"Science fiction may be one of the defining literatures of the last century, but it's rare that its products get any kind of acceptance by the academy (and when they do, they're then generally called something else)." Guardian blogger Sam Jordison decides to try out a classic science fiction novel.

On the official LibraryThing "ideas" blog, Thingology, LibraryThing goes to the mattress and attacks Shelfari: "We respect our competitors with one exception: the site 'Shelfari.com.'" Then they go on to explain why.

"One of the Ten Commandments of Author Blogging is “thou must write a post explaining how thou writest thine novels.” And so, in an effort to save my immortal writerly soul from scribbler’s purgatory, I’m going to explain my process in easy numbered steps that anyone can follow."

Brian Dettmer carves into books revealing the artwork inside, creating complex layered three-dimensional sculptures. Much as I hate the idea of cutting up books, this is really cool.

This post starts off kind of slow, but it gains momentum and is actually not a bad synopsis of the value of SF and fantasy, IMHO. It’s a reaction to the blank looks and raised eyebrows that seem to follow these two genres and a shot in the arm for what the writer prefers to call ‘imaginative literature’. And yes, it is literature. This, too, is addressed.

Writers have long lamented that television and video are killing reading and book. But video now offers a great way to get the word out about your book. It’s relatively inexpensive to create a great looking book trailer that can be distributed across the Internet for free.

Vladimir Nabokov declared that “Don Quixote” was “cruel and crude” and that “Death in Venice” was “asinine” His onetime friend Edmund Wilson, on the basis of “The Trial” and “The Castle,” said he found it “impossible” to take Kafka seriously as a “major writer.”

What book gets your vote for being the most overrated?

Pulitzer Prize winning critic, Michael Dirda, makes a good argument for reading the classics, including the lesser known ones. While he’s at it, he makes an argument for taking bloggers who dabble in his trade with a grain of salt.

So, who says drugs and alcohol aren't useful? For one thing, they're responsible for some of the world's greatest literature. Here are 5 classics written under the influence.

Bonus Feature: Writers Are the Craziest People – odd but true facts about some famous names in literature.

At lunch with editors, on the phone with writers, on the editorial page of Publishers Weekly, the news is all the same: the only news this fall will be political. The “deciders” in New York have concluded that we’ll all be so consumed with who goes to Washington that everything else will be pushed aside.

Phooey. I’m already sick of it. Who gorges on political books anyway? Fess up.