Friday Round-Up

Each week I round-up all the (mostly book-related) articles/blog posts/book reviews/websites/videos that entertained me during the week. Enjoy!

 

In the words of Book Riot (where I found this photo), it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Articles

"In the Land of the Non-Reader" - a man spends several weeks as a non-reader and this article talks about why and what he learned.

Flavorwire article of the week: "15 Great Works of Literature-Inspired Nail Art" - just to prove there really IS something out there for everyone.

Second Flavorwire article of the week: "10 Cult Literary Traditions for Truly Die-Hard Fans"

Okay, okay, THIRD Flavorwire article of the week: "10 Legendary Bad Girls of Literature" (I had to include it, especially as I think they did a much better job on this list than the previous 10 Legendary Bad Boys of Literature).

"Some of my worst friends are books" from The Guardian. Some of my best friends are, too, though I also enjoy people IRL.

"Nine Coolest Literary Siblings"

"The Business Case for Reading" in the Harvard Business Review

Blogs

The Penguin Press (where I found the typewriter poster on the right, entitled "Typewriters and the Men Who Love Them")

Bookstores

The Last Bookstore, LA, CA.

I have never been to this bookstore, but if I ever find myself spending time in LA (doubtful), you can bet this will be my first stop. This is the article that got me interested. The sentences that sold it for me?

"The Last Bookstore lets you hold a new or used book in your hands in a chic-vintage, one-of-a-kind interior. The store is decorated with things like elephant tusks and mannequins. Even when you go to the checkout, you will see that the counter is made up of books. It’s like an Amoeba Records meets Best Buy meets Borders meets Goodwill, decorated by someone’s hipster sister."

How could you not want to go see a store like that?

"25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore"

Book-to-Screen

The filming of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is back on! Thanks to EarlyWord for this info:

Kate Winslet is set to star as WWII magazine columnist, Juliet Ashton in the film version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Random House, 2008). Kenneth Branagh will direct (and, some speculate, star as Dawsey Adams). Filming is to begin in March.
Back in November, Variety reported that Branagh had abandoned Guernsey for an adaptation of Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell (New Press, 2009), starring Judi Dench and Anthony Hopkins. That project appears to now be on the back burner.

Children's Books

Dr. Seuss was almost never published! But a chance street encounter led to the fateful publication of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. NPR relates "How Dr. Seuss Got His Start 'On Mulberry Street'".

Want to know what district you'd live in, if you were in Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games? Check out this map of Panem. I'd be living in the Wilderness which I'm pretty happy about.

Watch this RIGHT NOW (Colbert interviews Maurice Sendak. Hilarity ensues.).

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Libraries

The Huffington Post's Arts section presents a photo montage of Eric Fonteneau's "Haunting Library Installation"

"20 Heroic Librarians Who Save the World" - and yes, I've seen all THREE The Librarian films (though whether I'm proud or ashamed of that, I haven't figured out yet). Also, you must read that Garth Nix series if you haven't already. Lastly, HUGE crush on Giles, even though I'm not a Buffy fan.

Quizzes

Can you name these popular children's book characters?

Tattoos

"The 5 Books That Inspire the Most Tattoos" (though I would hasten a guess that the movie "Fight Club" has more to do with the tattoos than the book does).

Friday Round-Up

Each week I round-up all the (mostly book-related) articles/blog posts/book reviews/websites/videos that entertained me during the week. Enjoy!

Articles

Gorgeous carved book landscapes by Guy Laramee.

Salvador Dali illustrates Alice in Wonderland.

Feeling both betrayed and excited: former librarian and independent bookstore advocate, Nancy Pearl, presents Book Lust Rediscoveries, a series published by Amazon.com (ew.).

Amazing idea of the week! Weller Books is doing a huge "book drop" around the city to advertise their grand re-opening. Read about it here.

Absolutely beautiful covers for the e-book versions of Michael Chabon's works by designer Connie Gabbert showcased on The Casual Optimist.

Obviously this travel bookcase is what I'll be taking on my next vacation. Ms. Crowe - is this how you do it?

"We all read in the Yellow Trolley Bus" in Bulgaria. This cool public library housed in an old trolley bus on a deserted city street is right up there with the Book Barge in the UK for its unique idea and brilliant execution.

Read this article about book landscaping.

Digital Rights Showdown! Harper Collins vs. Open Media

Blogs


Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves (with pictures!)

