Just two weeks ago news came out that the Oxford English Dictionary was adding such modern terms as “chillax,” “vuvuzela”, and “tweet up” to its lexicon. Now it seems the hallowed one of the word world is in danger of becoming obsolete – in the printed form at least.

The popularity of online dictionaries means the next printed version of the OED may never happen. The publication date is unknown due to the mammoth amount of revision required to keep it current but is estimated to be over a decade away. It was last published in 1989 and weighs in at a shelf splintering 340kgs for the complete 20 piece set.

Other factors which may hinder its print popularity include the price tag (approximately NZ$250) and the fact you need a magnifying glass to actually read it.

I’m about to show myself as a hypocrite here. Having outed myself as a self confessed – and deliberate – Luddite when it comes to book technology, where is the first place I head to when I need to check the spelling of a word or a definition? Yup, the web. It’s quick, convenient and accurate as the Oxford English Dictionary can appreciate; their website gets over 2 million hits per month.

But I can still lament the passing of the humble dictionary. I remember my trusty concise OED; I won it in at Form Two (that’s year 8 to you young uns) current events quiz and it travelled, quietly but loyally, in my backpack through high school and university, saving me from many an embarrassing spelling stuff up. Now tattered and dog eared, it’s resigned to my bottom desk drawer.

So come on, be honest; when was the last time you picked up a trusty old book version of the dictionary? Or are you like me and head for the net for your definition dilemmas and spelling snafus?

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards winners, announced on Saturday night.

The full list of winners are:

New Zealand Post Book of the Year and General Non-fiction Award winner: Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921 by Judith Binney (Bridget Williams Books)

Fiction Award winner: As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong (Penguin Group (NZ))

Poetry Award winner: Just This by Brian Turner (Victoria University Press)

Illustrated Non-fiction Award and People’s Choice Award winner: Go Fish: Recipes and stories from the New Zealand Coast by Al Brown (Random House NZ)

You can read more about the winners, including Dame Judith Binney’s recovery from an accident that nearly claimed her life seven months ago, by clicking here.

This week’s literary links that have taken my fancy:

• The BCC, makers of the TV car show phenomena Top Gear, are embattled in a court case with Harper Collins after the publisher announced plans for an autobiography of The Stig, the show’s super secret stunt driver.

• Britain’s Durham University is offering what is thought to be that country’s first paper on Harry Potter. Would you study the boy wizard?

• Speaking of JK Rowling, six year old Leo Hunter says he wants to be more famous than the billionaire author and could just well do it; he’s been signed to a US publisher to write 24 books.

• For the JD Salinger fan who has everything: the reclusive author’s former toilet is for sale on ebay, complete with letter of authenticity and in an uncleaned state. Classy.

• For some light relief, read this year’s winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for the worst opening sentence for a fictional novel.

• Unless you’ve been living in a cave all week, you’ll know Mockingjay, the final in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins was released this week. Read one of the first reviews of this Young Adults novel here.

• Mr Bean is back! The books on which the cult tv series were based are being re-released.

• How far would you go to show your love for your favourite author? As far as this guy?

To most book lovers that notion is akin to blasphemy, but in a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, the authors believe advertising is indeed coming - to an e-book near you.

Advertising hasn’t been an issue for the traditional book the article states because “ads depend on volume and timeliness to work, and books don’t provide an opportunity for either.” Advertisers want immediacy and books, with their long process from author’s conception to actual publication and purchase by the consumer, just cannot provide that.

And that’s where e-books come in.

They naturally lend themselves to advertising with their digital format; users need to log on frequently to update their ebook reader, meaning advertisements can be updated too – and kept relevant to the consumer. Then there’s the “tempt them” option; provide free sample chapters with advertising but the full product, sans commercial plugs, comes at a premium price.

The results of a recent Marketing and Research Resources survey shows ebook advertising makes good commercial sense to a floundering publishing industry; 40% of the 1,200 ebook owners surveyed said they now read more than with print books. Meanwhile 55% of the respondents thought they’d use the device to read even more books in the future.

And those ads may be closer than you think; Amazon has already filed a patent for advertising for its Kindle.

So what do you think of the idea of ads in books? I’m not an ebook kinda gal; I love the smell, feel and weight of books far too much to go digital. That said, if I did “go over to the dark side” my acceptance of advertising would have to come with some caveats; if we are talking authors being forced to drop commercial product into their prose then ugh! No thanks! But if it’s a tasteful banner ad similar to what many search engines display then I guess I could probably live with it. What about you?

Title: The Solitude of Prime Numbers
Author: Paolo Giordano
Year: 2009

Alice and Mattia are two very damaged children who wear their pain like armour.

