I have been noticeably absent the last couple weeks, busy enough with work and family that I haven’t even posted any weekend editions. In fact, I still haven’t written a planned review of a book I read a month ago. In any event, Thanksgiving seemed a good time to post an edition of linkage. Some are appropriate for the day, others may be a bit more stale.
Interesting Reading in the Interweb Tubes
- Notes on the Decline of a Great Nation (“Americans everywhere may vow allegiance to the nation and its proud Stars and Stripes, but when it comes time to pay the bills and distribute costs, and when solidarity is needed, all sense of community evaporates.”)
Bookish Linkage
- The editors of World Literature Today pick books in translation to be thankful for.
- Art Brodsky explored the clash between ebook publishers and libraries, pointing out some of the outrageous prices libraries are charged.
- Twenty-one pictures that sum up the whole history of science fiction
- The 30 books selected for World Book Night US 2013.
- The disturbing origins of 10 famous fairy tales
- Pulp science fiction under German totalitarianism
- Acting sufficiently in advance of the all too long shopping season, Amazon named its top 100 books of 2012 more than a week ago. I’ve actually read 14 of the top 25 and have two others on my ereader.
- Suprisingly, I also read the nonfiction and fiction winners of this year’s National Book Awards.
Nonbookish Linkage
- How warlike were Native Americans before Europeans arrived? (via)
- What are our history books teaching high school students about the war on terror?
- Lawyers rank second in professions with the most psychopaths
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
