26 members recommend for November

26 is now an official Amazon affiliate. That means if you order a recommended book or CD by following the links to Amazon, 10% of what you pay will end up in 26’s coffers, helping us to put on more events and recommend more books. A virtuous circle, if you like.

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‘The Meaning Of Tingo And Other Extraordinary Words From Around The World’ by Adam Jacot de Boinod (Penguin, £10 list or £6 on Amazon)
A curious, compelling collection of foreign words without English equivalents. Or words that look the same, but have an entirely different meaning. Some are downright obscure, others you feel would be useful additions to our fine lexicon. In Turkish, for example, an osurgan is someone who farts a lot; while in India, a puti is that stalwart of the three-ring circus, a bearded lady. An entertaining mine of etymological information. JD



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‘Rapture’ by Carol Ann Duffy (Picador, £12.99, Amazon £7.79)
Duffy’s latest collection of poetry is exquisite. Written with wit, passion and technical dexterity, ‘Rapture’ is a book of love poetry, with all the ups and downs, hot flushes and cold showers of falling in love – and out again, and in again. It’s also one of the handsomest books of the year. JS



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‘Gobbledygook’ by Don Watson (Atlantic, £8.99 list or £7.19 on Amazon)
Last month we featured Don Watson’s incisive ‘Death Sentences’, this month it’s ‘Gobbledygook’, a scathing polemic on the invidious spread of management-ese. The subtitle ‘How Clichés, Sludge and Management-speak Are Strangling Our Public Language’, says it all. And 26 is right behind him. JD



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Brainwashed’s Canonical List of Weird Band Names
There are plenty of bands that you suspect only came into existence because someone thought of the name and thought “Hell, we’d better form the band that goes with this name”. There are a variety of naming genres here, such as Random Three Word Names (Dead Fish Prophecy), Trying Too Hard For Effect (Glands of External Secretion) and Puns That Are Either Inspired Or Lame Depending On Your Mood (Gnat King Kong). Go on, take a look, and make up your own genres. www.brainwashed.com/bandnames/ ML

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www.shazam.com
Ever been in a shop, heard a track playing on the music system you really like, but been too intimidated to ask the standoffish staff? Well here’s a trick. Once you registered on www.shazam.com, you can just dial 2580 on your mobile, hold it near a speaker and, as if by magic, the track name and artist will appear as a text message. Now how cool is that? JD

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www.theonion.com
America’s online answer to ‘Private Eye’. A sharply written, acerbic and very funny look at US politics and preoccupations. Yes there is irony out there in George Dubbya-land. JD

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‘The Accidental’ by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton, £14.99 list or £8.99 on Amazon)
Shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. Slow to get into at first but then takes you in its soft clutches just as the mysterious figure at the centre insinuates her way into the family. Always intriguing, it’s told from shifting angles and perspectives, and every so often there's a passage of sheer bravura writing. JS



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‘Robert Brownjohn: Sex And Typography: 1925-1970 Life And Work’ by Emily King (Princeton Architectural Press,£22.62 on Amazon)
Worth it for the title alone. An overview of the risqué life and work of graphic pioneer Robert Brownjohn, a US émigré who spent most of the 1960s in ‘swinging’ London. His career highlights include the title sequence to Goldfinger, and the cover Rolling Stones’ ‘Let It Bleed’ – the one with the band sinking into a cake. JD



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Sestinas
Good to see the sestina receiving some attention. Not only does ‘From Here To Here’ feature a rather lovely example of this poetic form (for Mark Lane, a dead station), but now the writing website McSweeney’s is accepting submissions from readers. The form goes back to the 12th century and consists of six six-line stanzas and a three-line concluding stanza. The ending words of the first stanza are repeated in each subsequent stanza in a set pattern. And then... oh, forget the technical description and read some at http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/sestinas/TR

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‘The Dictionary Of Bullshit’ by Nick Webb (Robson Books, list price £9.99 or Amazon £6.99)
Damn. Same old story. Someone got there before me. With sections on corporate, political, sales and marketing, and professional bullshit, this little gem really cuts through the crap. For example… ‘Vision (n.) Nobody wants a mere plan. It’s not grand enough. Make sure you have a vision. If you cannot bring yourself to call your plan a “vision”, at least call it a strategy.’ Or… ‘Facilitator (n) A man or woman with a confident or fluent manner who can organise a sales conference and charge several pounds a day without laughing.’ Don’t do it. JD



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Kilimanjaro Magazine
A new mag dedicated to visual culture and editorial experimentation, it says in its somewhat waffly press release. Still, an early sight suggests there’s promise here, with some fresh takes on documentary writing and photography. I give it seven issues, but there might just be a cracker along the way. www.kilimag.com TR

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The Design Encyclopedia
A lively Wikipedia-type ‘growing, collaborative resource that describes, tracks and explains culture, commerce, politics, media, sports, brands – everything possible, really – through design’. Early days, but from it I have already gained this little gem: “First slogan of Chupa Chups: ‘És redó i dura molt, Chupa Chups’, which translates from Catalan as ‘It is round and
lasts a long time’.” www.thedesignencyclopedia.org TR

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This month’s plugs by Jim Davies, John Simmons, Martin Lee and Tim Rich. These are not necessarily the views of 26, but we hope they’re not far off the mark. Any contributions gratefully received.

posted by jim @ 6:28 PM