For the Lazy & the Kids...

Neil Gaiman has posted a preview of the upcoming adaptation of his book, Coraline, directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas). Enjoy.

For the Druggies & the Lazy & the Kids...

While you're pretending to work today/watching your kids play with cardboard boxes instead of the new Wii you drove across the state to purchase for them, why not listen to Alice In Wonderland, as read by author Cory Doctorow (Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother)?

Book News, In Brief

Tired of waiting months for your manuscript's inevitable rejection letter? Creative Byline wants to help! Writers upload their manuscripts for $19.00 and 'first readers'—readers trained to look for basic writing ability—review them. Writers who don't make the cut receive targeted feedback on how to improve the work. Writers who make the cut receive a list of editors who are a potential match for the work -- and then the waiting that they thought they'd avoided finally begins. (Link)

The best selling books so far this holiday season: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert.

Borders has launched an e-book program in conjunction with Sony, hoping to re-Kindle the interest of their prodigal patrons. (Link)

Book News, In Brief

The New York Times has a two page article on BookCrossing.com, a website promoting free, anonymous book trading in public places. 4.4 million books have been registered in the "catch and release" program thus far, with 600,000 readers registered.

Via Guardian UK: "Americans go for self-help, the French for philosophy and the British for trivia. Stuart Jeffries investigates the phenomenon of the Christmas bestseller and wonders what this year's big successes will be."

Have no fear, white trash, teenage baby-mommas: Britney Spears' mother may have canceled her proposed parenting book (something to do with her 'other daughter' -- aged 16 -- recently revealing her pregnancy), but Eminem's mom has announced an autobiographical accounting of her and her son's estranged-is-putting-it-mildly relationship.

Steam engine thought has everyone running stories about the dearth of reading among boys and men. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asks, Why don’t men do book clubs?, and then leaves it up to those folks frequenting the comments section to answer the question. The Minneapolis Star Tribune covers their school system's efforts to get boys interested in books besides Harry Potter and Star Wars spin-offs, posing their own Yoda-like query: Boys and books: How do you get them together? The Asheville Citizen Times does more than just ask broad questions. They describe a local librarian's semi-controversial attempt to refocus boys on books by separating the sexes into different reading groups designed to better deal with issues specific to each gender. My solution: slip some short fiction into Maxim Magazine.

Crazy Alert!

Keifer Bonvillain claimed to have hours of taped interviews proving that Oprah is not what she seems, and wanted to write a book about it. When no publisher would risk incurring her wrath, Bonvillain went the self-published route. While I have no plans to order the book myself (the website's shoddy design and the author's use of a comic book-worthy nom de plume do little to instill confidence in this credit card holder), the website's worth a look, if for no other reason than the loony chapter descriptions.

Here's a few:

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter
The author is contacted by Harpo employee.

Chapter 2: Oprah's Attorney Called and He's Scared!
Author shares transcribed tapes of his conversation with Oprah’s attorneys.

Chapter 4: Did He Say Extortion?
The day of author’s arrest. (Includes never before released legal documents surrounding author’s arrest and the seizing of his property.)

Chapter 5: I’m the Infamous Oprah Extortionist
Author discusses world-wide media coverage of his arrest. (Includes documents showing how FBI kept author’s car for a month.)

Chapter 10: Lord I Need You
Author seeks spiritual guidance.

Chapter 16: Mystique around Oprah’s Sexual Preferences
The Other Woman.

Chapter 17: A Mutually Beneficial Subterfuge
Author discusses Oprah’s relationship with Stedman Graham.

Chapter 24: Birds of a Feather
The author discusses shocking statistics and uncovers a dark bond between Oprah and Obama. What you should know before you cast your presidential vote.

(Editor's note: I'd almost dismissed it as tabloid trash until I read the description of Chapter 10. Now I'm a believer!)

Big News (to me!)

DC Comics and Darwyn Cooke have announced a follow-up to DC: The New Frontier, titled Justice League: The New Frontier Special. The one-shot comic will feature a "lost chapter" detailing a Superman vs. Batman battle (alluded to in the original), as well as shorter stories about Wonder Woman, the Black Canary, and Robin, the Boy Wonder. Cooke is handling the art and writing for the S vs. B story, and is writing the scripts for the rest. Release is slated for March 2008.

