• M.J. Rose on authors and marketing efforts and compensation: "We should be involved in marketing and PR — in every aspect of our careers. And if we want to pay for extra marketing or publicity, as long as we do it right, it’s a smart investment. But it is not now and should never be our obligation. And if we are going to make these investments, publishers need to acknowledge that commitment."
• Boy, Lev Grossman sure got everyone worked up, didn't he? I just don't see the hanging offense here, especially since the main point of this piece has been reiterated over and over in recent years without inspiring the same furor*. Am still looking forward to The Magicians.
• John Crowley forgets an encounter with an admired author, then reads about it later.
• I have been following the inquiry into runner Caster Semanya's gender closely. Lauren says it. 
• The Venn Diagram of Mythical Creatures that's been floating around. Want wall poster.
• Finally: The cusp of fall TV season. Yay. Perhaps we'll need a new discussion thread for something–V or Glee? True Blood is my favorite at the moment, but it's a little late to give it one now. 

*Mentioning Twilight was a misstep, because it muddies the point he's trying to make in a way that pointing to The Hunger Games doesn't. Twilight demonstrates the ability of women and girls to fuel a major blockbuster, whereas The Hunger Games and Harry Potter don't break down so cleanly along gender lines and get more to the heart of people's hunger for good storytelling. (Yes, I know there are boys who've read Twilight**, but I don't think we'd argue they are the reason it's so huge.)

**In our long lost gaming group, one of the younger, single guys told us once that he loved Twilight. We all looked at him and ::boggled:: Then he explained that before it came along being a quiet guy who wears a lot of black didn't get him nearly as much attention from the ladies.

It's as if I've abandoned the site lately, but I haven't. I've just been exceedingly busy. (This is also why you haven't gotten e-mail from me, if I owe you one.) I'm going to aim for some actual books posts this weekend, even. Promise. And there are so many books I love coming out in the next month or two, and I'll be hosting some of the wonderful writers who wrote them on blog tours too, and doing a giveaway or two. Sound fun? I think so.

• Books Inc. has a new kids' book blog that you should be checking out.
• Justine Musk on "The Art of the Start."
• I totally missed posting about Jackie Dolamore's Magic Under Glass ARC comp while it was on, BUT you should make a note of the title because you'll be wanting to get yourself a copy when it comes out.
• Shannon Hale's excellent, much-discussed post about how reviewing impacts reading and vice versa. See also: John Green on times he was being a wronghead about certain books. (And so agree about The Fountainhead–the only place it belongs is as a character grace note in Dirty Dancing.)
• Stephany on how Shirley Jackson's fictionalized family-centered nonfiction confused the memories of her children.
• Want.
• Bennett Madison's The Blonde of the Joke is finally out. This book is AMAZING. Please read it. I loved it all the way back in 2008: "It is SO good. With this book, he's pulled off something so difficult to do; as I told a friend in e-mail, it satisfyingly blurs the line between realism and the fantastic in a way that's still rare. It's a realistic novel, but flirting with being something else, flirting heavily, and in the process becoming its own unique, perfect thing. Beautifully written, too." And it does, in fact, pair excellently with Frankie Landau Banks.
• Do not miss Tempest's list of Mindblowing SF by Women and People of Color.

• Bill Clinton's been checking out Carolyn.
• Kassia with a post on reading in an age of distraction: "The competition for books isn’t necessarily other books as much as everything else in life."
• A good post on basic book structural issues.
• An interesting discussion over at the Enchanted Inkpot about the dynamics of stories where the love interest is WAY older than the protag (or vice versa) due to supernatural factors.
• A modern kid tries to figure out the walkman and replace his iPod with it for a week: "It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape." Suddenly, I am ancient.
• The ultimate dead letter.
• Cherie Priest on steampunk.
• Rachel Aaron on villains.
• An essay about John Hughes from the potential inspiration for Ferris Bueller, now a government attorney.
• Bitch magazine is adding a YA column–the first one features Sara Zarr.
• Make sure you don't miss the posts from yesterday's southeast Asia one-shot day in the kidlitverse.

• Sara Zarr recommends some great books, including Bennett Madison's wonderful wonderful The Blonde of the Joke.
• Errol Morris on lying again, with Ricky Jay.
• Stacy Whitman condenses a discussion on YA and middle grade and the differences between them (particularly in relation to their frequent conflation in SFF).
• An interview with Kathleen Duey, whose follow-up to her brilliant novel Skin Hunger is out now. Yay! (Sacred Scars, for those not keeping track.)
• A dissenting opinion on the first 100 pages of Little Brother that I'm linking because I like contrarian posts, generally speaking. (In other words, this doesn't mean that I agree, but that I found the discussion interesting.)
• Justine Musk has some wise words on revision.