The Internet Vs. The Care of Your Soul →

Pretty good advice, especially points one and two. (via han)

The 10 Best Books of 2008 →

The NYT recommends five fiction and five nonfiction books published this year. The fiction books look particularly intriguing — and if I had the cash right now, I’d check them out.

The Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far) →

The Millions asks 48 writers, editors, and critics to name their favorite works of fiction of the new millennium, so far. I’m a little impressed that I’ve managed to read five of them, without even trying at all:

20: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
19: American Genius, A Comedy by Lynne Tillman
18: Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
17: The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
16: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
15: Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis
14: Atonement by Ian McEwan
13: Mortals by Norman Rush
12: Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg
11: The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
10: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
9: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
8: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
7: Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald
6: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5: Pastoralia by George Saunders
4: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
3: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
1: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

The full list has descriptions of each, along with excerpts, links to audio books, and other materials where appropriate. I should note that Stranger Things Happen, number 18 on the list, is available as a free, CC-licensed download.

Ten rules, an edited list →

The Guardian has published a list of various writers’ own personal rules of writing. Via bobulate, who’s taken the time to further distill the Guardian’s list into a very brief and helpful form.

austinkleon:

Johnny Cash’s “To-Do” List (via)

To-do list inspiration.

Here’s ten reasons why you can trust me with the kids.

Number 1: I’m a nurturer. I found a baby armadillo by the side of the road, and I nursed it, and now it sleeps under my bed. And his name is Felix.

Number 2: I have a diploma — in anger management, where I learned that talking about your feelings is a manly thing to do.

Number 3: I never killed nothing by accident.

Why couldn’t Arlene have let Terry finish his list?

(via marinemint)