It's the end of the world as we know it... the chorus of R.E.M's jam remained firmly — and annoyingly – stuck in my head long after I finished Lucy Corin's latest short story collection, One Hundred Apocalypses and Other Apocalypses…

The fate of books is in our hands. Only this time, the enemy is not Amazon... it's Pinterest. Obviously I have a great love of books in all facets of my life. Yet, save occasionally using my to-read stack as a bedside table, or employing an old…

It takes a particularly gifted writer to take a frequently used premise and craft something new. Picking up It's Not Love, It's Paris and glancing at the jacket, I projected clichés about a young girl going to Paris to find herself, and falling in…

If anyone were ever justified an identity crisis, Najla Said would be the candidate. "I am a Palestinian-Lebanese-American Christian woman, but I grew up as a Jew in New York City," Said explains in the opening sentence of her memoir, Looking For…

Opening up the laptop shouldn't have to mean setting aside the books. Next time you're in the market for some literary tumblr procrastination, click over to these blogs. They're must-follows: 1. Awesome People Reading : The title is pretty self…

In her debut novel, Shorecliff (Little, Brown), Ursula DeYoung delves into the complicated and shifting dynamics of a New England family, the Hatfields, when they are reunited at a secluded family home for a memorable summer. Much like the decade it…

I never know exactly what to expect when going into an interview (which I suppose is half the fun), but I certainly don't expect the author to thank me profusely for reading her work, seek my opinions on anything from the state of publishing to that…

In The Violet Hour (Scribner), Katherine Hill spans coasts and time periods to paint a portrait of a family coming together and falling apart. Skipping the 'happily every after,' Hill begins with the uncovering of an affair, the dissolving of a…

What is it that makes us abandon a literary world: Is it poor characterization, a slow plot, or our own sheer boredom? Recently GoodReads put together a fantastic, viral infographic on "What Makes You Put a Book Down". Until recently, my answer to…

A charming old farmhouse in the French countryside with a loving musician husband, chef wife, and new daughter seems like the start of a whimsical romp, does it not? If only. Anna and her husband Tobias find everything in their life slightly off…

File under genius: Penguin recently gave ten of their modern classics to street artists for a cover makeover, (seem 'em over on Design Taxi), and the results are awesome. They chose books that, like street art, speak to the time. This put us on the…

The White House is about to be filled with literary and artistic masterminds, and we weren't invited. Whomp whomp. On Tuesday, President Obama will present the National Arts and Humanities Awards. Medal recipients include the Pulitzer Prize-winning…

There have been many authors with whom one would want to sit down for a drink, capital D; you know, to have the profound, brooding literature talk, the what-does-it-all-mean exchange over a glass of scotch. Cathleen Schine, author of Fin & Lady, is…

So if you've ever said to yourself I really wish I could read a novel about a heterosexual Romanian female with brown eyes between the ages of 30-35 set in 1850-1900 then you're in luck! A new site called Character's World allows readers to search…

When I was first exposed to “flash fiction” (read: short stories outside of the New Yorker), it was, like many, through fantastic literary sites (heads up 3:AM Magazine, Red Lightbulbs, and Necessary Fiction, among others). An entire story before I…