Good Monday! Before I get to the Weekly Readings, I’d like to share a few more of my fave lit sites (again, in no particular order):

The Nervous Breakdown: This site was founded by Brad Listi, who hosts the popular podcast Other People (“in-depth, inappropriate interviews with authors”). Filmmaker Magazine noted that Brad is behind “a burgeoning literary media empire” (to his amusement). There’s a LOT going on in TNB—from fiction to memoir to interviews to book reviews to articles about every conceivable topic (recent ones: porn, voting, Whitney Houston,  facial hair).

Insulted by Authors: I still maintain this is one of the best book blog ideas of all time. Bill Ryan asks authors to sign his book—with an insult. It’s a great way to shake up the usual, “Uh, can you make it out to…” smalltalk, and Bill provides great commentary to go along with his experiences. Check out what nasty things Chad Harbach, Sam Lipsyte and Joyce Carol Oates had to say about him.

Vol. 1 Brooklyn: Founder Jason Diamond (who just got married, yay!) envisioned the site as a “multimedia project” bridging writing, music and art. There are lots of entertaining and informative regular features (Sunday Stories, Morning/Afternoon Bites, The Greatest Books I’ve Never Read), and Vol. 1 also hosts a variety of readings (of which I have partaken).

On to readings! This week includes Patti Smith, Ramona Ausubel, Maud Newton, Ellen Ullman and Amber Benson (aka Tara from Buffy!).

MONDAY: Patti Smith will chat with journalist/author Ariel Levy about her newest book, Woolgathering. Get there early, friends. [STRAND BOOKSTORE]

TUESDAY: Debut novelist Ramona Ausubel will discuss publishing No One is Here Except All of Us with her agent, PJ Mark. [CENTER FOR FICTION]

WEDNESDAY: Publishing heavyweights Ellah Allfrey (Granta), James Marcus (Harper’s) and Deborah Treisman (The New Yorker) will discuss the mag world with Granta’s John Freeman. [MCNALLY JACKSON]

THURSDAY: Novelist Ellen Ullman will speak with superstar lit blogger Maud Newton about her newest, By Blood. [BOOKCOURT]

FRIDAY: Amber Benson (man I miss Buffy) will be signing copies of the newest book in her Callipe Reaper-Jones Novel Series: How to Be Death. [MIDTOWN COMICS]