- Maira Kalman has a very nice post, "Time Wastes Too Fast," at her NYT blog. An interesting look at Jefferson and his legacy.
- Mega-publisher Elzevir's in trouble again, for offering $25 gift cards (plus a free copy of the book!) to contributors (or their friends) who would give one of their new titles a five-star review on Amazon. The company says such practices are "not their policy." [h/t librarian.net]
- From Strange Maps, Kircher's chart of Atlantis.
- Longtime Salt Lake City bookseller Sam Weller died this week at age 88. There is a very nice obituary in the SLC Tribune.
- A massive collection of John Updike material has come onto the market, Book Patrol reports. More than 500 books and other items, collected over three decades.
- In the Projo today, a profile of the PPL's special collections.
- Apropos of many conversations this week, J.L. Bell's got a post highlighting Jefferson's list of recommended reading for his friend Robert Skipwith. I've been thinking alot about this list lately. It'd be kind of fun to read all these titles today and see how they've held up, I think. ... You know, in my spare time.
Reviews
- Ian Tattersall reviews Colin Tudge's The Link in the TLS. He's not convinced. Guy Gugliotta reviews the same book in the WaPo.
- Also in the WaPo, A.J. Jacobs reviews Arika Okrent's In the Land of Invented Languages.
- Alexander Nazaryan reviews Christopher Beha's The Whole Five Feet for the NYTimes (a memoir of reading the Harvard Classics).
- Carlos Ruis Zafon's The Angel's Game is reviewed by Terrence Rafferty in the NYTimes.
