Goodness, is it March already? Thank goodness, really – I don’t think I can take another month of grey cold. 
Awards! The Barnes & Noble Discover Awards (for debuts) were given to The Disappeared by Kim Echlin (fiction) and The Autobiograpy of an Execution by David R. Dow (nonfiction). The Blue Peter Book Award (for children’s books) went to Dead Man’s Cove by Lauren St. John. Click here to see the also excellent category winners and nominees. The Duff Cooper Prize (for nonfiction) went to How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell. The Nebula Award Nominees have been announced, and can be found here.
- One of the more interesting people in the movie business will write her autobiography. It won’t be in stores until 2013, though.
- Children reading to dogs? Turns out that might be a great idea for (reluctant) younger readers. On a related note, men-only bookclubs. Or, is there such a thing as a man’s read and a woman’s read? I have to say yes, actually – what do you think?
- Quiz! The Guardian features a Harry Potter quiz, which I aced (10 out of 10, baby!). Then again, reading them to my daughter as her bedtime story (we’re at nr. 5 now) kind of gives me an advantage..
- BBC2’s The Culture Show set up a panel to choose 12 of the best new British novelists – and here they are. Includes a lengthy exposition on what exactly “literary fiction” might be. Make sure you watch The Culture Show this Saturday, because these novelists will be featured!
Judgmental Bookseller Ostrich! My new hero. Not that any of you reading qualify as subject for any of these posters, of course…
- I like big books. Cute.
- John le Carré donated his literary archive to the Bodleian Library. 85 boxes of notes and manuscripts and other delectable literary manna. Which is all well and good, but can he also tell his son to keep on writing, because Hayley and I are dying to read his next book!
- Read The Book Before You See The Oscar-Nominated/Winning Movie: The Independent put together the literary inspirations behind this year’s Oscar winners and nominees. And in case you hadn’t seen this already: The Great Gatsby is to be filmed in Australia, with Baz Luhrmann at the helm, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire.
- And finally, to maybe inspire your travel destination for the upcoming summer holiday, the 15 most beautiful libraries in the world according to matadornetwork.com.