(For Inkwell's review of DC: The New Frontier Absolute Edition, click here.)

Book News, In Brief

One of my All Time Top 10 cartoonists, Joe Sacco (Palestine, Notes from a Defeatist), gets grilled over at The Comics Reporter. No jokes, jabs or jibes here. I love dude.

Angela's Ashes author Frank McCourt has written what can most charitably be described as Christmas fanfic...using his own critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning, best selling characters. To hear McCourt try and make a case for Angela and the Baby Jesus, head on over to Simon & Schuster's podcast page, 12/13/07.

In ever-so-slightly-related news, fanfic has a legal defense team! Via Boingboing: "The Organization for Transformative Works has just launched. It's a fascinating new proto-nonprofit determined to defend media fandom from the excesses of copyright and to help fanfic writers and vidders maintain control of their remixed works. The word "transformative" looks like they're throwing down the gauntlet in copyright battles, insisting that fic is fair use as a transformative work." Yes, soon you will be able to write and release all of the Harry/Ron romance scenarios your devious mind can conjure, but that unofficial lexicon you've been laboring away at will still be off limits.

Millionaire Mystery Buyer Unmasked, Revealed To Be Faceless Corporation

By now, everyone's heard that J.K. Rowling's handwritten collection of Potterworld short stories sold in an auction on 12/13 for nearly $4 million. What wasn't being so heavily hyped was the identity of the mystery buyer -- Amazon.com. According to Thaindian News, "Amazon has plans to publish reviews of the books content on its official website www.amazon.co.uk/beedlebard. The website will also facilitate an online discussion of Harry Potter fans." This, in conjunction with Rowling's court ordered injunction against the self-published Potter Lexicon, is straight killing J.K.'s street cred, fer reals.

Update:

Amazon.com has officially announced their purchase. Amateur photos, unrestrained hyperbole and brief, gushing reviews can be found here.

Book News, In Brief

Via AP: This holiday season, publishers are hoping to bleed 401ks dry with a barrage of books about 'the good old days,' 'when music was better.' The Inkwell recommends that any of our older readers planning on living to see the Spring of 2008 (knock on Wood) hold off on buying these books until then. It is our educated guesstimate that all of these titles will be available at significantly Slash-ed prices once this season's influenza has (literally) killed off much of their intended audience.

I had never heard of The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild by Craig Childs until I happened across this snippet of Sarah Rose's review in the AP: "A packed subway train crawls toward Manhattan from Brooklyn. I'm pushed on all sides, smashed against the door reading Craig Childs' newest set of essays, The Animal Dialogues. Tears well in my eyes as I read about a perfect blue shark dying on a desolate beach." Now, I've gotta be honest. I'm not sure if that review qualifies as a success or a failure. On the one hand, I have no interest in reading The Animal Dialogues. But on the other, I'm fiending to read a million more melodramatic reviews by Ms. Rose. Her writing reminds me of 'Dwight' from The Office.

This is the way the bookstores end. Not with a bang or a Kindle.

And Now, Back To The Morbid

Jog has posted a great piece about the effective mixing of bloody, nasty horror with laugh out loud comedy in manga. It's titled, It's OK to Laugh. Recommendations for new readers are included.

Ah-ha!

Alright, you sappy f***s. Here's a cheery post. Via Boingboing:

Neil Gaiman helps fan propose to girlfriend through book inscription

Posted by Cory Doctorow, December 12, 2007 9:24 PM | permalink

Jason wanted to propose creatively to his girlfriend, Maui. So he conspired with comix legend, sf writer and all-round mensch Neil Gaiman: when Neil spoke in the Philippines, they would attend and Maui would queue up for a signature afterward. When she reached Neil, he would write "Will you marry Jason?" on the inside of her book and hand it back to her, and romance would ensue.

It worked flawlessly (see the video). Maui was delighted and surprised, Jason got down on one knee, the crowd applauded and Neil sat there, grinning like a maniac.

How lovely!

...and Maui actually failed to notice Neil's dedication because she was so starstruck. It took him about three times to actually get her to read the darn thing.

Maui (squealing, closing the book): Thanks!!!