The PageTurn, the website/blog by HarperCollins's School and Library Marketing team.

Book Lists

Book Dirt offers "8 Famous People You Never Knew Wrote Mysteries". I know I'm putting Hugh Laurie's on my TBR.

Book-to-Screen

I'm in love with Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, the main character in the Raylan Givens series by Elmore Leonard, in the TV show Justified:



Children's Books

Cinder (a debut YA novel about Cinderella as a cyborg) author, Marissa Meyer, writes about reimagined fairy tales in "Twice Upon a Time in Hollywood"

Brain Pickings' article of the week: "Seven Nonfiction Children's Books Blending Whimsy and Education". My favorite is a tie between The First Book of Jazz by Langston Hughes and The Serif Fairy by Rene Siegfried.

Publisher's Weekly reports on Chicken House - the children's publishing company begun by the man who discovered JK Rowling's Harry Potter in the UK - expanding to the Netherlands in "Chicken House Goes Dutch".

Contests

It's that time again! (I say that like I've done this before. I haven't.) "It is time to announce the contestants, judges, and brackets for the original, one-and-only, full-combat, oddly-predictive-of-the-Pulitzer-Prize, eighth annual TMN Tournament of Books, coming March 2012, presented by Field Notes." Don't know what I'm talking about? Check it out here.

Libraries

Moment of silent appreciation for the Kansas City Public Library.

Teaching

"The Learning Network" at The New York Times has some fantastic suggestions for encouraging book discussions, particularly between multiple classrooms in "Reading With Strangers: Ways to Study Literature Collaboratively"

Videos



Despite the bizarre choice in music, this video is a cute montage of library scenes from movies and T.V. shows:

Friday Round-Up

Each week I round-up all the (mostly book-related) articles/blog posts/book reviews/websites/videos that entertained me during the week. Enjoy!

Articles

Publishing Perspectives talks about transmedia (no, not media about trans folks, publishing across platforms), as in what is it, who should use it, and when.

The Guardian hosts a series in conjunction with Hive Network that allows the average customer to ask hard-hitting book industry questions of independent booksellers. Fantastic, and so much to read through/listen to.

Flavorwire article of the week: "10 Awesome Books to Give Your Nonreading Friends"

The Casual Optimist publishes his "Favourite Covers of 2010" in preparation for a later post about his favorites for 2011.

Too beautiful to pass up, the 2nd Flavorwire article of the week: "15 Gorgeous Book Cover Redesigns"

Cartography

Cheating a bit with this, as it's not even remotely book-related, but it was too funny to not share. Besides, it's my blog and I'll post about maps if I want to. :)

Children's Books

Publisher's Weekly covers the conversation between four picture book authors who discuss writing funny.

Libraries

I will never, Ever, EVER get tired of looking at lists like this: "The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries in the World"

Websites

Books Set In... is a fantastic website where you can find books, wait for it, set in specific countries! Super helpful for the "Around the World in 12 Books Challenge" I'm participating in in 2012.

Friday Round-Up

Each week I round-up all the (mostly book-related) articles/blog posts/book reviews/websites/videos that entertained me during the week. Enjoy!



Articles

A round-up of "The World's Great Bookshops" - or in other words, how I will plan my next vacation.

The Banksy of Book Sculpting: The full story of The Library Phantom who left 10 book sculptures all over Edinburgh, Scotland. If only we could convince her to come to the States.

Flavorwire article of the week: "Ten Lost Novels the World Found Again"

Brilliant idea: "New books for new homeowners"

Don't miss "The Art of the Hobbit".

Taschen publishes absolutely lovely coffee-table art books. The Selby features photographs of the house of and a brief interview with Angelika Taschen.

Mark Twain's birthday dinner.

A really fascinating run-down of one book publication journey, from a self-published author with an agent. He rates himself on how well he did at each step. Gives you a lot to think about.

GalleyCat features directions on how to make a secret door out of a bookcase. Someday when I have my own...something (apt? house? building), that has to happen.

Children's Books

100 Scope Notes features a really lovely interview between Caldecott-winning illustrators Jerry Pinkney and Erin E. Stead.

The past, present, and possible future of the Newbery/Caldecott Awards explained in PW - featuring a former professor of mine and children's book expert, Anita Silvey!

