» Books, tears and blood
The director of Baghdad’s national library, a former Kurdish fighter, talks about “why culture is the key [to his new mission], why the US must surrender looted papers — and why he refuses to have a bodyguard.”

» Music’s literary side
Songwriter Joe Henry “reflects on a lifetime’s worth of reading — and its influence on his music.”

» A Life in Books: Lorrie Moore
“I had such a reaction to the academic culture that I used to ask myself, what would Goldie Hawn do?”

» This Ecstatic Nation
“Emily Dickinson: post-9/11 poet?”

» Top writers feel heat from publishers’ presses
Why must we expect a book every year?

» Matthew J. Bruccoli, 76, Scholar, Dies; Academia’s Fitzgerald Record Keeper

» Looks Like a Million To Me
Clever sleuth puts together the best numbers anyone’s yet come up with on how many e-readers are really (possibly) being sold.

» Right-Wing Nutjobs Plagiarizing from Thriller Writer?
I hadn’t heard the rumor this addresses, but ... interesting.