Mattia harbours a dark secret; on the way to the first birthday party he has ever been invited to he leaves his mentally disabled twin sister alone in a park. Upon his return hours later, his sister has vanished and is never seen again. The torment of his actions manifests itself in dangerous self mutilation and burying himself in schoolwork.

Alice, an only child, struggles to impress her demanding father and suffers a cruel skiing accident which leaves her partially crippled. Feelings of rejection, humiliation and despair turn into an eating disorder which ravages her body.

Locked in their twin miseries, Alice and Mattia find in each other a soul mate; someone who understands their hurt and ostracism from the rest of the world.

Together they traverse the pain of their teenage years with a bond that is like the prime numbers of the book’s title: close but never touching.

But when that bond threatens to become something more than friendship, Alice runs to the arms of another and Mattia flees for North Europe to immerse himself in his beloved mathematics.

It is only when Alice sees Mattia’s lost twin sister, the two are reunited and the past might finally be resolved.

Essentially a coming-of-age story, it is darkly compelling with a searing insight into loneliness and isolation that trauma can bring.

The initial scenes, detailing the traumatic events which shape Alice and Mattia’s lives are tautly written and dramatic. The novel slows through the middle stages as the pair navigate adolescence, as Mattia cuts and Alice starves, and their families watch on in a state of paralysis, before picking up pace again in the final, agonising chapters of misunderstanding and missed chances.

This novel, Giordano’s debut, is staggeringly beautiful to read. Tightly composed with breath-taking language, you would never suspect it was originally written in Italian; it flows seamlessly in a way that is rare for translated books to do.

But don’t just take my word for it; this achingly gorgeous novel has sold over 1 million copies in 30 languages and was the 2008 winner of won Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the Premui Strega. And at just 28 years of age, Giordano certainly has a long and glittering career ahead.

Financial powerhouse Forbes magazine this week revealed the highest earning authors in the book business - and the numbers are staggering.

Combined, the ten authors who made the list earned an astonishing US$270 million dollars from books, film rights, television and gaming deals. The figures are taken from June 1, 2009, through to June 1, 2010.

In the number one spot was American thriller author James Patterson. His novels, which include the popular Alex Cross series, saw him walk away with US$70 million dollars. He is contracted to write 17 books by the end of 2012 for an estimated $100 million, all but guaranteeing to keep him on the list in future years.

Twilight saga author Stephenie Meyer made US$40 million dollars in the past year helped by the movie franchise and accompanying merchandising. Horror maestro Stephen King rounded out the top 3 with a total of US$34 million dollars earned, only just piping romance favourite Danielle Steel who took home US$32 million dollars.

Rounding out the list was:

5. Ken Follett: US$20 million
6. Dean Koontz: US$18 million
7. Janet Evanovich: US$16 million
8. John Grisham: US$15 million
9. Nicholas Sparks: US$14 million
10. JK Rowling: US$10 million

These are simply mind-blowing amounts of money, akin to what the hottest in Hollywood are earning annually. And since these authors are perennial best sellers (with no sign of that changing) we can expect to see more of the same in future.

I do wonder however where Stieg Larsson places, given the phenomenal success of the Millennium Trilogy and am surprised to see him omitted from the list.

Some of the literary links that have caught my eye this week:

• Twenty of the greatest endings in literature – do you agree?

• Terry Pratchett’s new novel I Shall Wear Midnight has been given a midnight release in the UK – would you sacrifice your beauty sleep and queue up?

• Vuvuzela makes it into the Oxford Dictionary of English.

• Sentenced to Read: Texas lawbreakers are being sentenced to reading groups, not prison cells, with startling results.

• French horror as Gaelic comic hero Asterix appears in an American commercial for junk food giant McDonald’s.

• Think you know the English language? Try this quiz and test your word power.

That’s the question I am asking myself after reading this story from BBC News.

Publishers Frederick Warne have confirmed Hollywood actress Emma Thompson is being given the reins to write a new Peter Rabbit story to mark the 110th anniversary of this much loved story in 2012. It is also hoped the Oscar winner’s updated story will reintroduce the little rabbit’s antics to new generations of young readers.

Of the new book, Thompson told US chat show host Craig Ferguson; “They asked me to write a new story, so I’m going to take him to Scotland.”

Publishers are still looking for an illustrator to provide drawings for Thompson’s tale.

Beatrix Potter first introduced the character of Peter Rabbit - based on her own pet - to her stories in 1902 after its beginnings as an illustrated letter in 1893. He subsequently appeared in five more installments between 1904 and 1912.

There is no doubting Thompson’s writing pedigree, having written the screenplay for films including Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee and the forthcoming remake of My Fair Lady. But I can’t help but wonder if a more seasoned, specialist children’s author might have been more appropriate to recreate this beloved character. I hope her handling is as sensitive and faithful as the recently released “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood” by David Benedictus was to that other children’s favourite Winnie the Pooh.

