curated by the Atticus Books staff

Hell Yeah! Worthy is a weekly Friday feature where our staff distills the plethora of scat on the Internet into a succinct list of the best you haven’t seen, the best you ignored, and the best you should visit again. 

The Art of Sharpening Pencils
Never did I think the world could sustain something as seemingly bizarre and superfluous as an artisanal pencil sharpener (check out the video demonstration below). Not only does David Rees exist, but he wrote a book on “How to Sharpen Pencils.” And it’s being published. How did we miss out on this one? (Libby)

David Rees Shows You How To Sharpen A Pencil from Gothamist on Vimeo.

Naughty Love Letters from Famous Authors (NSFW)
James Joyce’s dirty love letters to Nora Barnacle are well-known, but there’s a good deal of naughtiness (explicit and metaphorical) from Gustave Flaubert, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and Franz Kafka. All of which makes me wonder what the graphic love missives of our contemporary era will look like to the future. As a friend of mine said, “When I am long gone, people will be reading my dirty love IMs and Tweets! Oh, boy!” Indeed. (Lacey)

LitBreaker: Literary & Pop Culture Ad Network
When you peruse the list of LitBreaker Partners, you realize we should kneel at the altar of alt-literature and thank the gods of Internet smack for delivering such a bountiful selection of warm, friendly, addictive places to frequent.

The LitBreaker list represents every reading junkie’s nirvana – an intellectual pub crawl of cogent essays, snarky witticisms, and sage analysis.  The Rumpus, of course, immediately springs off the list like a leaping epiphany of mindful matter.  The writing is so damn delicious that it makes me want to tell Esquire and Atlantic Monthly to take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut (thank you, Kurt). HTML Giant, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Three Guys One Book – all of these are worthy of shirking your day job’s duties, risking spousal reprimand, and kicking in the TV screen to set one hell of an example for your child – all just to allow yourself more time to read.  But you already know this, right?

For those unfamiliar with the indie lit terrain, if you’re seeking out a map of the area and are simply not sure where to start, LitBreaker provides a stellar beacon to point you in the right direction.  Is their compass all encompassing?  Of course not.  But from this book blogosphere vantage point, you can see heaven from there. (Dan)