We knew this would happen sooner or later. Your Friday post is comin’ atcha on Tuesday, as there was no happy hour last Friday. Instead, yours truly was elbow deep in cookie dough, furiously rolling out reindeer, Christmas trees, and dreidels for the annual cookie decorating extravaganza MV and I host. The gathering was a success, and AM didn’t do nearly as much damage to the apartment as we thought (she tried her best). Here’s what you’ve been missing for the past week and a half, slackers:

• After battling the herds of festive and sweetly oblivious tourists on my Midtown walk to the subway from my office, this Norwegian town sounds idyllic: it has more books than people.
• The Bad Sex in Fiction award shortlist (and now winner) has been announced. We will never see a lozenge the same way again.
• Jumping on “new year, new you” a little early with this advice on how to declutter your bookshelves. We give ourselves a week, max.
• I’m never one to pass up a good “who wore it better” contest. This time, let’s try it with book covers. 

Cheers,

E