Diagram delights

It's time for my favourite book prize of the year. Forget the Booker. Ignore the Nobel. This is the Diagram Prize for the oddest book title of the year.

The shortlist has been published and it's a strong list indeed. So rather than say any more, I'm just going to let you relish those titles.

Reading the Liver: Papyrological Texts on Ancient Greek Extispicy (Mohr Siebeck)
Too Naked for the Nazis (Fantom Films) by Alan Stafford
Paper Folding with Children (Floris Books) by Alice Hornecke
Transvestite Vampire Biker Nuns from Outer Space: A Consideration of Cult Film (MKH Imprint) by Mark Kirwan-Hayhoe
Behind the Binoculars: Interviews with Acclaimed Birdwatchers (Pelagic Publishing) by Mark Avery and Keith Betton
Soviet Bus Stops (Fuel) by Christopher Herwig
Reading from Behind: A Cultural History of the Anus (Zed Books) by Jonathan Allan

If I have a personal favourite, it would be the Biker Nuns, except this is clearly constructed specifically to be bizarre, so I rather incline (so to speak) to Reading from Behind.

You can find out more at the prize's administrative home, The Bookseller.

UPDATE 18 March: And the winner is... Too Naked for the Nazis - believe it or not, a book on the music hall act, Wilson, Keppel and Betty. See The Bookseller.

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