Themes & Projects

Mysteries, December 2008–January 2009

Maritime literature, January–March 2009

Melville read-through, part I, TypeeWhite-Jacket, December 2009–January 2010

Whirlwind tour of Russian literature, February–May 2010

Epistolary literature, July 2009–June 2010

Short stories


Authors

Afternoon Links

Amateur Reader pointed me to a lovely (old) blog posting about one of my very favorite books, Wuthering Heights. Closely reflects my own views on the novel and my experience reading and rereading it.

And a coworker was kind enough to pass along this essay from the Times about how wonderful we copy editors [...]

TuesdayThingers

For this week’s Tuesday Thingers, I’ve copied the list of the most-challenged books of the 1990s straight from the ALA website. I’ve highlighted the ones I’ve read. Highlight what you’ve read, and italicize what you have in your LT library.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz 2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite [...]

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

Sarah Vowell loves the Puritans, as she loves the rest of American history. She gets that historical feeling and wants to research and commune with figures from the past and then tell the rest of the country about them in a nicely palatable way, so everyone can love American history as much as she [...]

Sunday Salon

First off, thanks to everyone wishing me such kind words on my vacation. Good times were had by all. Marathon TV-on-DVD watching and reading were done in abundance. And the outlet shopping was both uncrowded and a success—and I stayed within my predetermined budget (this has literally never happened to me before). Clearly it [...]

Russell Roberts Interviewed at The Book Bench

While I was away, the New Yorker blog The Book Bench ran an interview with Russell Roberts, author of The Price of Everything, which I reviewed here a while back. Fun to see him interviewed when I’m so used to listening to him ask the questions every week on EconTalk. Excerpt:

B.B.: Who are [...]

“In Olden Times”

Sometimes I find it hard to get past my own prejudices enough to be truly “inside” a story and get all the potential benefits of the suspension of disbelief that entails. This happened in my reading of Penelope Lively’s story “In Olden Times,” in which a working mother of two has a day where [...]

Best American…

We’re coming up on the time of year where Houghton Mifflin’s “Best American…” series start coming out. Every year I look forward to picking up the newest edition of The Best American Mystery Stories—the stories really are great and they are by no means traditional detective stories. Some of the best stories I’ve read [...]

Rallying Round Old Plum

I mentioned when I was sick that I turned for comfort to P.G. Wodehouse. I’m hardly the only person I know who loves him, but I’m always finding out people have never heard of him and I’m sure some of my readers have not had the pleasure, so I thought I’d take some time [...]

Sunday Salon

As you read this I am on my way once more in the log cabin, this time for a week, hopefully reading in seclusion at this very moment. I do have one particular non-reading item planned—outlet shopping!—but that’ll be for a weekday morning when I’m hoping it will be less busy.

I have certainly [...]

Indignation

Philip Roth’s new novel has now gotten negative reviews from Michiko Kakutani and Christopher Hitchens. But Hitch does assure us that Roth hasn’t given up on his most important trademark:

I think that I shall give away very little if I disclose that blow jobs and hand jobs, administered by a sweet but unstable [...]