What are your thoughts on Thompson’s appointment to this rather hallowed role? Do you think she is right for the task? Do you think it is even necessary to have a new story written in the series? I’d love to hear your views.

Nifty book trailer for The Beaufort Diaries. Now with David Duchovny…

• Fighter ace. Secret agent. Legendary ladies man. No, it’s not James Bond. It’s Roald Dahl…

• Twenty five hot pickup lines to use on bookworms – “Wait until you see the size of my… Philip K. Dick library.”

• What’s the deal with that Scott Pilgrim all the kids are talking about? The Millions investigates…

• Karl Marlantes lists his Top 10 books about war.

• The Baby Sitters Club gets the Brett Easton Ellis treatment…

• Neil Gaiman’s hair gets the Russian photoshop treatment…

• And the Kama Sutra gets the audiobook treatment….

• Words for which English has no words.

• An article listing the 15 most overrated contemporary American writers. I get the feeling things are going to get litigious…

• Stephen King delivers faint praise to Glenn Beck. Well, kind of.

• The Guardian discovers that there is fiction in historical fiction.

• Wikipedia’s lamest edit wars. For example, there have been 6,372 edits of an article concerning whether Limp Bizkit is ‘rapcore/nu metal’ or ‘nu metal/rapcore’.

• And that’s it for this week’s Link Roundup. I’m going overseas for a few weeks – so stay tuned for further updates. But I wouldn’t leave without first leaving you all a gift. Enjoy!

Jordan – thenile.co.nz

Allison Pearson

Pages: 320

Year: 2007

It’s a rite of passage in a teenage girl’s life to fall madly in love with a pop God. For me, it was at age 14 and the object of my affection was Neil Finn. I slavishly scoured music magazines for any mention of him, plastered my wall in Crowded House posters and listened to nothing but his music for months on end, driving my family half mad in the process.

For Petra Williams, the 13-year-old heroine at the centre of Allison Pearson’s new novel I Think I Love You, her pop deity of choice is 1974’s hottest property David Cassidy. Together with her best friend Sharon, the two spend hours huddled together obsessively pouring over “The Essential David Cassidy” fanzine, soaking up every last detail about the Partridge Family heartthrob while simultaneously trying to win favour with super snooty high school drama queen Gillian Edwards.

Meanwhile in London, Bill Finn is an unemployed wannabe rock journalist fast running out of options when an opening at “The Essential David Cassidy” mag is offered his way. Not quite Rolling Stone, it is however the “bible” to lust ravaged teen girls all over Great Britain. But what the hordes of infatuated fans don’t know is the letters that appear each month seemingly from their idol are actually the fictitious ramblings of a disenchanted Bill.

So when Bill is tasked with compiling the “Ultimate David Cassidy Quiz” for the magazine with first prize a trip for two to California to meet David, Petra and Sharon know their chance to meet the love of their life has finally arrived, if only they could answer all 50 questions.

Flash forward 20 years and Petra is an about to be divorced mother to a teenage daughter with her own fangirl crush. Bill meanwhile is the boss of a staple of successful magazines. Their lives collide when with the death of Petra’s disapproving mother reveals Petra and Sharon were the winners of that long ago David Cassidy trivia competition.

Comparisons between this novel and Allison Pearson’s mega successful debut I Don’t Know How She Does It are inevitable and it was always going to be difficult following up on a book which was translated into 32 languages and sold a staggering 3.5 million copies. Unfortunately, while a pleasant enough read, I Think I Love You is not in the same league as its wonderful predecessor.

I could completely relate to the young Petra, her pop star fixations and her search for approval from the most popular and pretty girl in school. Her angst and despair were mine all those years ago too and Pearson’s writing evoked that painful ache of unrequited love in me again. However, the length of time devoted to the teenage Petra felt overlong and slowed the pace of the novel down. The adult Petra failed to drag herself out from under the clutches of her domineering mother, even after her passing, and establish herself as a force to be reckoned with; life seems to just happen to Petra, she doesn’t make it happen.

Then there’s Bill; a caricature of the high achieving but lonesome in love romantic lead. His and Petra’s predictable love affair lacks the necessary spark and sizzle; there’s simply no conflict to reconcile – they just seem to get together without an awful lot of romance or fuss – most unsatisfying in a chick lit novel.

Despite its flaws, I Think I Love You is certainly well crafted and well written and the initial chapters are particularly enjoyable as well as teaching you an awful lot about David Cassidy – Pearson’s own teenage crush in real life. And if you can forgive Pearson for not providing a less than tumultuous path to love for our heroine, then this chick lit novel is for you.

- Kelly