In The New York Times Sunday Review: “My Adventures in Accountability” — “As an approval-seeking person, I always want a gold star. But to achieve one thing generally means letting go of another.” A humorous look at what happens when a busy person tries to be accountable to too many goals at once.

In The New York Times Sunday Review: “Sing, O Muse, of the Mall of America” — Observe people in the act of searching — whether they get what they search for or not — and you will understand something about them.

On McSweeney’s: “A Usage Guide to Timely Phrases Beginning with ‘As’ and Their Lowercase Abbreviations” — Save yourself a few letters when tweeting or texting the news.

Aaand… we’re back! The new season of A Word on Words kicks off with Ann Patchett talking about writing, Gatsby, money, and more. Watch it on Nashville Public Television or online. (Bonus: Ann took a turn in the interviewer chair, too.)

“I’d like to thank the academy…” No, seriously. Many thanks to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the Emmy Award for A Word on Words. Go, little show, go! #keepreading

For The Washington Post: “Learning From Our Mistakes” — Maybe we could save our future if we paid a little more attention to the lessons of our past.

In The New York Times: “Wishing Away the Wish List” — The desire to bring back the mystery in giving has a little something to do with the desire to be taken care of, or maybe even to be a child again.

NEW cartoon! Need a pep talk? Follow @wildlifecoach on Instagram to get one from a WildLifeCoach. Giraffes, bats, turtles, pigs… they’re all here to help.

In the Washington Post: “Teaching Girls to Save Their Own Lives” — This essay has mermaids, Michelle Obama, and the book that changed one writer’s life forever.

Recent interviews: George Saunders, Brit Bennett, Colson Whitehead, Yaa Gyasi, Glennon Melton, Lee Boudreaux, John Gregory Brown, Megan Abbott, Brad Watson, Louise Erdrich,  and more

“This Shop’s Walls Can Talk (In 140 Characters)” There’s enough opportunity for mistaken identity on Twitter to populate a Shakespearean comedy, but it’s still fun. Here’s an essay about creating a bookstore’s voice, from the front page of the Book World section in Washington Post.

A little dark humor up on The Hairpin: The Life-Changing Magic of Spending Money — or, the secret to finding joy in frivolous purchases.

“It’s Not the Celebrities We Mourn For” – Talking mortality and magical thinking in the opinion pages of The Los Angeles Times.

Get your copy anywhere you buy books! (For autographed copies, order from indie bookstore Parnassus Books.) And check out the penguins on Buzzfeed, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, BookPage, The Millions, and more…

Festival season keeps rolling! Just finished: The Mississippi Book Festival, the Mid-South Book Festival, and the Southern Festival of Books!