TIP ONE: The most fun a book nerd can have on the Internet

If you ask me what’s the best oddball/grassroots concept the Internet ever made possible, I’ll launch into a rapturous digression about a once-weekly event called Layer Tennis and then say but definitely my idea of the thing that made the Internet worth having is the annual Tournament of Books. And the happy news is that it’s still going strong — in fact, the 20th tournament officially kicks off on Wednesday of next week, which means you have this weekend (if you aren’t already a fan) to dig into the history of the tournament and look over this year’s contenders and judges. I’m 1/3 of the way into James McBride’s incredible The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store*, but otherwise have read none of them — it’s ok, that’s part of the fun of it. Mark your bracket if you have read them, maybe order yourself a t-shirt, and get prepared to follow along!

TIP TWO: The hole in the Paris Review paywall

I just bought myself something I’ve wanted for a long time, that I’m not 100% sure why I’ve never indulged in: A subscription to The Paris Review literary journal. In addition to it being reliably great-looking and great-reading, their Art of Fiction author interviews (which date back to the 1950s) are among my all-time favorite things. I have all of the paperback compilations — The Paris Review Interviews: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3 and Vol. 4* (sent to me by the publisher back when I had Readerville) — and love dipping into them, but they only go up to 2009. A fifteen-year gap!

I think I haven’t subscribed to the journal because it robs me of the joy of buying an issue now and then when I find it on the table at some great little shop. But I’ve been hitting the paywall more and more lately, and decided finding the issue in my mailbox has to be just as thrilling as the random encounter, right? Plus, the archive!

With or without a subscription, here’s a hot tip for dipping into the vast archive:

They have a mailing list called ‘The Redux,’ and if you sign up for it you’ll get an email every Sunday linking to a few pieces from the past that they’ve made public for that week. This week happens to have been the three short stories from last year that just won them the ASME Award for short fiction. You can read them via these links if you click today or tomorrow (or anytime if you’re subscribed)—

• This Is Everything There Will Ever Be by Rivers Solomon
• My Good Friend by Juliana Leite, translated by Zoë Perry
• Helen by James Lasdun

You can sign up for The Redux here, as well as their Morning Poetry list, which will get you one poem in your inbox every morning.

*Huge thanks to anyone who might buy books through these affiliate links, or otherwise support this blog

[ IMAGE: The logos of the Tournament of Books and The Paris Review ]