Based on reader feedback and linkage in the blogosphere this week's sequence was one of the most popular we've ever done. For a long time we've been wanting to address the question "why do we need libraries when we have the Internet?" Some folks have a rather negative reaction to this question, but it's really a very reasonable thing to ask, and the answer is neither short nor black-and-white. Which is where we usually come in.

Gene and I don't actually sell the weekly sponsorships of our site - we leave that to a team of faceless underpaid minions. And the sponsor schedule is quite separate from our editorial schedule. So it was rather a surprise when I realized just now that this week's sequence, which starts off mentioning a Putnam book, coincided with a sponsorship from Penguin, parent of Putnam. Or maybe we're just complete sell-outs. But if so, I fear we are undercharging.

In any case, I direct your attention to said sponsor. When I was a teenager in London one of my favorite bookshops was Penguin's, surely the rare store devoted to a single publisher. In the beginning the attraction was probably just the the cute flightless waterfowl (foreshadowing my love for Bloom County's Opus), but it turns out the books are darned good too. Please visit their library services page and sign up for their newsletter aimed at librarians.

P.S. That Nick Hornby book? Loved it to death.