Neil: Aren't you going to read what I wrote? You have to read it..

Maui (opening the book, shrugging, then closing it again): Thanks!!!

Me: You have to read the dedication...

And she bent over to give Neil a kiss, STILL not noticing what was going on.

Neil: You really have to read this...

When she did (FINALLY!)...

(Click here for a two minute video of the event.)

A Brief Reprieve

Yesterday I got a little maudlin, I'll admit. That's why, today, I'd like to start things off a wee bit cheerier. Via every other book blog on the web: Best-selling fantasy author Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's.

Damn it. That wasn't...I'm sorry.
I'll post something later. Something better.
I promise.

Until then...

:)

(That didn't work, either, did it?)

Not Books...

R.I.P. Ike Turner

You had some serious demons in you, demons that you never did get completely under control. But you were a genius, an undeniable musical visionary, and Tina never sounded so good without you.

Random Assortment of Various Links

Salon has posted their Best Books of 2007 list. Surprise, surprise. Your self-published memoir isn't on it. If only you'd followed some of Sam Leith's secrets to writing a Christmas-time best seller -- you still wouldn't have made the cut, but at least you'd be making some money off of your shameless tragedy-whoring. Still, all hope is not lost. We're in the age of the Kindle. And according to the Arizona Republic, crap books sell well in e-book form. Burning them is another story.

Coming Soon: A Coffee Table Book About A Band That Used To Sleep On The Floor

Via ITNUK: "The widow of rock star Joe Strummer has unearthed a treasure trove of material by the former Clash frontman. After his death five years ago at the age of 50 following a heart attack, his wife Lucinda Mellor went through some suitcases and found that each one contained about 30 plastic bags. She said: 'I suddenly realised that each bag was pertinent to a week on tour or a session - each bag told a story which was amazing.'
All the material found - plus some Clash lyrics discovered in mouldy tea chests - have been put on file, photographed, carefully stored and catalogued. Ms Mellor is planning to publish a book containing unreleased songs and rarities, with his friend the artist Damien Hirst. She added: 'One day we will do an amazing book. It's going to be beautifully done - it'll be like an art book, with photographs, lyrics, drawings, maybe unreleased songs, rarities. It'll have CDs in it, rare Joe stuff - we'll see what we've got.'"

Gift Ideas for the Bookish: The Zaky Infant Pillow

Let's face it, babies eat away at more than just our sanity, our sex lives and our savings. Their constant craving for attention eats away at our reading time, as well. That's why these creepy little gems are such a genius idea. For $38.98, your baby feels loved, and you get to finish your book club book for the first time ever. Available at The Pregnancy Store.
(Thanks to BoingBoing.net for the initial heads up.)

Book News, In Brief

I don't know if the religious right is really to blame, but they're certainly lining up to take the credit. Via Reuters: "Golden Compass loses its way at U.S. box office." Of course, this is a Hollywood headline, and ought to be taken with a grain of Hollywood salt. After all, the film was the number one moneymaker this weekend, taking in some $40 million over the first three days.

Via CNN.com: Charles Bukowski's Hollywood home is up for historical preservation, but its current owner, Victoria Gureyeva, wants it destroyed. "This man loved Hitler," Gureyeva, who is Jewish, told the alternative newspaper LA Weekly. "This is my house, not Bukowski's. I will never allow the city of Los Angeles to turn it into a monument for this man." The way I see it, both parties can have their way. Raze the home, and leave the ruble as a monument to Bukowski's self-destructive lifestyle.

Via the AP: "The Fair Use Project at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society announced Tuesday that it had signed on to aid the defense of Michigan-based RDR Books, which had planned to release The Harry Potter Lexicon this fall." Finally, someone with an actual understanding of fair use/copyright laws is speaking out in defense of this book. Up 'til now, the legal work and press relations have been handled primarily by the lexicon's publisher -- a well-meaning, hyperbolic, blowhard with delusions of political martyrdom and a caps lock key seemingly stuck in the ALL CAPS position -- and it hasn't been going well.

