Shelf Life

Philip Johnson's Glass House in Connecticut, which Ada Louise Huxtable calls a ''landmark of twentieth-century modernism.'' (Corbis/''On Architecture'')

Building a reputation
A new collection of Ada Louise Huxtable's architecture criticism is as New York-centric as one might expect. After all, Huxtable has lived in the city for decades, writing for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The Wall Street Journal.

Yet it's clear in "On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change" (Walker) that there's a lot she likes about New England (such as the photo below). She calls the Louis Kahn-designed library at Phillips Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire, "a beautiful box that celebrates books." She takes note of the Colt Firearms Building in Hartford with its gilt-trimmed dome studded with stars, and the "impressive and pleasing proportions" of the United Shoe Machinery Plant in Beverly.

In a 1977 column, Huxtable celebrates the change of pace she enjoys at the summer place she rents in Marblehead. "Priorities are, properly," she writes, "the availability of the first corn and the state of the tides."

Bookseller extraordinaire
Mystery writer Robert B. Parker, professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., chef Jasper White, and two literary couples - Anne Bernays and Justin Kaplan, and James Carroll and Alexandra Marshall - are among a dozen speakers saluting longtime Harvard Book Store owner Frank Kramer this afternoon. The tributes to Kramer, who recently sold the store, begin at 2 p.m. Details at www.harvard.com.

Local heroes
On Saturday, Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz headlines the sixth annual Somerville News Writers Festival. Also reading will be Jennifer Haigh, Steve Almond, and Bert Stern, founder of Off the Grid Press in Maine, for poets over 60. The festivities begin at 7 p.m. at the Dilboy VFW Hall, in Davis Square. Tickets are $10. Details at www.somervillenewswritersfestival.com.

Adieu to the Jeff
In 30 years as bookstore owners, Howard and Joy Gersten have hosted scores of authors, including one, in particular, who comes to mind these days. Two years ago, when Sheila Bair was teaching at UMass-Amherst, she read from her children's book, "Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock," at the Jeffery Amherst Bookshop. The tale of twins - a saver and a spender - touts the virtues of compounding interest.

Today, as chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., she is embroiled in the debate over the nation's finances.

As the Gerstens prepare to close their shop and retire, they have plenty of memories, including readings by James Baldwin, John Lithgow, and former CIA director (and Amherst College alum) Stansfield Turner.

At the height of "Da Vinci Code" fever, Dan Brown, in town for an Amherst College reunion, stopped by and chatted with customers.

Founded in 1937, "the Jeff," as it is known, attracts Emily Dickinson devotees from around the world who visit the poet's house in Amherst, then stop by for the large selection of books about her. "We have had a marvelous ride here," said Howard Gersten.

Coming out