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!

Ads

 I wish this wasn't a Kindle ad because I love the vintage look, but oh well.







Articles

Despite being tired about reading about the same books over and over again, here is a round-up of the "Top 20 Most Iconic Bookcovers Ever", as according to Flavorwire.

The second Flavorwire article of the week is "The Literary Baby Name Dictionary" (and I have to admit I've always wanted a daughter named Auden).

"Where All My Boys At?" is a thoughtful blog post about being a male bookseller, and often the only one.

Blogs/Websites

Graphic designer Matt Roeser has a blog called New Cover, dedicated to his book reviews and beautifully redesigned book jackets.

Letters of Note is a blog to bookmark. I hope you'll agree after reading this letter from Ian Fleming.

Publishing Perspectives offers information about international publishing, including a new children's newsletter. I've registered for it; have you?

Those near Pittsburgh should check out the blog for East End Book Exchange to find out when and where this pop-up bookstore will be operating next.

Check back in October for the site to be officially launched, but for now, bookmark the UK's Alliance of Radical Booksellers.

Children's Books

Readingrockets has an impressive collection of children's book author interviews. Watch them here.

Two posts about letters from Roald Dahl, unrelated to each other, in one week. It's a sign. Time to watch Matilda, read The Twits, and check out this "Weird and Hilarious Letter to a Class of Children" from BuzzFeed and his "Thank You for the Dream" letter from Letters of Note.

Retronaut compares the 1963 version to the 1991 version of Richard Scarry's The Best Word Book Ever with some pretty progressive results.

Tolkien

He obviously deserves his own section. Here are two articles about a German art student who "hand illuminates" a copy of Tolkien's Silmarillion. Blog link and an interview.

Typography

PBS Arts (which you should also check out) has a series titled "Off Book" (which you should also check out) which produced this video on typography:

Listen to this NPR broadcast: "Know This Headline's Font? You're 'Just My Type'".

Interview

Podcast with Ursula K. LeGuin on CBC Radio.

Misc.

Maybe someday: A Library Themed Wedding Shoot.

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!

Children's Books

Adorable children's book trailer.

Articles 

Autostraddle gives me one more reason to hate New Jersey & FOX news but to love Sherman Alexie. Read Autostraddle's article, "Conservatives Can't Handle the Reading Rainbow, "Lesbian Orgy" Books Taken Off NJ Summer Reading List", then go read Sherman Alexie's eloquent and passionate Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy article "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood".

• "I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed."

Why Accredited Colleges Online should have this list, who knows, but check out "20 Celebrities With Stunning Home Libraries". While you're there, you might as well also check out "11 Literary Friendships We Can Learn From" - not so much for the learning but for the literary friendships themselves.

An interesting selection of books recommended on the Rosie Says blog: "Books for Dudes by Chicks".

On the topic of book lists here are "10 Books for a Summer Field Trip". I've requested Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams from my library.

For a laugh - "40 Publishing Buzzwords, Cliches, and Euphemisms Decoded" as compiled on the blog One Minute Book Reviews.

Essay/Short Story

An oldie but a goodie - a 2003 piece Sherman Alexie wrote for The New Yorker entitled "What You Pawn I Will Redeem".

Company

Booktracks is a new company that has developed a way for e-readers to have soundtracks. Read about their new start-up here. This may almost be worth getting an e-reader for. Almost.

Scout Books: Little Books for Big ideas

Videos 

This video hits two categories in one: Typography & Book Trailer of the Day 

Okay, 2nd Book Trailer of the Day



Just one more reason got love Jane Lynch.

And last but not least, just one more reason to love Dorothy Allison as she talks about why being a writer still matters.

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!

Children's Books

Subcategory: Spoofs

Twilight: 4 books in 1 Minute

The Harry Potter story told by someone who only saw the last movie and didn't read any of the books.

Articles

Flavorwire's "Cool New Websites Every Bookworm Should Bookmark"

"Overrated: Authors, critics, and editors on 'great books' that aren't all that great" by Juliet Lapidos at Slate

Autostraddle has a round-up and discussion of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, beginning in the 50s and 60s and leading up to the series written by Monica Nolan today.

Flavorwire's "The 30 Harshest Author-on-Author Insults in History". My favorites:
15. William Faulkner on Ernest Hemingway
“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”
14. Ernest Hemingway on William Faulkner
“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?”

