An essay on E. B. White's quirky attitudes toward animals, requested by the Chronicle Review (in the Chronicle of Higher Education) upon publication of The Story of Charlotte's Web.

An essay on the natural history of vampires, "All the Dead Are Vampires," requested by the Chronicle Review (in the Chronicle of Higher Education) when Dracula's Guest was published in the U.S.

An excerpt, entitled "A Natural History of Cemeteries," from Kingfisher, my nature book in progress.

An essay on the death of a bear, from Kingfisher Days, my nature book in progress, in Chapter 16, published by Humanities Tennessee.

An essay about how the cultural history of the body reflects its natural history, requested by New Statesman in London when Adam’s Navel was published in England.

A week as guest blogger at Penguin.com, around the time of publication of The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime and In the Womb: Animals.

A review in the Washington Post Book World, the cover story of the 2009 Christmas issue, of two new biographies of Samuel Johnson.

A review in the Los Angeles Times of Jo Marchant’s science history book Decoding the Heavens.

A review in the Los Angeles Times of Yasmina Reza’s novel Adam Haberberg.

A review in the Washington Post of Stephen Asma’s nonfiction book On Monsters.

A review in the Washington Post of two annotated editions of The Wind in the Willows.

A review in the Los Angeles Times of Susan Tyler Hitchcock’s book Frankenstein: A Cultural History.

A review in the Washington Post of two new books about Arthur Conan Doyle.

A review in the Washington Post of Justin Marozzi’s history-minded travel book The Way of Herodotus.

A review in the Washington Post of David Small’s graphic novel Stitches.