Margo Hammond and Ellen Heitzel, who have achieved a certain amount of notoreity among bookbloggers for their comments on literary culture as The Book Babes, have landed a deal with Da Capo for Between the Covers: The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures. Heitzel described the book to me in an email this afternoon as "a very fun project... focused on contemporary literature, both fiction and nonfiction—self-help included—[that] ties reading to the rhythms and concerns of a woman's life." The book is tentatively scheduled for publication at the end of 2008.

(Full disclosure: When the proposal was about to make the rounds, the Babes asked me if I had anything to say about them for the testimonials section, and I was happy to oblige. I've disagreed quite publicly with a number of their positions over the years, but that's proof of their ability to spark conversations and get people talking passionately about books.)