Have you written a novel’s worth of e-mail this year? Possibly. Another question: Is it any good?

Richard Blanco is the lucky poet who will read at the 2013 presidential inauguration!

This in turn leads Slate, in Slateish form, to ask, “Can Richard Blanco Write a Great Inaugural Poem? Can Anyone?”

Patricia Cornwell is suing a former (emphasis on the former) financial manager: “It is a tale of an alleged betrayal, fraud, of high-rollers, multimillion-dollar homes, a helicopter, a lost Ferrari, a rare book collection, and political donations to Hillary Clinton.”

This piece is about how libraries are staying relevant by moving beyond reading, but classes like hog butchering and blacksmithing seem like much more of a throwback to the days when you picked up your books at the general store.