the complete review Quarterly
Volume III, Issue 3   --   August, 2002


Literary Weblogs
An Overview

(page 2)

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V. Other Literary Blogs
VI. Foreign-language Literary Blogs
VII. Other Sites and Blogs of Interest

Links



V. Other Literary Blogs

       About Last Night
       URL: http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Terry Teachout (and friend). Generally culture-oriented, with some book coverage.

       Alien Ed-Blog
       URL: http://www.thealienonline.net/blog/tao_book_blog.asp
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Science fiction coverage.

       Amardeep Singh
       URL: http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/blog.html
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Some literary, Indian, post-colonial slant

       AttackingtheDemi-Puppets
       URL: http://kingwenclas.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Weblog of 'King' Wenclas "the Publicity Director for the controversial cultural watchdog group, Underground Literary Alliance."
       Attacking the establishment.

       Beatrix
       URL: http://www.artsjournal.com/beatrix/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A book review review" by Ron Hogan.

       Blogcritics.org
       URL: http://blogcritics.org/index.php#books
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Book coverage at Blogcritics.org -- "A sinister cabal of superior bloggers".
       Usually several posts from a variety of bloggers, but very uneven quality.

       BookAngst 101
       URL: http://bookangst.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Publishing focus, by "a senior executive for a major New York publisher." Good insider coverage and commentary.

       book blog
       URL: http://www.bookblog.net/
       "book chat amongst friends"
       More a book club, but does offer regular, ongoing coverage of specific titles

       book-blog reviews
       URL: http://www.book-blog.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Frequent brief reviews.

       The Book Club Blog
       URL: http://natural-creations.co.uk/bookclub.html
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A reading group, well an exclusive book club blog really, for connoisseurs of fine literature, books, clubs and blogs."

       BookFilter
       URL: http://www.bookfilter.com/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Multi-user weblog. "We discuss books, magazines, authors, publishers and the like."
       Limited number of entries (one every few days).

       Bookish
       URL: http://www.bookish.dk/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Literary focus, decent coverage. Denmark-based Brit. (Used to be dust from a distant sun.)

       Booklust
       URL: http://storms.typepad.com/booklust/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "A bibliophile's musings on books, cartoons, art and stuff."

       Bookman's Blog
       URL: http://www.briancassidy.net/blog.html
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Brian Cassidy's weblog.

       book-o-rama's Journal
       URL: http://www.livejournal.com/community/daily_book/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       The Daily Book. User ratings and comments on a different book every day.

       The Bookshelf
       URL: http://www.tedmills.com/bookshelf/bookshelf.shtml
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Ted Mills' weblog. "Brief reviews of what I've been reading."

       Books, Inq.
       URL: http://booksinq.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A behind-the-scenes look at a book-review editor's world", by Frank Wilson of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

       Booksquare
       URL: http://www.booksquare.com/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Good literary coverage.

       Book World
       URL: http://bookworld.typepad.com/book_world/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "One woman's attempt to read what's worth reading and say something about it along the way."

       Brandywine Books
       URL: Brandywine Books
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       "Brandywine Books is a news blog about books and book-related things. General literary thoughts and imaginative writing included free of charge."
       Limited number of links, but posts generally include extensive commentary.

       Buzz, Balls & Hype
       URL: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/BkDoctorSin/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       M.J.Rose's weblog, with focus on marekting and publishing.

       Censoround
       URL: http://www.libraryunderground.org/censoround/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Book challenges and free speech news"

       CESLIT.org
       URL: http://ceslit.org/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "A community weblog for those interested in Central/East European and Slavic literature.":

       The Charlock's Shade
       URL: http://thecharlocksshade.typepad.com
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "Poring over books not yet written, and seeing and seen by men not yet born".

       Chekhov’s Mistress
       URL: http://www.chekhovsmistress.com
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Generally longer/more in-depth entries.

       Cogito, ergo Zoom
       URL: http://www.mclemee.com/id4.html
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Scott McLemee's blog. Occasional literary.

       Completely Futile
       URL: http://completelyfutile.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       "Books, comics, movies, music and other things".

       Conversational Reading
       URL: http://esposito.typepad.com/con_read/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Scott Esposito's weblog, looks promising.

