Off the Shelf: How long to write, and whether.

In which I clean out my Bloglines folder and highlight some neat stuff I've been saving.

Know a good New York book? Danielle of A Work in Progress has some, and wants some more.

John Updike writes every day, but only until he gets hungry. (Critical Mass)

"It’s one thing to be corrupted by, say, the pressure of writing for the New York Times Book Review, or the prospect of employment somewhere, or a blurb. But to sell your birthright for a couple of review copies and a link on a blogroll!" That's Keith Gessen, the editor of n+1, on litbloggers (sigh), as quoted in Maud Newton's blog. Of course, if you heed TIME book critic Lev Grossman, not selling out isn't that much fun either, according to Edrants.

And finally, the perfect present for a book lover? A bookstack, of course! Bloglily shows you how. Of course, with enough bookstacks you may end up with a book pile like the one at Eve's Alexandria -- o, frabjeous day.