On the Books Apr. 21: Kindle lending, remembering Tim Hetherington, Tina Fey's booksigning techniques, and more

Amazon announced yesterday that it will offer library lending capabilities for the Kindle, but is there a catch? Key details remain fuzzy, or pixilated: When will libraries roll out the program, and how long will the lending period be? Also, not all books may be available as part of the program.

Intrepid photojournalist and Restrepo co-director Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Libya yesterday, had published a book in 2009 called Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold. According to the publisher, the book “entwines documentary photography, oral testimony, and memoir to map the dynamics of power, tragedy and triumph in Liberia’s recent history. It depicts a past of rebel camps, rainforest destruction, Charles Taylor’s trial as a war criminal, and other happenings contrasted with the hope for the future.”

Funnylady Tina Fey has to keep herself entertained while on her Bossypants promotional tour, so she’s been mixing it up while signing book after book. As she mentioned on Tuesday night’s Conan, she sometimes signs entirely different names (like Ina Garten) in fans’ books and at least once has inscribed, “Help, I’m stuck in a Korean Tina Fey autograph factory!” Maybe by the time her book tour is over, she really will have those man arms.

Do you know what’s truly dead? Spouting off little soundbytes about how books and traditional publishing are dead. Check out these common 21st century nuggets on non-wisdom that really should be put to rest.

The Long Island mansion believed to have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald in writing The Great Gatsby was demolished earlier this week, but not before writer Christine Lee Zilka snapped some final photos of the home that had been standing since 1902.

Two anthologies have been marketing classic poetry to children along gender lines. Are some poems for boys and others for girls?