- Newsweek names “The Most Dangerous Man in Publishing.”
- Adam Kirsch interviewed about his new bio of Benjamin Disraeli.
- “Daily Routines: How writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days.” (via Jacket Copy)
- David Horvitz discovers several pages of his writing in this year’s Dave Eggers-edited Best American Nonrequired Reading. He was not told that his work (pulled from his website) would be appearing in the book. Now he is peeved and has made several demands. (No permalinks, so check out the long Dec. 9 entry.) (Thanks Buzz)
- The LA Times unveils its Favorite Books 2008.
- Google’s year-end “Zeitgeist” of 2008 search activity. Breaking Dawn the unsurprising top search.
- Recently discovered aggregators of quality content: The Browser and Give Me Something to Read.
- This week’s Wikipedia treat: a gem of alternative punctuation: the “irony mark.” In the history section of that entry, take note of the “doubt point, certitude point, acclamation point, authority point, indignation point, and love point.”
- Scott gets to the bottom of the striking new cover designs on Dalkey Archive Press’ books.
- NPR features an excerpt from Firmin, a Millions favorite (and former LBC pick) that is soon to be published in a new edition by Delta, a Random House imprint.
- The Association of American Publishers teams with several celebs to create BooksAreGreatGifts.com and accompanying YouTube vid. “Books make great gifts because they are an amazing way to kill time while your web site is buffering.” – Jon Stewart. (thanks Laurie)
Here is a perfect example of one of the worst evils of the Internet – aggregators that offer nothing but hqiz , and pollute valid search results. This page has virtually zero to do with alternate punctuation (for example, the interrobang) and instead plugs in an SEO search phrase plus reams of unrelated camel ejecta. Thank you very little.