Surveying the Book Blog Scene

The "Books" tab in my Firefox bookmarks section has grown exponentially lately thanks to various suggestions from editors and readers. Among the sites added to the list:

Bookforum, a rather elegant-looking and informative site. Bookninja, which I for some reason had previously neglected to save. A Life in Books, which is something of a reading diary. Booksquare, which "discusses the publishing industry with love and skepticism." Fernham, a member of the litblog co-op. The Syntax of Things, which seems to be rather eclectic and Beat-oriented. And finally The Millions, which includes interviews and timely links.

The book-blogging world has changed quite a bit since Identity Theory started back in 2000. We miss the old standard bearers such as MobyLives, The Minor Fall The Major Lift, and Return of the Reluctant, but it seems that for each blog that falls, another twenty crop up to take its place. That's a good thing, yes?

Chip Kidd is reading Thorton Wilder

The tireless Robert Birnbaum is asking, er, "begging" some of his literary peeps for literary tidbits to add to his book digest page. This week, Chip Kidd tells him:

I just finished Thornton Wilder's epic novel "The Eighth Day," and my jaw is still on the floor. Even though it won the National Book Award in 1968, it was otherwise largely overlooked because it was so "out of step" with the counterculture era during which it was published. But it remains in print, thank God, and the Harper Perennial edition has a great introduction by John Updike.

Read more in Book Digest at The Morning News.

Getting a Grip: Frances Moore Lappe interview

One of Identity Theory's favorite activists, Frances Moore Lappé, talks about her new book, Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, & Courage in a World Gone Mad.

Charles Baxter (The Soul Thief) on the Bat Segundo Show

"Cities have become museums of what it was they once made... If you go down to where I live, you go down to the Mississippi River, you'll see grain mills that once were there. You will see the Mill City Museum. What you will see is a simulacrum--another pretentious word--of what was once there and isn't there anymore."

Listen to the complete interview with the author of The Soul Thief.