BrainPickings showcases their list of "The 11 Best Illustrated Children's and Picture Books of 2011" and I don't disagree with them. These books are gorgeous. Though I would add a couple more to the list like Goliath from the Leviathan trilogy and anything Lane Smith has put out in the past year.

"The Most Disturbing Nursery Rhymes You've Never Heard" over at Book Dirt. Make sure to check out the rest of the blog while you're there - great content!

Over at The Browser, a Tintinologist discusses Herge and the inspiration for the classic Tintin tales.

Publishing Perspectives discusses the changing face of children's book reviews at The New York Times thanks to new New York Times Book Review children’s book editor Pamela Paul.

Libraries 

"New Organization Helps Libraries Get Artsy to Support Local Communities". Do I need to say more?

Publishing

A fascinating article about an Indian publishing company that specializes in illustrated books for the adult market (not adult-content, just adult non-fiction). I'm a huge fan of the actual illustrated book (you'll see a lot of what they publish have photographs), both fiction and non-fiction for adults, and would love to see publishing companies doing more of that.

New French publisher in the American children's book market. Lovely!

Website

For writers and others: Figment: Write Yourself In.

Little bit obsessed with NPR's Three Books series. Check it out; great recommendations.

Lists of Note. Companion site to Letters of Note, which I mentioned previously.

Designers & Books.
Explore. Learn. Enjoy. Watch this video.

In the Cube: James Biber Interviewed by Michael Bierut (abridged 5:22) from Designers & Books on Vimeo.

Friday Round-Up

Each week I round-up all the (mostly book-related) articles/blog posts/book reviews/websites/videos that entertained me during the week. Enjoy!

Articles

Peter Sis talks to NPR about his new, beautifully-illustrated, adult book The Conference of the Birds. Read or listen here.

"Dear Book Lover" at the Wall Street Journal has a great article about fiction books that read like non-fiction, and vice versa.

Publishing Perspectives dives into a discussion of Roaxnne Coady's new website, "Just the Right Book!"

Can't figure out how to organize that new bookshelf? BookRiot has the answer.

Library

The Dewey Decimal Rap. No, really, that's all there is to say about that.



Vocabulary


I absolutely ADORE lists like this. "The Top 10 Relationship Words That Aren't Translatable Into English" 

Website

Looking for a book recommendation? Each month? Check out Just the Right Book!, a website you can belong to that will send you hand-picked selections by the staff at R.J. Julia, a fantastic independent bookstore.

TakeYourChildToABookstore.org That says it all really, doesn't it?

Speaking of Libraries...

I seem to be on a library kick this week, as I found this fantastic article via a new favorite Out of Print blog.

The article is all about Britain's Smallest Library - a library housed in an old red telephone booth! I can't help but be wildly jealous as I don't think red telephone booths really caught on in the States, nor were we apparently creative enough to come up with this idea on our own. How refreshing: a community enamored enough of books to create such a unique solution to their lack of library problem.

To sum up the article: when the mobile library service (novel idea!) was canceled in the community of Westbury-sub-Mendip, villagers banded together to set up the "old red phone box into a book exchange". There's a little bit of something for everyone, as titles from popular literature and cookbooks to children's books are in circulation.

Anyone have any suggestions for something similar that can be done in American communities that are sans-library? Maybe a permanently parked yellow school bus? Out-of-season baseball dugout?

Fantasy Library

I saw this on Twitter this morning (thanks to @readandbreathe, follow me @rebf):

In celebration of National Library Week (beginning April 12), author Laurie R. King is offering three spectacular prizes - two go to you, one goes to a library of your choice - in return for your library fantasy. Not a fantasy involving a library, but your fantasy library, your dream library, your "I never want to leave this spot/couch/chair/bear skin rug surrounded by these tall/short/stacks of books" library. Maybe you work in a library and want to redesign it. Maybe you already have your dream library in your home and want to describe it. Or maybe, like me, you constantly search for pictures of libraries online (visit here and here for some of my posts on this, and visit HERE for some truly stupendous libraries), and so now have countless images from which to pick and choose to make up the library of your dreams.

Whatever the case may be, head on over here to read Laurie's offer, and then submit. And if you want to post your submission here, too, that would be great.

I promise to post mine (as soon as I've written it).

Better hurry, you only have until April 9th to get this done.

Librarians, Is This True?

Apparently these are Things Librarians Fancy. Is this true? Across the board? Can other book-related but non-librarian people fancy these things too? Just wondering.