In last week’s Boston Bound post, I recommended some great books with stories based in Boston. It should also be noted that the city produced great authors for more nearly 400 years. In addition to Hawthorne, James, Alcott, and Plath (mentioned in my Boston post), others include Benjamin Franklin, Phillis Wheatley, Edgar Allen Poe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Frost, Jack Kerouac and Dennis Lehane. When you’re in Boston, check out the stately Boston Public Library. Founded in 1848, it is the second largest public library in the United States, behind only the Library of Congress.

In follow-up news to my June 8th post, Burying the Hatchette?, there was much to be thankful for in late November with the news that Amazon and Hatchette reached a compromise to their long-running, nasty feud. It meant that booklovers’ voices were heard and books from the fourth-biggest U.S. publisher were once again accessible through the dominant internet bookseller. Each side of the battle can claim a degree of victory but the war is far from over. Stay tuned.