It's like Black Like Me, only in reverse...and without the effed-up makeup and wig stuff. Author Dave Matthews has just released, Ace of Spades, a memoir focusing on the twenty years he spent as a light skinned Black man "passing" for White. Adding another layer of complexity to the already Rubikian scenario is the fact that Matthews grew up in Baltimore (which, as every loyal viewer of The Wire knows, is a predominantly Black city). Commenting on this in an interview with Smithmag.net, Matthews said:
It’s completely contradictory from a psychological standpoint, I know. Basically, I felt that the black kids who preyed on the white kids (in whose ranks I cluelessly considered myself) were less powerful in the larger context of America than they were in the streets of Baltimore. I never lost sight of the “prize”—being white, and knew that once I said I was black I would never be able to go back. So it was easier to suffer among the “master race” than to lord amongst “the slaves.” Plus, my TV showed me every day that there was a world out there where white people ran everything, so I figured if I just bided my time, my day would come. (Have I mentioned that I was a moron?)
To read the first chapter of Ace of Spades, click here.

Book News, In Brief

Hachette Book Group USA’s graphic novel imprint, Yen Press, has acquired world rights to a graphic edition of James Patterson’s young adult series Maximum Ride, and plans to make them into manga. When will American publishers learn that the kids absolutely do not want non-Asian manga. (All of the big comic book companies have tried. All have failed.) Hell, I'm not even sure if it really even is manga if it doesn't come from Asia. Isn't it just digest-sized comics with bigger than usual eyes? Honestly, it feels sort of like Al Jolson cartooning. Mammy-san.

Harvard professor Khaled El-Rouayheb will discuss his book, Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500–1800, on campus Wednesday, December 12, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. In case he runs long, allow me to tell you my favorite part of the time spent I touring my amateur drag act in Iran: eye makeup only, and I never had to shave!

The LA Times tries to make up for dropping their Books section by coming out against the Kindle. Some of their reasons as to why it doesn't meet or exceed regular books are sentimental crap:
"Anyone who first read Treasure Island at age 11 could still tell you whether the cover illustration on that copy had Long John Silver in a red pantaloon or a black one."
(Yeah, and people who first heard Sgt. Peppers on vinyl have fond memories of staring at that album cover. But guess what? That wasn't nearly enough to stop the music biz from becoming 99% online -- and unpaid for.)
But other reasons are irrefutable:
"There's no way you could read...a book like War and Peace...or John Richardson's multipart biography of Picasso...on a screen. You've got to be able to concentrate on it, to go back, and go ahead, and look at the footnotes."
(Of course, this doesn't address the fact that most people only read pop-lite, bestsellers, but hey, I'm on your side.)

Book News, In Brief

The Guardian UK does an author profile of Golden Compass author and current whipping boy of the religious right, Philip Pullman. In the article, Pullman is described as being "as happy woodworking as (he is) writing." What a co-inky-dink. So was that bloody guy from The Passion.

Just when it seemed like the whole world was finally starting to agree with me about Chris Ware's penchant for drawing only one mood -- misery, he goes and releases his second sketchbook collection. Apparently, Eeyore's not always the one-note, style-over-substance mope-aholic he makes himself out to be. So why doesn't Ware ever show this second dimension in his 'official' comics work? Branding and marketing, of course!

Kimberly Steele, author of the hit vampire novel, Forever Fifteen, gives a good interview with The Haunted Vampire blog. And if you're too cheap to buy her book, she offers up the whole thing as an audiobook on her website. (One complaint about the Haunted Vampire blog, though. A nit-pick, really. It's just that the proprietor -- purportedly a bloodsucker -- tops his webpage with a photo of himself. But doesn't that go directly against the whole 'vampires can't be photographed' thing? Or have today's goth bloggers evolved to such a point that the old rules -- lack of reflections, fear of sunlight and crosses, etc. -- no longer apply? Could the magnetic pull of the awkwardly angled webcam be their one remaining weakness? +++, just in case.)

Book News, In Brief

According to Reuters, Doris Lessing's publisher will read the 2007 literature laureate's Nobel lecture, as the author is said to be "too ill to pre-record a speech." Eff that. I know how to smoke her out. Let's start a rumor that there is no Doris Lessing; that she's just the construct of some young, gay, cross-dressing hustler raised in the truckstops of the Southern United States. Then she'll have to show.