       The Count of Monty Cristo
       URL: http://montycristo.typepad.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Learned commentary on the three r's: readin', ritin', and runnin' from zombies"

       Craig's BookNotes
       URL: http://booknotes.weblogs.com/
       "Books, libraries, preservation, digital convergence, music, politics"
       Not as focussed on the literary as the name suggests, but of some interest.

       Cup of Chicha
       URL: http://www.nchicha.com/
         Added to survey: 15 February 2004
       Some good literary coverage, but also more general interest.

       DesiLit Daily
       URL: http://www.desilit.org/weblog/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "celebrating South Asian and diaspora literature"

       Eclogues
       URL: http://www.sargassosea.net/
       Personal weblog, with a fairly literary focus

       Eight Diagrams
       URL: http://www.eightdiagrams.com
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Literature, finance, technology". Wayne E. Yang's blog.

       Errata 2
       URL: http://www.apolloprojektet.com/errata2/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A literary blog based in Sweden", by Malte Persson.

       Eye on Books Weblog
       URL: http://eyeonbooks.com/wordpress/index.php
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Literary focus.

       52 books
       URL: http://bibliophile.tblog.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       "A bibliophile's miscellany". A book (and comments) a week for one year.

       firmly ambivalent
       URL: http://firmlyambivalent.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Some literary coverage.

       Holt Uncensored
       URL: http://www.holtuncensored.com/members/index.html
       "A candid look at books and the book industry". Irregularly (or at least fairly infrequently) updated. Focusses on the publishing and bookselling industries, but also a lot about books themselves. Good, in-depth commentary, decent links, and interesting reader-feedback.

       In Writing
       URL: http://www.inwriting.org/weblog/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Longer literary commentary rather than links. Focus on serious fiction.

       indianwriting
       URL: http://indianwriting.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Books and things", Indian focus.

       James Tata
       URL: http://jamestata.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "An informal log of recent enthusiasms." Some literary coverage.

       jeffmacintyre.com
       URL: http://www.jeffmacintyre.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Sandbox of cultural hoopla; some literary coverage

       Jerz's Online & Offline Literacy Weblog
       URL: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/weblog/index.jsp
       Weblog more focussed on literacy but also some book information.

       Kirkville
       URL: http://www.mcelhearn.com
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Computer focus but also some book reviews.

       Languagehat
       URL: http://www.languagehat.com/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Focus on language and linguistics.

       Languor Management
       URL: http://reddomino.typepad.com/languor_management
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Kevin Kinsella's weblog. Eastern European focus.

       LeafSalon
       URL: http://www.leafsalon.co.nz/index.php
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       New Zealand book coverage.

       Light Reading
       URL: http://jennydavidson.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Jenny Davidson's weblog.

       litblog.com
       URL: http://www.litblog.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Two-person literary weblog.

       The Little Professor
       URL: http://littleprofessor.typepad.com/the_little_professor
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "Things Victorian and academic.". Miriam Elizabeth Burstein's weblog, with some literary coverage.

       The LNR Books Diary
       URL: http://www.lnreview.co.uk/books/diary/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Literary weblog at The London News Review. Good but only occasional coverage.

       Lost Pages | Found Pages
       URL: http://lostpagesfoundpages.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "Readings, writings, and other despatches from author/editor Claude Lalumière". Genre (science fiction and fantasy) focus, but also general literary.

       Lucia's Symposium
       URL: http://www.luciassymposium.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Lucia is returning to her spiritual roots in the rarified world of English intellectual life." Personal commentary.

       MadInkBeard
       URL: http://madinkbeard.com/mt
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "Formal Constraints: Writings, Reviews, Theory, etc". Fascinating niche blog.

       Matilda
       URL: http://www.middlemiss.org/weblog/matilda/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Perry Middlemiss' weblog. Australian focus.

       Michael Bérubé Online
       URL: http://www.michaelberube.com/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Some literary coverage and discussion.

       The Millions
       URL: http://www.realisticrecords.net/themillions/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A Blog About Books", by C.Max Magee

       The Minor Fall, The Major Lift
       URL: http://www.popfactor.com/tmftml
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Note: now retired.
       Fair amount of literary coverage, as well as much else.
       (Also known as: TMFTML)

       The Mumpsimus
       URL: http://mumpsimus.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "displaced thoughts on misplaced literatures". Matthew Cheney's weblog.

