Wednesday Links

It’s a bit quiet right now in the book world. I’m taking the afternoon off to spend it with my mother (hi Mom!) and hopefully visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

  • The Globe Book Review started a blog a few months back. They post some tidbit pretty much everyday. They still can’t seem to be with the times: “A tip from eagle-eyed reporter Carol Beggy leads us to a surprising addition to what Public Radio’s Chris Lydon likes to call the blogosphere.” Wow, the blogosphere—what a good word to describe the world of blogs!
  • There’s a wonderful interview with Francine Prose in the Atlantic Monthly that’s actually available online (for who knows how much longer). Prose’s new book Reading Like a Writer is due out this September and promises to be “a guide for people who love books and for those who want to write them”. I’ve flipped through the advance copy I have and it certainly is filled with some gems. Also, remind me to tell my Francine Prose anecdote sometime.
  • Over at the LBC blog, we’re discussing Crawl Space by Edie Meidav. While I found the book hard to get into, it’s worth reading if only because of the fine writing. In the tradition of Lolita, the main character is impossible to like.
  • Ed has posted something on author reading’s in response to Jessa Crispin’s article (which itself is a response to another article) on the downfall of the “traditional” book tour. From my experience here, I know book tours can be difficult. The whole process is difficult. We get many authors who want to come and read here, but we can’t possibly accommodate them all. Plus we have to keep in mind who shops here and what authors they might want to see read, etc. And you always have to keep it interesting. I think Jessa might be right—the traditional book tour no longer draws in the crowds the way it used to years ago.
  • Kirkus Reviews has their Fall preview issue online (in PDF format). What books are you looking forward to reading? (thanks Michael Schaub for the link)

1 thought on “Wednesday Links”

  1. ed

    I’m wondering if the audience numbers have dipped, or whether we’re all being alarmist about it. Is it possible that the same number of people who see a midlister read are the same number of people who see a midlister read today?

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