A roomful of links

And let’s begin with Wendy Shalit, who wasn’t content to let her essay for the NYTBR stand on its own merits — she had to respond to vociferous critics with a piece in the Jewish World Review that attempts to clarify her point, although I think she’d have been wiser to leave well enough alone…

So it turns out Valentine’s day wasn’t just the anniversary of the MALTESE FALCON — it was also the 30th anniversary of P.G. Wodehouse’s death, as the Telegraph reports. (First item)

Foyles, the biggest and oldest independent bookshop in the UK, will be undertaking its first major expansion in decades, starting with a new branch near London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Meanwhile, fortunes are a little less certain over at Ottakar’s, where three top executives have just quit the company. For more on how the upheaval affects the company, check out the parade of links at Book2Book.

Is the Bible funny? Wouldn’t have thought it, but an academic conference in Turin is putting forward that very idea. Granted, God does have a pretty strange sense of humor…

The Marin County Independent Journal profiles David Diamond, one-half of the team behind the “Daughters of Freya” email mystery novel. Diamond’s next project? Collaborating with Poker Queen Annie Duke on a book about the game.

It seems that Mexico’s facing a huge problem — people simply aren’t reading books like they once did, as the Christian Science Monitor reports.

If you’re a fan of the Botswanan setting of Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious Ramotswe novels, this news story might be of interest to you.

Barry Forshaw, writing for the Independent, looks at the latest UK releases by Harlan Coben (though as it’s a Myron Bolitar book, they are really playing catch-up) and the Patterson, Inc. juggernaut.

And finally, it took five years for Random House to sue over this? Besides, don’t you want the Sean John mogul version instead of the thuggish, J.Lo-dating version? OTOH, I think they have a case..