When you're broke--and even when you're not--buying books used looks like the smart thing to do. But it's hurting publishing, book stores, and the author, none of whom get their fair cut: click here.

And if you plan to be a published writer someday, then you need to feed the business that you want to feed you.

Want to know why you should read Richard Yates? Click here.

(I highly recommend The Easter Parade, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, and Revolutionary Road.)

Obama picks a poet: click here.

Lewis Hyde would approve: click here.

Amen!

"Can I get up on a little bit of a pedestal for a minute? This is something I say at every writers conference I attend. If you're a writer and you want to be published, go out and buy a hardcover debut novel and short-story collection tomorrow. And next month, do it again. Buy one every freaking month. Because if you want to be published and you want people to buy your books, and you are not out there supporting fiction and debut authors, you are the biggest hypocrite in the world and I don't know who you think you are."

--to read the rest of this article, click here.

Still working on that holiday shopping? Need some gift suggestions? Click here.

Minnesota Reads: Click here.

A Writer's Life: Click here.

The Atlantic's Best Books of 2008: click here.

Just click here.

Have you ever been rejected? Click here.

For Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2008, click here.