       Notes in the Margin Weblog
       URL: http://notesinthemargin.org/weblog/weblog.html
       More of a pop focus, lots of mainstream media, but of some interest.

       Old Hag
       URL: http://www.theoldhag.com/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Some literary coverage.

       On the Shelf
       URL: http://www.noblenet.org/danvers/weblog/blog.htm
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       "Peabody Institute Library news, book reviews, and other items of interest."

       Open Brackets
       URL: http://www.openbrackets.com/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       "lost in translation"
       Focus on translation issues.

       Outside of a Dog
       URL: http://www.outsideofadog.com/
         Added to survey: 15 February 2004
       General literary weblog.

       The Page
       URL: http://thepage.name/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Poetry, essays, language, ideas - The Page aims to gather links to some of the Web's most interesting writing." Good links, no commentary.

       pages turned
       URL: http://www.pagesturned.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A reading journal and commonplace book"

       pas au-delà
       URL: http://pasaudela.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Matt Christie's weblog.

       The Pinocchio Theory
       URL: http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Steven Shaviro's Weblog, with in-depth entries, often literary.

       Quinn Skylark's BookWatch
       URL: http://www.stairwellmedia.com/booklog/quinns_bookwatch.htm
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Mission statement: "I will monitor and write about book-news that captures my interest."
       Began by covering a few stories a day, but (15 February 2004) disappointingly has not maintained regular posting schedule after promising start

       the reader's muse
       URL: http://reader.blogspot.com/
       "Celebrating fiction, science fiction, fantasy, literature, poetry, non-fiction, etc. A site for readers and writers of all kinds."
       Good idea, but extremely limited number of posts make it of limited value.

       a reader's progress
       URL: http://www.identitytheory.com/people/reader.html
         Added to survey: 6 November 2003
       "robert birnbaum's musings on the world of literature"
       In-depth entries, with considerable commentary (and part of the very useful identity theory site), but entries relatively infrequent (nowhere near daily).

       reading & writing
       URL: http://rw.burningbird.net/
       "Reading in all kinds of weather"
       Personal, fairly limited.

       reading matters
       URL: http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmatters
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Mainly a reading diary.

       Edward J. Renehan Jr.
       URL: http://www.renehan.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Commentary on books, politics and history".

       scarecrow
       URL: http://hodmandod.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Reviews. Words. Art. Comment. Pictures..."

       Silliman's Blog
       URL: http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "A weblog focused on contemporary poetry and poetics."

       s1ngularity::criticism
       URL: http://s1ngularity.blogspot.com
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "A strange collaborative criticism blog".

       smith and stephenson
       URL: http://www.smithandstephenson.net/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       "a literary blog".

       Spurious
       URL: http://spurious.typepad.com
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       Various musings, philosophical, some literary.

       texts & pretexts
       URL: http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/pretexts/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Decent literary coverage.

       This Space
       URL: http://this-space.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "A literary weblog written by Stephen Mitchelmore". Occasional, longer posts.

       Verse magazine's webspace
       URL: http://versemag.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       "Features online-only content (poems & book/magazine reviews), material from & information about back issues, news & announcements, lists of books sent to reviewers & calls for reviewers, & links to sites/blogs of Verse contributors"

       A View from the Foothills
       URL: http://foothills.wjduquette.com/
         Added to survey: 15 February 2004
       "Mostly book reviews, with the occasional descent into whimsy."

       Waggish
       URL: http://www.waggish.org/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       Less link-focussed, longer entires about a single book, author, or topic -- with an emphasis on serious fiction.

       Weekend Stubble
       URL: http://www.collinslibrary.com/blog/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Only weekend postings, decent literary coverage.

       what's in rebecca's pocket
       URL: http://www.rebeccablood.net/
       Very good blog with broader focus, but still good literary coverage.

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VI. Foreign-language Literary Blogs

       black blog
       URL: http://marsilioblack.splinder.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Italian literary weblog. "Notizie, informazioni e curiosità sui libri e gli autori della collana, ma non solo ..."

