The Mistress’s Daughter author A.M. Homes got together recently with Mary Gordon, whose new book is called Circling My Mother, to talk about the blurry lines between memories and ­fiction.

Classic beach read terrifies.

In Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling enacts her late-breaking cop-out via a very long, wise talk between Harry and Dumbledore, whose wisdom has always been a wee bit fortune-cookieish.

William Gibson comes out of cyberspace and starts scanning Union Square.

Act like you know the new poet laureate.

Paul Theroux–approved author Patricia Wood starts strong.

On marginalrevolution.com, Tyler Cowen often compiles his favorite things about a country or a state that he is visiting, revealing extraordinarily catholic taste.

Critic J.M. Coetzee tours mid-century Europe.

Alan Weisman imagines all the people…gone.

Find a useful moral in this story.