Sunday, October 17, 2010

Links & Reviews

- In the NYTimes, Anne Trubek has an essay on writers' homes, "Read my Book? Tour my House."

- The finalists for the 2010 National Book Awards were announced this week.

- Over at Exile Bibliophile, bibliomysteries!

- The five-year trial of former Getty curator Marion True ended this week when the Italian judge ruled that the statute of limitations on the charges had expired. Dealer Robert Hecht is also on trial; the statute of limitations for him runs out next July (and there is little prospect the trial will be completed by then).

- An unpublished, long-lost Dr. Seuss draft is currently up for auction; the current bid is $1,611. The auction ends on Thursday.

- Yesterday's Globe had an article on the Paul Revere House and its challenges in the 21st century.

- Johns Hopkins University has acquired some 280 books relating to the history of scientific discovery collected by Dr. Elliott Hinkes. See some highlights here.

- A first edition of 1984 was found in an Australian charity bin.

- Jill Lepore writes about sex-ed books for children in the New Yorker.

Reviews

- Peter Meyer and Jeffrey Owen Jones' The Pledge: A History of the Pledge of Allegiance; review by Beverly Gage in the NYTimes.

- Bill Bryson's At Home; review by Louis Bayard in the WaPo. My favorite line: "Sweetly, sweetly flows the trivia."

- The new edition of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's letters, edited by Steven Weisman; review by David Brooks in the NYTimes.

- The Classical Tradition (ed. Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, Salvatore Settis); review by Michael Dirda in the WaPo.

- Helen Castor's She Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth; review by Anna Whitelock in the Telegraph.

- Several recent books on food history; review by Elizabeth Scott-Baumann in the TLS.

- David Wootton's Galileo: Watcher of the Skies and J.L. Heilbron's Galileo; review by Andrew Crumey in the Scotsman.