The End of Borders and the Future of Books | Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Ben Austen offers “an inside look at the real reasons for the once-beloved chain’s demise.” Poor choices, poor timing. (Via Patrick Cooper)

And then in the afternoon I get to say things like, “The robot lost its claw!” That is just something you never get to say when you’re talking about the Garfield administration.

— Sarah Vowell, on recording for 'The Incredibles' and writing about history (source)

Who Left A Tree, Then A Coffin In The Library? | Krulwich Wonders | NPR

Gorgeous book sculptures left in Edinburgh libraries, and the question of whether to unmask their source.

I do not know how American Gods looks from the outside. I’ve never read it, not to find out what happened next, anyway. I wrote it to find out what happened next, and that’s a very different thing.

— Neil Gaiman, on writing the novel 'American Gods' (source)

Falser Words Were Never Spoken | NYTimes.com

Brian Mortan writes, “In a coffee shop not long ago, I saw a mug with an inscription from Henry David Thoreau: ‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.’ At least it said the words were Thoreau’s. But the attribution seemed a bit suspect. Thoreau, after all, was not known for his liberal use of exclamation points.”

Don’t Just See, Observe: What Sherlock Holmes Can Teach Us About Mindful Decisions | Scientific American

Maria Konnikova writes, “Every day, countless items, some glanced, or heard, or felt, or smelled only briefly — perhaps without ever registering in our consciousness–affect our minds and play into our decisions. But for the most part, we don’t pay attention; and we fail to realize what it is that is guiding us at any given moment — or fail to note something that would have made a crucial difference to our decision calculus.” (Via brainpicker)

Independent bookstores add a new chapter | The Washington Post

Neely Tucker reports, “The small, independently owned bookstore is staging a modest rebirth in the midst of a bone-killing economy.” Filed under #thingsthatmakemehappy. I still have yet to visit the One More Page bookstore mentioned in the story, though I’ve followed them on Twitter for months. Must make that happen (because, seriously — books, wine and chocolate?).

Literary Aside

I’m working through a book of George Orwell essays, Books v. Cigarettes, that I picked up at a shop in Victoria, B.C. A line in the essay “The Prevention of Literature” caught my eye this evening: What is really at …

Harry Potter Comes of Age One Hedcut at a Time | Speakeasy | WSJ

“We went deep into our Hedcut Archive — our internal database of those iconic stipple portraits that appear in the Journal every day — and pulled out these drawings, all created by long-time Journal artist, Randy Glass, and dating from 2001 to 2007.”

“Toto's 'Africa'” by Ernest Hemingway | McSweeney's Internet Tendency

The “[blank] in the style of Hemingway” is getting a little tired, but this one, by Anthony Sams, made me laugh. (Via Jess H.)

He spells it as it sounds. It’s not a bad strategy. The alternative is to guess where the errant letters are hidden, and in that way lies madness.

— From “American Bee” by James Maguire (source)

Cowen Seeing Weak Growth Makes ‘Great Stagnation’ Hotly Debated Bestseller | Bloomberg

Interesting profile of GMU economist Tyler Cowen, discussing his writings, reading habits and (briefly) local food blog. (Via Russ.)

Books Interview: Sarah Vowell | The A.V. Club

I really like this interview with Vowell by Marcus Gilmer, in which she talks about her new book Unfamiliar Fishes.

Eleven very short stories about SXSW | Salad Onions

By James Mitchell. (Via Dave Wright)

Ernest Hemingway, Yelper | McSweeney's Internet Tendency

If Hemingway had written Yelp restaurant reviews, by Alex Buckey.

Everything You Know Is Pong

For perhaps obvious reasons, I love this poster, for an event and book to benefit 826NYC: (Link via Rob.)

He had a rare talent for finding the interesting parts of someone’s generally uninteresting comments so that, when speaking to him, you felt that you were an exceptionally interesting person with an exceptionally interesting life.

— From “Norwegian Wood,” by Haruki Murakami (source)