A few things we've been enjoying in lately:

The New York Times' Paper Cuts blog, maintained by the estimable Dwight Garner. He's on vacation now, but there are some wonderful recent entries here on what commuters read (or shouldn't read) on trains, as well as popular Christian sex manuals (which Garner doesn't think are much of a turn-on).

Maud Newton's excellent guest-blogged series on independent bookstores. Great stories and gossipy tidbits.

Hari Kunzru's short story "Magda Mandela," which appeared in the Aug 13 issue of the New Yorker. It's fantastic.

The latest batch of postcards on PostSecret. They've got a new book out, as well.

"The Shit-Kickers of Madison Avenue," an older Talk of the Town piece by Lillian Ross, might just be our favorite thing ever (in recent memory, of course).

Speaking of Ross, have you read Picture? We did, and we're kind of ridiculously obsessed with it, still.

Apparently, Nick Hornby wrote a YA novel titled Slam. It's sitting on our desk. We're not sure what to make of it yet.

For the long weekend, we've been saving the following, which we will read under the covers, AC on, in lieu of BBQs and shopping sales: Rishi Reddi's Karma and Other Stories, Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith (out this January by Canongate, we started it yesterday, snap judgement: odd but pretty?), and the new Vogue. Plans to buy Maus II as well -- a trip to the Harvard Book Store is in order.

What are you reading?

See you in September.

Love,
Word Up

8/31/2007 11:51:31 AM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

From the inbox:

Pierre Menard Gallery on Arrow Street has offered space to Somerville-based Cervena Barva Press editor and publisher, Gloria Mindock, for a new series that will run monthly through April 2008.  Mary Bonina is helping coordinate the series which will be held in the Pierre Menard Gallery above Lame Duck Books. The inaugural reading of the series kicks off September 19 and features Lucille Lang Day, F.D. Reeve, and Diana Der-Hovanesian.feature Lucille Lang Day, F.D. Reeve, and Diana Der-Hovanesian.

8/21/2007 4:27:56 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

The YouTube tags for this one are: Bukowski, poetry, beer, shit.

He uses the word "moxie" which is amazing in and of itself.

Watch. Rewind. Repeat.

8/14/2007 9:16:27 PM by Sharon | Comments [3] |  

Tonight!

Steve Almond, Laura Dave, and editor Jenni Ferarri-Adler read from Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone. Twenty-six writers (including Nora Ephron, Ann Patchett, and Haruki Murakami) reflect on their passion for food and solitude. It's probably okay if you bring snacks to the Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline | 7 pm | free | 617.566.6660.

8/9/2007 11:35:34 AM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Oh, Lauren.

I rewatched the second half of Season 2 of The Hills on Sunday (thanks, Comcast On Demand!) in preparation for the Season 3 premiere on Aug 13. It was a delightful, delicious re-immersion experience, let me tell you. Until I noticed something troubling. Often, I saw my dear LoLo curled up on the couch, upset about something Heidi or Douche-bag Extraordinary Spencer Pratt had done. And how did she comfort herself? Not with a good book, as one might expect from such an intelligent young lady. All she ever seemed to be reading was Life & Style or her Blackberry! Tsk. L.C., I know you're better than that. When you aren't updating your website or reading about the interns who threaten to steal your job on the Teen Vogue blog, I'm sure you can be found holed up in your room, tearing through some Proust with an air of utmost contentment.

But just in case you aren't halfway through In Search of Lost Time, here are a few literary recommendations to help you through this difficult period of your life. Please pass in your book report on the title of your choice no later than Wednesday, Aug 15. And stop hanging out with Jason. It's getting pathetic.

1. Emma by Jane Austen: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence, and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her."

2. White Oleander by Janet Fitch: "Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay."

3. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett: "If someone loves you for what you can do then it’s flattering, but why do they love you? If someone loves you for who you are then they have to know you, which means you have to know them."

4. A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry: "Funny thing about sisters. Well, about us anyway; Dad says it's unacademic to generalize. Molly is prettier than I am, but I'm smarter than Molly. I want with my whole being to be something someday; I'd like to think that someday, when I'm grown up, people everywhere will know who I am, because I will have accomplished something important..."

5. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: "Life was a damned muddle...a football game with every one off-side and the referee gotten rid of--every one claiming the referee would have been on his side."

8/6/2007 3:07:29 PM by Sharon | Comments [3] |  

Word Up has many inexplicable literary crushes: Mr. Darcy, Ira Glass, Laurie Laurence, John Galt, Walter Burns in His Girl Friday. You know.

Then there's Alan Alda. Seriously, how can you not LOVE Alan Alda? Look at him!

Timed to our Alda reverie, the marketing mavens at Harvard Book Store just alerted us to a couple upcoming fall events, which includes this little gem:

Monday, September 10 @ 6:00 p.m.
Alan Alda
Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

He'll be chatting with former Globe columnist Tom Oliphant. Tickets are available by lottery only (we kid you not), so register now.

8/1/2007 9:50:16 AM by Sharon | Comments [0] |