Novelish

Patrick Rothfuss posted a blog entry on productive shame and procrastination. (”Now anyone can put off a paper by watching TV or playing a video game, that’s a cakewalk. I, however, was watching snow melt on the sidewalk and occasionally poking at things with a stick.”) Patrick Rothfuss is the author of one of my favorite fantasy books, The Name of the Wind; the sequel is tentatively set to hit shelves March 2008.

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is another of my favorite books, and the film adaption is coming out this summer. Martyn at The Friends of English Magic posted his review from a private screening he attended - it’s a bit jumbled, but there’s no shortage of great information. (The Friends of English Magic is a blog dedicated to the worlds of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Stardust that I’ve been watching for a while.)

Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns is #1 on the Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestseller lists this week. Today’s issue of PW notes that “first-week sales at the three national chains totaled just over 79,000 copies,” with the #2 bestseller (The Overlook) selling 22,500. I enjoyed The Kite Runner when I read it earlier this year, so, though I haven’t rushed out to get this book yet, it’s going on my “To Read” list.

And speaking of To Read lists, The New York Times asked seventeen authors - Stephen King, Nora Ephron, Dave Eggers, Michael Crichton, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jane Smiley, Colm Toibin, Garry Wills, Edwidge Danticat, Gary Shteyngart, Kathryn Harrison, Eric Foner, Nicole Krauss, Mary Gordon, and Jeffrey Eugenides - what books they’ve enjoyed lately. Might be worth a look if you need something to read. EDIT: You actually need a free NYTimes.com account to view this article. If you’d rather not bother, leave a comment with the author(s) you’re interested in and I’ll get the titles for you.