Rant: The Dewey Decimal System

I recently read a post on the digital shift (via 100 Scope Notes) about a librarian who recataloged his library using a made-up system.  Interesting stuff, although I've already read similar posts on METIS or the lovely glades at the Darien Public Library.*  What really got me was the comments.  I cannot stop thinking about the comments!  I'd comment myself, but the post is a bit old and the author hasn't weighed in again, so I'm just going to rant here instead.

Review: Diverse Energies by 11 speculative fiction authors

The order in which the stories in Diverse Energies are arranged is smart: the first three show the range of the collection, and the last story, by Ursula K. LeGuin, is so freaking fantastic (hello, it's Ursula K. LeGuin) that everything else pales a little in comparison.  In the middle, there are a lot of dystopias set in future Asia.

Rant: Nobody's talking about my Newbery favorite

Lots of people are talking about whether buzz matters or not, so I'm not counting my favorite contender out yet.  But I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing?  A reason this book, which got positive reviews, falls short of distinguished?  The book I'm talking about is The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence.  [ETA: Question answered!  Charlotte kindly points out that the book is not eligible.] 

Review: Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

Earlier this summer I was wishing to visit new places via fantasy books, but I have to admit that it's also satisfying to revisit a place I have long loved: Victorian London, with its scrappy orphans, dapper gentlemen, and performers of all stripes.  I've been there before, and whether I'm reading Phillip Pullman's Sally Lockhart trilogy, Wilkie Collins's The Moon Stone, or anything by Dickens, the setting always gives me a delicious feeling of dread.