Random Observations
Far more accurate than Black Friday: National Day of Greed.
I know this may be getting repetitious but The Big Picture is undoubtedly and consistently one of the best sites on the internet. This week: Mumbai, the Space Station and the Congo. Go. Appreciate. Be awed.
Bookish Linkage
The NYT 100 notable books of the year is out. I’ve read four of the 48 fiction titles (with one currently being read) abut only one of the 52 nonfiction titles (although I have another checked out from the library).
Add this scholar’s actions to the list of things we’ll never understand.
Amazon’s blog interviews Chad Post of Open Letter.
The UK actually has something called World Book Day. Although not until next March, for the second year in a row there’s a site called Spread the Word that has 50 titles publishers suggested deserved a wider audience.
Thirty-seven Penguin Group authors give their gift lists.
Esquire takes a different approach to holiday book lists, giving us the worst of the worst from the Christmas bookshelf.
Nonbookish Linkage
A private enterprise bailout: TypePad offers a free Journalist Bailout Program.
Most truthful blog quote of the week: “To be honest, if you didn’t read any blogs for a month you really wouldn’t miss anything.”\
Along those same lines, I think there’s a lot of bloggers out there who need to give serious consideration to adopting the Slow Blogging Manifesto.
Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience.
Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation: And Other Essays
