The Babu apologises for the recent slowdown in blogging activity: every time he wants to do something really useful, minor irritants like work, deadlines and viral fevers intrude. There's a lot to catch up with, so without further ado (flourish of trumpets and hautboys, whatever the latter are):

There's an interesting discussion over at Two Blowhards about the futility of bestseller lists.

That Bible of editors and writers the world over, The Chicago Manual of Style, has been updated.

"The Me Decades are stretching out into the Memoir Millennium. The I's have it," says Linton Weeks in the Washington Post, contemplating a Me-Moir of his own.

Sara Nelson on the fallout after the NYT piece on Peter "I fired him" Olson.

FF8282 is out of jail.

Robert McCrum on why the two-book deal stinks.