Bits and Bobs... I thought I'd share a few internet munchies from my recent browsing history (and invite you to do the same!)...

• Literature Map; We've seen it before, but then I forgot it, then found it again, and have been visiting a lot recently. You type in an author's name, and tells you what other authors are similar - the closer another author appears, the more similar s/he is. So far the only author I've put in who seems to be pretty much on her own (nobody comes up as very similar) is Ursula Le Guin. Anyway, sort of fascinating if you are in the right mood, and useful for finding new authors to check out. →[More:]

• Sort of connected: Anyone here an E-reader? I just joined the mobileread forums (finally), but I have quite a few links for all sorts of related ebook, etc. sites if anyone is interested. I'm sort of playing with the idea of a blog for this stuff ... but, eh.

• Also sort of connected: Remember Writer's Rooms? I didn't realize that they were continuing to update this section - so there are nearly 80 authors featured now. I had fun catching up. Also, now I want my own. I used to have one, but now I don't. Not that I'm exactly a writer... but I'm certainly a commenter!

• Stumbled across this rather nice small batch of Mayan calendar icons. Perhaps useful for someone.

• My new favorite author-book page: Michelle Jaffe's Bad Kitty. 51% Thrilling Mystery; 17% Deep Yearning; 32% Fashion Emergency; 100% THE CAT'S FAULT.

Haven't read the book, but I think I must.

• I really love this ... um ... bead sculpture? It seems that this person made it in remembrance of her late kitty. Somebody talented (so, in other words, not me) should make custom designs like this for people's pets. I want a beaded Sky!

hmmm... what else?

• Ah! An old article, but fascinating... It ws bst f tms, it ws wrst f tms: Japan's mobile phone literature: For the first time, Japan's fiction bestseller list is dominated by books published, read and, in several cases, written on mobile telephones, most of them by young women in their 20s. The rise of the "mobile novel" has prompted an anxious debate about the nature of literature and the future of reading in Japan.

• Also, In Japan Half The Top Selling Books Are Written On Mobile Phones. Written! Dang.

And, finally, the V&A Museum site has this sort of handy thumbnail guide to period style. So if you're really lazy, but want to get the Cliff Notes on say, Jacobean style, here's the place. :)