Long Time, No See: Odds and Ends

I'm still chugging along with Keats - the end is in sight (nearly)! One of the hazards of taking on such a long book, though, is that I don't have much to write about, and I do enjoy updating this blog. Thus, links.

Fancy a literary t-shirt? The Jacket Copy blog at the Los Angeles Times has you covered (reposted from Go Fug Yourself).

J.K. Rowling doesn't rule out the possibility of another Harry Potter book in the future (from The Washington Post).

From the archives at Mental Floss, I recently dug out 4 Must-Read Books for Aspiring Writers. If they were to update it today, perhaps they would add The Secret Miracle: The Novelist's Handbook, a forthcoming book featuring interviews with Michael Chabon, Stephen King, and Amy Tan, among others (from McSweeney's).

Telegraph review of The Lost Battles, which looks like a must-read for those of us who are Italian Renaissance nerds (Team Michelangelo!).

Yesterday I saw The Ghost Writer, which I didn't feel like writing up - particularly as I haven't read the book by Robert Harris on which it was based - but I would recommend. It's the story of a writer (Ewan McGregor) hired to draft the memoirs of a former prime minister (Pierce Brosnan). Political intrigue ensues. And there's lots about the manuscript, so it is rather booky.

And, in non-book news, I am celebrating the return of BBC's Ashes to Ashes, which I am watching via a method that is off the record, on the QT, and strictly hush hush. Ashes to Ashes tells the story of DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes, above), who's shot in modern-day London and wakes up in 1980. It's the sequel to the 70s-based Life on Mars, featuring several of the same characters (and an increasing interest in the life and times of LoM's main character, Sam Tyler). Unfortunately, it is not on DVD yet, but keep an eye on BBCAmerica's sci-fi Saturday programming; you never know when it might turn back up. In the meantime, I will once again plug Life on Mars, which is available on DVD. (I'm convinced that, eventually, someone I know will watch it.)

There. Now the blog doesn't feel quite so abandoned - like I did a bit of weeding and maybe touched up the paint.