Well I have four book reviews to write after a blissfully Internet-free week in Maine, but I figured I'd start with a quick run-through of a (very) few of the items that came across my Google Reader while I was away. I'm sure I've missed something important and will try to catch up with it if so.
No, by the way, my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows did not arrive on time, although I suspect that's because the Post Office didn't resume my mail delivery on Saturday as I'd requested (shocked, anyone?). I have, however, managed to avoid having the ending spoiled for me yet (though I very much doubt I'll get through the book without finding out what happens).
- Most serious things first - Travis has some updates on the book crimes front for us: the freshly-sentenced Denning McTague will begin his 15-month prison term in 15 August; after his release there will be a two-year period in which "the defendant shall not engage in physical contact with archival material without the prior consent of the court." Also, he notes that former Rockland County Historical Society curator Rebecca Streeter-Chen was indicted last week on a charge of second-degree grand larceny in theft of an 1823 Tanner atlas. No further court dates are scheduled yet.
- Paul Collins has an article about Charles Kellogg in the New Scientist; he's posted some extras at Weekend Stubble.
- Caleb Crain reviews Leviathan (by Eric Jay Dolin) in the New Yorker); some "web extras and informal footnotes" are here.
- BibliOdyssey has some botanical illustrations from 'Tradescant's Orchard,' a 1620s manuscript. Lots of good background as well.
- Over at Mutterings of a Mad Bookseller, the interesting story of "The Affair of the Diamond Necklace," which some say led to the ultimate execution of Marie Antoinette.
- Lots of news from LT: there will be a party in Cambridge on 28 July; Project Ocelot is now fully unveiled (Connections News is my favorite new feature); Tim's recent talk at the Library of Congress is now online; the homepage has some new flavor (which I quite like).
- Biblio's Bloggins reviews Jasper Fforde's First Among Sequels. My review's coming soon, maybe even tonight.
- Lew Jaffe's got some bookplate odds and ends for us.
More soon. Many reviews in the works.
