RIASS stuff:
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Calling all bookish Melburnians! RIASS and some bookish buddies are planning a night out at the Astor Theatre on the 9th of June. All welcome, so if you're a local (or wish to commute), feel free to drop by. Details'here.
A giveaway of'Revived'by Cat Patrick'(ends 2 June)
A review of Fracture'by Megan Miranda, a fascinating exploration of deathparticularly when read in tandem with Revived (Rating: 
)
Other bookish stuff:
Possibly one of the most beautiful images Ive ever seen (warning, contains books)
100 Best First Lines from novels
Words to try to use in a sentence without coming across as a pretentious git
Text to publish Patrick Whites Happy Valley'for the first time in 70 years
On the decline of music criticism and the danger of equating snark with quality:'For decades, music writing was opinionated'and even when it was over-the-top, it was thought-provoking. But critics who write only about what they like aren't doing their readers any favours. As music historian''and writer Nicholas Jennings says, Music is a central part of people's lives and criticism is a useful service to people as a consumer guide to what's worth listening to or what's not worth listening to.''Today, unfortunately, readers get only'half the story.
Shona Husk on her writing processes: I plot, and then I write a paragraph per scene, editing as I go. I've learned it's much easier to restructure when I'm only moving a couple of paragraphs to thousands of words. Then I write a fast first draft capturing all the details and most of the dialogue.
On white America and the YA book market: These aren't hard numbers of course, just a guesstimate, but the point remains: if so many titles get published every year, then why is it such a gigantic risk to not assume that minorities don't read, and white people don't want to read about non-white people?
Edith Whartons houses: The House of Mirth is bookended by contrasting visions of domestic architecture. In the first chapter, we visit the lawyer Lawrence Selden's bachelor apartment with its shabby leather chairs, pleasantly faded Turkey rug, and shaded balcony, and it seems a personal oasis. In the last, we visit the unmarried heroine Lily Bart's spare boarding-house home, 'where there was no other token of her personality about the room, unless it showed itself in the scrupulous neatness.' Those rooms show the difference between the lot of the single man and the single woman in New York society as vividly as the dialogue.
Krista Marino on Michael Scotts Nicholas Flamel books: The more exciting thing, though, is the possibility that kids who read these books might become curious about the world'both our world's history and the many different cultures (and their stories) it's home to. Michael Scott and Nicholas Flamel have shown me that, while our cultures vary, so many of our myths and legends come from similar roots. So how can everyone be all that different? That's the kind of book I want in young readers' hands these days.
Granta Taking Submissions for Best of Young British Novelists 4
Amazon consumer reviews as reliable as those by experts
Confessions of a book fiend
Why networking is important in the book industry
Ray Bradbury on Facing Rejection and Being Inspired by Snoopy
Was Jonathan Swift the father of microfinance?
Do Books Have More Appeal During Tough Times?
Video:
Marion Von Adlerstein talks Mad Men and her novel The Freudian Slip
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