Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter and Other Blockbusters

Who cares if you don’t have a say in this year’s Oscar race for Best Picture? You can exercise your voting muscle in the 2009 Bookseller/Diagram Prize awards for the most bizarre book title of the year.

This annual contest kicked off in 1978, when the winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice. There have been plenty of great titleholders since then, but I flipped out when I saw that The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History, and Its Role in the World Today took the prize in 1984 — and it’s still in print. (That’s a hint, if you’re on the hook for my birthday next month.)

Anyway, here’s the 2009 shortlist:

The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes

Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots

What Kind of Bean is this Chihuahua?

Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter

For some reason, as the voting stands now, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes is way out in front, with 49% of the tally. I’ll probably vote for Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter, which is in second place but lagging at 17%. I’m a little disappointed that The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease is pulling up the rear, so to speak, with only 4% of the vote.

You’ve got until March 21 to make a difference. Visit The Bookseller and scroll down to find the poll.