According to the Washington Post, Amazon has a new program called Text Stats.  This is one of the programs that you sit back and wonder why anyone ever thought it was needed.  It’s part of the "Search Inside" program.  The Post describes it as this:
It can un-complicate comedies, trivialize tragedies, diminish legitimate discourse and completely [...]

In giving his list of favorite books for the The Book list column in The Week, author Mark Spragg said this about the book Joe by Larry Brown:
This book is a masterpiece of place.  Rarely have I read a novel that so transformed my sense of region.  Rarely have I read a novel in which [...]

I wasn’t going to say anything.  I was going to let the comment pass and pretend I never heard it.  Then I saw the quote for the 10th time in a week and thought - oh, what the hell…
I am, of course, talking about a brilliant quote by Posh Spice AKA Mrs. David Beckham AKA [...]

We all ponder the importance of covers in selling a book.  Okay, I ponder and assume I do not ponder alone.  Now there is an academic text on the subject.  Two graphic design/art history professors from Rutgers looked at "dust jacket" designs from 1924-2004 and then wrote a book about their venture, By Its Cover.  [...]

I read through PW’s daily record of amazing book sales yesterday because you, uh, never know when some editor may have purchased one of your books and forgotten to tell you.  Hey, it could happen.  Anyway, I stumbled across this:
FICTION: WOMEN’S/ROMANCEBestselling author Barbara Delinsky’s FAMILY TREE, for publication in 2007, called "a departure for Delinsky [...]

I’m working my way through the stacks of magazines and numerous blogs I missed while I was off visiting the good people of LA.  During this process I saw two statements relating to the power of writing.  George Stade a professor and author of Confessions of a Lady Killer and the upcoming Sex and Violence [...]

I will state right up front that this entry contains a mini-rant.  It may also break my solemn vow not to take personal shots at other authors.  This absolutely is going to take what some will view as a shot at a famous, one might say infamous, author.  One Candace Bushnell.  Feel free to call [...]

I’ve returned from a brief trip to LA for a family function.  After all the chatting and visiting - and did I mention eating - the relatives went back to work and we lingered for one more day.   This is when one of the highlights occurred, and I’m not talking about seeing the King Tut [...]

A journalist asked four romance authors - Toni Blake, Dianne Castell, Rosemary Laurey and LuAnn Mclane - a host of questions for an article. Probably not the questions I would have asked if I had four up-and-comers in a room but at least this wasn’t the usual sniveling, nasty anti-romance article.  The most interesting Q&A [...]

Ever read a book review or an article about a book and have almost no idea what the hell the article is supposed to be saying.  I had that reaction to this one about Paul Theroux and his newest book Blinding Light.  I now know a little about the book but didn’t find the article [...]