Bill Bryson put up a valiant fight, but V.C. Andrews prevailed — our next TN Read-Along book is My Sweet Audrina. I can’t decide if I’m horrified or thrilled, so I’ve decided to go with …

Okay, so that last one wasn’t so awesome. Live and learn.
The poll for the third TN Read-Along is below. The Wallace and the Cutrone have returned, as you’ll see, but I have a bet with …

Above, Abdi’s “Intruder Alert.”
I’ll grant that it’s functionally impossible for the show to do what its tagline says it will — find “The Next Great Artist” — but I think the attempt is really interesting. …

Perfection is boring. Oh my God, it’s the dullest thing in the world. Stop trying to achieve it, now. (179)
I tend to avoid books like Backwards in High Heels, assuming that tired passive-aggression about socks …

“Shut Up, Penhall” Count: 1
We open with a much-too-long nighttime sequence in which a Kirk-Cameron-esque kid named Dylan tries every door of Artie’s Deli.He finally gains access to find his little friend Jordy snacking on …

My opinion of Jim Morrison is not a secret, but in case you’ve just arrived on Tomato Nation: hate. Morrison’s poet-shaman-of-the-bacchanal persona comes off to me as just that — a persona, sophomoric, obvious, contrived. …

Henry James crisis averted! Our next read-along book is Backwards in High Heels: The Impossible Art of Being Female, by Tania Kindersley and Sarah Vine. Not Kindleable this time, but a used copy is about …

I have a piece forming at the horizon of my mind, like a cloud that intends hail, about the tiresome undimensional treatment of the widow/er in contemporary Hollywood product, but it will have to wait …

Polling for Book #2 will end at 11:59 PM ET on July 6. Vote below!
Thanks again to everyone who participated in the live chat (you can watch a “replay” of it right here — upcoming …

Pepper Pamela Ribon with questions live: Wednesday 30 June at 7:30 PM ET.
You should see the chat window below; it actually works more like a live blog. You’ll ask your questions in the comments area, …