"Russell Davies" news and stories

One-third of the nonfiction finalists for the Lulu Blooker Prize, which honors  books based on blogs, were created from food blogs.The folks over at print-on-demand provider Lulu like to call them "blooks." Maybe it's the former copyeditor in me, but I'd much rather simply call them books.

And the food finalists are:

• Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff That Makes Them Great,  by Russell Davies. Based on his award-winning Web site this tome is an affectionate guide to greasy spoons in the U.K.
• Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, by Julie Powell. Some might argue that her book, based on her Salon blog,  is a more ambitious project than Davies. Either way I like to believe the late Julia Child had nothing against a well-run greasy spoon.

The prizes are $2,000 to an overall winner and $1,000 to the other category winners. As yet, nobody seems to have confused this award with the highly prestigious Booker Prize.