• From the animal kingdom, Cat in a Box. (The World's Best Ever)
• Was Samuel de Champlain the perfect hero? David Hackett Fischer seems to think so. Author Tony Horwitz reviews Fischer's new biography of Champlain, Champlain's Dream, for The Washington Post.
• A history of finance, Survival of the Fittest: The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson, is reviewed in the Literary Review.
• Thanks to Hot Wheels, Mattel is now worth more than GM. (Newsweek) (via things magazine)