A Couple of Suggestions

The English summer seems to be (temporarily?) over, and the best of the Olympics usually takes place very late at night, so if you are looking for inspiration, here are a few interesting web-reads:

1. Start planning your next holidays with the help of the Top 10 Literary Destinations List, as announced last week by the travel website Trip Advisor; you might not have to travel far if you pick the first two, but my personal vote goes to number 10.

2. In the Guardian Books Blog, Alison Flogg tells you everything you need to know about the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which rewards the worst opening line for imaginary novels (my personal favourite is Tim Ellis').

3. And finally, thanks to the wonders of the New York Times archives: you can start preparing for the publication of Tolstoy's Tales of Sexual Desire by reading the original 1890 review, describing the sensation caused in Russia by the publication of "The Kreutzer Sonata".