Christopher Hitchens is still mad at a God he does not even believe in. This month, Hitchens will release an anthology, The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever, a sequel of sorts to his best-selling God Is Not Great. I don't know about you, but I worry that if Al Sharpton and Quincy Jones don't step in soon, that this is gonna end in a similar manner to the Biggie/Tupac beef in the 90s -- with Hitchens being gunned down in a car driven by Suge Knight, while Jesus gets a few more holes added to his stigmata after leaving a Vibe Magazine party in Los Angeles. Can't we all just get along?

It's like the Necronomicon in the Evil Dead movies! Via Guardian UK: "A 17th century book believed to be bound in the skin of a priest executed for treason appears to bear a 'spooky' image of his face on the cover, according to the auctioneers who are selling the book." (Remember when I said I wasn't going to recommend any books to y'all as gift ideas? I'm making an exception here. If you've got a germaphobe in your life, this would make the ideal gag gift -- in both senses of the word.)

Film Adaptation News (a.k.a. Underwhelming Information Regarding Upcoming Disappointments)

What's even less inspiring than the official website of the upcoming feature film, Watchmen? Why, the exclusive set photos included therein! It's like someone recreated Stanley Kubrick's crappy looking 'New York Street' set from Eyes Wide Shut, and then added a comic book shop. Hopefully, the director -- Zach Snyder, of 300 fame -- will at least bless us with a couple dozen well-oiled visions of gay lust and some more of those small breasted, long nippled pseudo-actresses to help distract us from the mess he makes out of Alan Moore's brilliant work.







Hollywood insiders/internet outsiders predict that the film, The Golden Compass, will make upwards of $500 million this Christmas. If Christian watchdog groups are to be believed, the film is also slated to create a similar number of atheists in middle schools all across middle America. The Jew York Times maps the long and winding road that Hollywood's harlots and homosexuals walked to bring Philip Pullman's anti-Christ-like novel to the screen. Ye godless sinners can click here.

Again, the New York Times. This time, Ian McEwan is interviewed regarding his novel, Atonement , and it's feature film adaptation. Unfortunately, they never get around to asking McEwan what he thinks of KeiraKnightley's one-stop/all-emotions scrunching-of-the-face acting technique. Paging James Lipton...

Random Assortment of Various Links

Need gift ideas for the manga fan in your life? ComicWorldNews.com has a nice list, complete with small reviews. (Thanks to ComicsReporter.com for the tip.)

First week sales totals are in on Amazon.com's Kindle e-book. Although the headlines were many, the sales were few. To cover for their failure, Amazon.com has their lackeys in the press already beating the drum for the version 2.0.

Whoever said comics are dead needs to look at the sales numbers for DC/Vertigo's Y: The Last Man. The trade paperback releases of this title just get more and more popular. First month sales of book two increased a whopping 66% over book one! This news is all the more encouraging considering that Y is actually a damn good read. Check out these reviews.

The 9 most badass bible verses, brought to you by Cracked Magazine. The selections are both apt and hilarious. The accompanying illustrations are just icing on the unleavened bread. (Thanks to BoingBoing for the tip.)

Gift Tips for the Bookish

Jimbo Vinyl Figure

Gary Panter, one of the late 70's/early 80's greatest punk rock cartoonists (as well as the set designer for Pee-Wee's Playhouse!), has just released "the first officially licensed" figure of his most famous creation, Jimbo. The loinclothed figure is limited to 750 pieces and comes with a 32 page book chronicling the character's various comics appearances thus far. Price: $49.99. Available: here.




Mighty Bright Book Light: Triple LED Deluxe Book Light Kit

This is the book light of choice for most of our staff. If you've ever seen the dark, raccoon-like circles around our eyes, you know it works. It has a telescopic arm, maneuverable head, and AC adapter, not to mention a cool, cyber-snake look. Price: $26.99. Available: In our store.

Book News, In Brief

Norman Mailer wins the 'Bad Sex' award for his fictitious portrayal of the incestuous conception of Adolf Hitler. Do we applaud this victory, or yell out, "Too soon!"? Runners-up for this much lauded prize included the book, Will, by Christopher Rush (wherein the author offers a firsthand account of the dirty deed as performed by William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway) and The Stone Gods, by Jeannette Winterson (whose woman-on-robot sex scene is said to have lacked both spark and pulse).

