California Literary Review

The 10 Best Books of 2008 [NYT]

Major Reorganization at Random House: After months of speculation, Random House, the world’s largest publisher of consumer books, announced a sweeping reorganization of its publishing divisions, including the resignations of the heads of two of its largest groups. [NYT]

How to Publish Without Perishing: This means a new beginning — a vast trove of books restored to the marketplace. It also means that much of the book world is being upended before our eyes: the business of publishing, selling and distributing books; the role of libraries and bookstores; all uses of books for research, consultation, information storage; everything, in fact, but the plain act of reading a book from start to finish. [NYT]

Terry Pratchett: ‘If I’d known what a progressive brain disease could do for your PR profile I may have had one earlier’ [Independent]

Why girls’ books still build their dreams around home: What you see in all these books are imaginative girls coping with what life throws at them. Behind every Jo March or Tracy Beaker is a female author who grounds their protagonists’ imaginative flights in a precisely imagined and described reality where both their characters and readers can grow. [Guardian]

Philadelphia’s Robin’s Bookstore is closing its doors: Robin’s, started by his grandfather in 1936 and believed to be Philadelphia’s oldest independent book seller, is calling it quits at the end of January. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

If you think books have dumbed down: Think back to what was setting the tills ringing in the 1970s [Guardian]

The Well-Tended Bookshelf: There are two general schools of thought on which books to keep, as I learned once I began swapping stories with friends and acquaintances. The first views the bookshelf as a self-portrait, a reflection of the owner’s intellect, imagination, taste and accomplishments. [NYT]

Gay Bible angers Christians: A gay version of the Bible, in which God says it is better to be gay than straight, is to be published by an American film producer. [Guardian]