Adorable!
We don’t buy Christmas gifts for our dogs, but we don’t begrudge those who do. Sometimes we dress our dogs in sweaters, but we know they’re not humans. Not buying them presents is our version of drawing the line.
Some of our friends think it’s odd that we’re readers. They think reading is as screwy as hanging a stocking for your Labrador. We’re getting those friends comic books for Christmas. We’re getting them comic books and we’re rolling our eyes.
Winter is getting to us. We miss sitting on front porches. We love the season, but we miss the taste of lemonade. Maybe we’re Grinches. Maybe Santa won’t come see us. Maybe we don’t believe in him anyways.
What do we believe in? The written word. And here we’ve gathered some reading to help you through the season. At the very least it’s a great escape from the in-laws. — Brian Allen Carr
– Like famous people? Like famous people who own dogs? Want a book that collects “91 black-and-white photos of famous folks with their best animal friends?” Then here’s a book for you. — Top Dogs and Their Pets at The Houston Chronicle
– Are you snowed in? Does sitting on your front porch seem like a distant memory? Do you know much about your front porch? Have you contemplated it? Ryan Ridge has. He’s here to help. — “Porch Platitudes from the Anatomy of American Homes” in The Collagist
P-P-P-Penguin.
– “I was published by Little, Brown for 25 years.We sold almost 7 million books together.They insisted on toning down the near-death scene of the kid’s mother in Mars Needs Moms! so she would have appeared merely ill. I fired them. I’m now with Penguin, just to be cute. Mars Needs Moms! will be released as a film in 2011 by Disney. If you don’t let the kids go dark, it’s no fun to get back into the light. And every story should do this.” — Berkeley Breathed in The Austin Chronicle
– “If you read in a person’s home that person is throwing you a party. If they don’t look at it that way, if they’re just loaning you some space, then don’t do it. What you need is a commitment. They should promise at least 20 people. Tell them you prefer the living room to the cafe.” — Stephen Elliott in The Rumpus
– Recent contributor J.A. Tyler launched a notable chat thread at Big Other this week. The question at hand: Can small presses support writers for the duration of their careers? Should small presses continuously publish talented authors? An interesting discussion emerges. — J.A. Tyler in Big Other
Random X-Mas Week Video: House of Cards
