The World in the Satin Bag: SF/F Link: End of August Catchup!

No need for introductions, except this one. It's time to dive right in:

The Independent lists the 100 favorite fictional characters, as chosen by literary luminaries. It's an interesting list, if not a little flawed.
Imagination Investigation gives us the Reader Contract. Ignore the bit at the end about God and what not, but the rest of it is really interesting. These are really what readers expect.
Polenth talks about names in a multicultural world. Some interesting points and observations made there.
Here's a list of the 500 greatest books for teens. Huge list. I've read a few on it, but...it's a huge list.
And how about this? 50 resources that will improve your writing. Might be useful, right? There's also a similar list for resources that will revolutionize your note-taking (or anything close to note-taking, at least).
If you're a Thomas Pynchon nut, like me (though I can't explain why), then you might find this list of articles by, about, and of interest to him rather, well, interesting!
According to the USA Today, one in four people read zero books last year. That's not as bad as it could be. That's technically an improvement!
Dear Author lists ten online promotional don'ts for writers. Good stuff!
Damsels in Regress talks about time travel. Informative and somewhat different than normal talks on this subject.
Natania Barron has a few requests from the fantasy genre. Good requests too.
Futurismic mentioned a long time ago that stem-cell contacts can restore eyesight. That's right. Stem-cell research works. We should all dance now.

And there we go! Enjoy!

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