       Le Blog Littéraire
       URL: http://www.rachidmimouni.net/blog/index.php
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       French. "Le Blog Littéraire est d’abord un espace d’information littéraire en brute."

       Cartea.info
       URL: http://www.cartea.info/revista/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Romanian. Book reviews and news.

       e{qui:libri}*blog
       URL: http://www.lintercapedine.net/blog/equilibri.php/equilibri.php
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Italian. Reviews and literary news.

       Errata
       URL: http://www.apolloprojektet.com/errata/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       Swedish. Malte Persson's weblog.

       lafeuille
       URL: http://lafeuille.blogspot.com/
         Added to survey: 15 February 2004
       French literary weblog.

       Liisas Litblog
       URL: http://www.litkara.de/litblog.htm
       German. Personal reading.

       La Muselivre
       URL: http://lamuselivre.joueb.com/
         Added to survey: 5 November 2003
       "Blog littéraire contre l'onanisme germanopratin comme sport de combat."
       Excellent coverage even (or rather: especially) of English-language literary doings -- but in French.

       Perlentaucher
       URL: http://www.perlentaucher.de/archive/fl/1/0.html
         Added to survey: 3 December 2003
       Links to and summaries of the literary coverage at the major German-language newspapers, provided daily. A superb resource -- but in German.

       Radio du livre - Actualité
       URL: http://www.radiofrance.fr/divers/thematiques/radiodulivre/actualite/
         Added to survey: 10 September 2004
       French. Decent current literary news coverage.

       La république des livres
       URL: http://passouline.blog.lemonde.fr/
         Added to survey: 6 March 2005
       French. "Le blog de Pierre Assouline".

       Romanzieri.com
       URL: http://www.romanzieri.com/
         Added to survey: 6 May 2004
       Italian.

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VII. Other Sites and Blogs of Interest


       Numerous other literary-focussed weblogs can be found on the Internet. Prominent among them are library logs, such as librarian.net (which also has a good links list for other library blogs -- as does Library weblogs). Many of these deal more closely with specifically library-related issues, including everything from first-amendment rights and government surveillance to budgetary and similar issues. Still, literature often does get at least some mention in these weblogs.

       A somewhat different category is that of reading diaries. There are actually a considerable number of these on the Internet. In form they tend to be somewhere between actual review sites -- offering opinions and commentary on the books read -- and weblogs -- providing the commentary in chronological order, adding to it at (ir-)regular intervals. Others offer mere listings of books read, with no commentary.
       As chronicles of personal adventures in reading, many of these diaries are of interest. However, there are relatively few that grow at any significant pace: there are few such diarists who both get through books at a good pace (more than one a week, we'd say) and offer any sort of expansive commentary.
       A drawback to this diary-presentation is also that it can be difficult to find commentary about specific books -- something which review sites tend to do much better. Still, some are definitely worth a look.
       Reading diaries on the Internet include -- to name just a very few -- sites such as Virtual Marginalia ("book reviews, musings and cogitations"), Kristin's Book Log, and duck for cover.

       There are a number of book discussion fora on the Internet too, from a variety of book clubs to other types of discussion groups. Most of these are more like message boards -- commentary by numerous participants, often in reaction to previous comments, making for a discussion of sorts. Links are occasionally included as part of the book-coverage, but the focus tends to be on the actual discussion of the work or author being considered.
       Allowing users to participate in a reading-discussion has obvious appeal, but there are also limitations, including the number of books that can be covered. For an example of a book club, see Andrew's Online Book Club (part of the AndrewSullivan.com weblog).

       Also of interest is the Weblog BookWatch Top 10, which tallies mentions of books on weblogs by looking at weblog-links to titles at Amazon.com (see also AllConsuming, which does so even more comprehensively). . While this method has some limitations (specifically because it focusses on links to Amazon.com, rather than (the generally more valuable) links to other information about specific books), it does give some idea of titles that are being talked about in weblogs -- and also provides links to these book-interested blogs.

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Links:

Note: This links list has not been updated since March 2005; for a more comprehensive, up-to-date, and frequently updated list refer now to our Literary Weblogs-links page.

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