopefully my posts about these books will be some of my first posts for The Books on France 2014 Reading Challenge. I'm looking forward to it already. I think I'll shoot for Level 3 again.

http://wordsandpeace.com/2013/12/08/books-on-france-2014-reading-challenge/

Fortunately, the Milk

Is it wrong to publicly admit that I found Fortunately, the Milk a bit of a disappointment? Probably. But sadly I did. I certainly wasn't expecting to. I've only read a few Gaiman titles so far, but have enjoyed them. The Graveyard Book. Coraline. Wolves in the Walls. I've seen a few movies based on some of his other books. Stardust. And Coraline of course. He has even written a few episodes of Doctor Who. All are quite amazing excursions into the extraordinary imagination of Neil Gaiman.

I'd heard great things about Fortunately, the Milk and was pleased to find it at my library recently. The premise is great.

Mum's away.

Dad's in charge.

There's no milk.

There's no milk for breakfast, can a simple trip to the shops to get some milk really change your life and save the world? It seems it can when you get abducted by aliens. And then the silly stuff really starts happening. Neil Gaiman acknowledges that Fortunately, the Milk is the silliest, strangest, most ridiculous book he's ever written.

Sadly, it was much too silly for me. I do like his inspiration in making Dad the hero. It is quite a valid point that Dads often die before the story starts. And that he wanted to write a fun book for kids, and adults who want to be kids.

The book is amazingly visual, beautifully illustrated by the wonderful Chris Riddell, who also illustrated The Graveyard Book. I hope the illustrations win a prize or two- they deserve to.  There's even a foldout centrefold which was a surprise. I'm glad it's not just me who thought that Dad looks a lot like a younger Neil Gaiman,

Life
Picture source

Art
Picture source

and that Philip Ardagh shares my concerns about the level of silliness. Although Cory Doctorow enjoys it much more, and shows us the rather fascinating differences between the UK and US versions ( which have different illustrators). But there are ponies, and that's a plus.

I do need to get time to read some of Gaiman's adult works, I am becoming more intrigued by him, despite this little speed bump in my admiration.