William Grimes wrote in the New York Times last Friday about the 2006 book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Universe). He offers a realistic take on said list, pointing out its merits while acknowledging that any such catalog should be taken with several grains of salt (perhaps sea salt of the Moby Dick variety?).

From the inbox:

Brookline Booksmith is pleased to announce that broadcasting legend Barbara Walters will be appearing at your favorite local independent bookstore on Thursday, May 22nd at 7pm.

She will be signing copies of her best-selling book Audition from 7-9pm.

If you would like to attend the signing, copies of Audition must be purchased through the Brookline Booksmith.

New books blog alert: The Book Bench at the New Yorker.com is publishing. Above, a photo of the blog's namesake:

When an e-mail is sent out announcing the arrival of new stacks, it is not unlike a drop of blood entering shark-infested waters. Newcomers to the magazine, shocked by the frenzy, are gently reassured by an editor: “But it’s for books.

Can we just say that we're 100 pages into Anna Karenina, and now we're FINALLY fully able to vet Janet Malcolm's joke about Gossip Girl's Nate Archibald, who she describes as "a kind of Vronsky manqué, with a grande-dame mother, like Vronsky's, and a Navy-captain father who is 'a master sailor and extremely handsome, but a little lacking in the hugs department."

The Harvard Book Store has some lovely events and readings scheduled for early June -- the main one we're excited about is David Sedaris on June 6, though we just found out it was sold out! Oi. Obvs the HBS would have hosted the former Christmas elf at a larger venue -- like, say, the Orpheum?!? -- but due to the literary rock star's contractual obligations he can only read from his new book of pseduo-memoirish stories, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, in small locations.

An exciting new deal announcement, via GalleyCat:

"MySpace and MTV sensation Tila Tequila's HOOKING UP WITH TILA TEQUILA, no-holds-barred thoughts on love, fame, happiness, and success and the remarkable story of how the child of Vietnamese immigrants singlehandedly harnessed the web to become a popular sex symbol, to Brant Rumble at Scribner, for publication in December 2008, by David Vigliano and Michael Harriot of Vigliano Associates (world)."