Here are some publishing odds and ends for your mid-afternoon reading pleasure.

“Bookshelves are kind of a mosaic,” explains journalist and popular Twitter scribe Susan Orlean as she shows off her bookshelf in Stacked Up. “I have a little bit of a system that starts with the absurd and moves towards something a little bit grander.”

Sarah Palin‘s book tour stop brings Oprah Winfrey her highest ratings in two years.

Writing industry watchdog Victoria Strauss compares self-publishing options from West Bow Press and Harlequin Horizons.

What would happen if James Joyce and Jane Austen wrote comic strips?

The NY Times weighs a “conflict of interest question” at the National Book Awards.