Via AP: Over 100 authors (including John Updike, Anne Tyler and Walter Isaacson) participated in a 'year's best releases' poll initiated by the nation's book critics. Authors and critics were asked to choose five different works in three different categories: fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The winners were novelist Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying and, in a three-way tie for poetry, Robert Hass' Time and Materials, the late Zbigniew Herbert's Collected Poems and Robert Pinsky's Gulf Music. In a remarkable moment of complete obviousness mixed with confusing rhetoric, John Freeman, president of the National Book Critics Circle, told The Associated Press, "Best-seller lists really only show people what's selling, not what people are reading." Um, that makes zero sense, John.

Book News, In Brief

Imitating the popular Rough Guide cell phone service in Britain, Fodor's Travel Books plans to provide a similar service for Americans. United States of Americans. You Canucks are on your own. To sign up for the service, visit AskMeNow.com.

Short-sighted publishers damn Chinese readers to some of the worst book translations on Earth. Or as our translator in Shanghai tells it, 'Near-sighted pubblers goddamn Chinese red rears to sum of those worse bok transformations in Erf.'

How-to tell if your friendly neighborhood bookstore blogger is desperate for links and news items: They recommend an article like, How-To Pick How-To Books. The internet needs a Bill W. for those of us who realize we've hit rock bottom.

Face: 3, Body: 3, Brains: 5

(Or: Kindle, the Jan Brady of E-Books)
Yesterday's Yahoo and Amazon home pages featured press releases disguised as news articles announcing the "long anticipated" (their wording, of course) arrival of the Kindle reader, an Amazon-exclusive e-book priced at an easily affordable $399. The Kindle is the newest, and by far the most heavily hyped, of the many handheld electronic libraries trying to work their way into the hearts and backpacks of ipod users everywhere.
Like it or not, paper & ink purists, it's only a matter of time before one of these things finally takes off, relegating what few of your favorite indie bookstores still remain to that prime real estate spot down Memory Lane. More specifically, it's only a matter of time before someone finally designs an e-book that actually makes carrying an e-book look sexy. And then it's over. After all, a chic shape was the ultimate turning point for the Apple's ipod, after years of lackluster mp3 player launches from nearly every other major electronics company in the world.
Lucky for us bookstores, then, that the Kindle is anything but sexy. Looking like a 1980's Speak N' Spell, this device inspires neither oohs nor ahhs. In fact, with only a black and white display, the average passerby will probably think you're sporting an out of date Blackberry instead of Amazon.com's anemic attempt at creating this year's Tickle Me Elmo. But who knows, maybe you're deeper than me, and don't like to judge an e-book by its cover. Well, how do you feel about that wireless contract with Sprint that you're damned to enter into? Or the fact that you're being forced to buy your books from just one source? Why, from 1983-1989, I sold countless pairs of acid-washed Levis in Leningrad Square to escape such treatment! And now it has followed me here, like the comic stylings of Yakov Smirnoff and the protruding bulge of Mikhail Baryshnikov?! For shame, America.
Don't get me wrong. I accept the fact that someday -- someday soon -- the e-book will take hold of the public consciousness like the DVD and the mp3 and the Hello Kitty Personal Massager. I just don't think that the Kindle is the e-book that will inspire such consumer lust.

Book News, In Brief

The National Endowment for the Arts hates our soldiers! Isn't that what it really means when they say something like, the average American reads less than one book a year, and that the country is testing dumber because of it? Let me state here -- publicly and unequivocally -- that although I, too, am well-endowed, I do not endorse the NEA's hurtful and hateful and clearly anti-American sentiments.

Judith Regan has launched a $100 million lawsuit against her former publisher, Rupert Murdoch, over the handling of her baby, the OJ Simpson book, If I Did It. And to think, only a week ago she was announcing her plans to stay out of the media spotlight.










Via BoingBoing: "The Book Design Review Blog has picked its top book covers for 2007!" Click here to check them out and cast your vote for the best of the best. (Pictured, from left to right, Unmarketable designed by Rob Carmichael, One Perfect Day designed by Evan Gaffney, and Fireproof designed by unknown.)