Afternoon Bites: Bookstore Napping, Mike Watt and Rick Moody Chat, Reading “James and the Giant Peach,” and More

“For years after reading Dahl, I would invent my own words, unconcerned that the gibberish I was scribbling might not exist in a dictionary.” Janelle Brown on James and the Giant Peach. Rick Moody interviewing Mike Watt? Yes, we’ll read that one. Rosemary DeWitt once napped in bookstores. Francisco Goldman on his view of Mexico City. The upcoming Books Beneath The Bridge Festival sounds excellent. Titus Welliver, interviewed at the AV Club. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.

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Bites: Best Book Covers, “Bush-League Method acting,” Social Thuggery, and More

Enough with the literary-merit top 10 lists.  Here are the best book covers of 2009.  I personally love the look of Ruben Toledo’s designs, but not at all for the books they represent.  An awkward confluence of visionary tones.  Who imagines their literary heroines with such artistic flair?  It’s unsettling. Lit. & Academia City University of New York dean Ann Kirschner recently read Little Dorrit four different ways (paperback, Kindle, iPhone, audiobook).  This week, she talks about it on NPR. […]

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