Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

At dinner with some Booklisters on Tuesday night, we enjoyed a discussion of words and phrases (“interesting,” “well-written”) that shouldn’t appear in book reviews. The topic must be in the zeitgeist. Joyce Saricks, who was at the table, forwarded me this post from Paper Cuts: “Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing.” Their picks are poignant, compelling, [...]

If it’s been quiet at Likely Stories lately, that’s because I’ve been away–first for a few days off with my family, and now I’m at the Public Library Association conference in Minneapolis, talking with librarians and demonstrating Booklist Online. Contributing editor Ian Chipman is holding down the fort in my absence, which reminds me…REaD ALERT!  

I like lots of librarians, but my favorite librarian doesn’t actually exist. (Which certainly makes it less politically awkward than if I were to choose a favorite librarian who did exist.) Welcome back again, Israel Armstrong. “We’re librarians actually,” said Israel. “Come again?” “Librarians.” Israel thought that Barry’s face coloured slightly at the mention of [...]

Tax Increment Financing sounds like a guaranteed sleep aid–but once most taxpayers learn what it is, they’re likely to be awake all night, burning with rage at both ends. (It’s a particularly contentious topic here in Chicago.) In an interview on Fresh Air, Free Lunch author David Cay Johnson explains “How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense [...]

Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote nearly 100 books in 90 years (and let’s not forget 2001) is dead. From the New York Times (“Arthur C. Clarke, 90, Fiction Writer, Dies,” by Gerald Jonas): Mr. Clarke’s reputation as a prophet of the space age rests on more than a few accurate predictions. His visions helped bring about the [...]

Say hello to The Long Goodbye, Chicago (“Crime thriller ‘The Long Goodbye’ selected for ‘One Book, One Chicago,’ by Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune): “The Long Goodbye” by crime-genre master Raymond Chandler is the 14th and latest book selected for the Chicago Public Library’s “One Book, One Chicago” program. Twice a year, in the spring and [...]

The headline is funny, the story not so much. Maybe it hits too close to home. Or maybe–despite whatever grain of truth this piece of satire contains–it’s actually wrong. From the Onion (“Novelists Strike Fails To Affect Nation Whatsoever“): LOS ANGELES – The Novelists Guild of America strike, now entering its fourth month, has had no [...]

Mystery solved, apparently. From the Telegraph (“German pilot shot down Little Prince author,” by Henry Samuel): A former German World War II fighter pilot has claimed he shot down French literary hero Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince, 63 years after the event. However, Horst Rippert, 88, said he would have held his [...]

It takes the New Yorker a little longer to catch up with a story, of course, but when they do, the results are usually worth reading. Referencing Margaret Seltzer, Jill Lepore (“Just the Facts, Ma’am“) examines the lies of history, the truth of fiction, and men’s and women’s preferences for each. She asks “What makes a book [...]

The fifth issue of Booklist Online REaD ALERT went out…um…Wednesday. I forgot to mention it until now. (And I forgot to mention the fourth issue entirely, apparently.) (Sign up here.)