The Good Men Project, one of my all-time favorite blog/websites, features an impressive list of "The Best LBGT Books of All Time," reported as 5-title lists compiled by some leading contemporary LBGT writers.

Websites

Booklamp.org is a book recommendation website modeled after the Pandora model - by comparing the elements of book content such as description, pacing, density, perspective, and dialog, and what an individual prefers in each category, book recommendations are made to fit your reading tastes.

Book-related Products You Don't Need but Are Fun to Have

Out-of-Print Clothing is a company that "celebrates the world's great stories through fashion. Our shirts feature iconic and often out of print gook covers. Some are classics, some are just curious enough to make great t-shirts, but all are striking works of art."
My one question for them - why you gotta have different shirts for men & women? What if a man wants to buy a P&P shirt or a woman wants to buy one that isn't so form-fitting? Despite being socially-conscious and partnering with Books for Africa, a project that donates books to children in Africa without access to any, Out-of-Print needs to become a little more gender-conscious in their offerings (in my humble opinion).

Kate Spade has a line of book clutches(like the one you see here). Pick yours up for a tidy $325 with these titles to choose from:

• Pride & Prejudice
• Emma
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• Romeo & Juliet
• Great Expectations
• I Married Adventure
• A Tale of Two Cities

Long Live the Book 

Abe Books's response to the "I Hate Books" Facebook page.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'm Surprised I Enjoyed

The Broke and the Bookish, a brilliant book blog, 

hosts a weekly top ten list meme.

I like this meme because I like lists. I like this meme because it reminds me of the Top 5 lists from High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby as a book, starring John Cusak as a movie). And I like this meme because it causes me to think long and hard about book-related topics. So here goes:

Today's list is a freebie, so I've chosen to do  

Top Ten Books I'm Surprised I Enjoyed

1. The Violin Maker: Finding a Centuries-Old Tradition in a Brooklyn Workshop by John Marchese

I picked this up because I liked the format of the book - slim, long like a violin, with a well-designed cover. It was well-written in a chatty, informative style that was reminiscent of reporting without being convoluted. It wove between the history of violin-making traditions and the present Brooklyn-based workshop. All-in-all, it was quite lovely and a nice change to read some literary non-fiction.

2. Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel by Calvin Trillin

A friend in college handed this to me. She was a New Yorker, from the Village, will live and die there, and as I'm not of that ilk, I wasn't thrilled to have a book about those sorts of New Yorkers recommended to me. But Mr. Trillin is hysterical in a sly, witty, dead-pan, describing an everyday scenario in the most tongue-in-cheek and reasonable way that I was instantly hooked and now devour everything he writes, fiction and non.

3. Three Night in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager by Buzz Bissinger

Though I've written about my love of baseball before, I also believe I've written about how I like to let baseball knowledge come to me via second sources (also known as eavesdropping on conversations around me). I honestly don't know what made me pick this book up, but I'm so glad I did. The drama, the rush of excitement, the tension between teams, the anecdotal baseball knowledge, and the high-quality writing makes me appreciate baseball so much more than I ever did before.

4. On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide to Personal Finance by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar

Written by women, for women, this book doesn't dumb it down but instead lays it all out there - what you need to know about your money, how to manage it, how to save for your goals, how to spend it wisely, etc., step-by-step. I think every high school graduate and college graduate and grad school graduate should receive one (and yes, hopefully on each occasion so that if you make it all the way through grad school, you'll have read this 3 times over and maybe some of it will have sunk in).

5. Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman by Alice Steinbach

I read this way before Eat, Pray, Love was published which is why I was SO disappointed in that book and put it down after 10 pages. HERE is a smart, funny, introspective novel about a modern, independent woman of a certain age traveling the world in a thoughtful and intelligent manner and if she happens to find some romance somewhere, good for her because she's not all giggly about it and instead values the importance of thinking for herself and not in relation to how others will see her.

6. Knock Yourself Up: No Man? No Problem: A Tell-All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom by Louise Sloan

First, let me just say I hate the cover of this book and the middle subtitle "No Man? No Problem". This made me all the more surprised to enjoy the writing, the information, the discussions of pros, cons, outside pressures, internal pressures, society expectations, and ultimately choosing your own way through the quagmire that is having a baby in America, single or not.

7. A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson

In all honesty, I was way too young to be reading this book and not because it described sex or alcohol or drugs or abuse or anything of that sort but because I'm not a middle-aged woman questioning my marriage and living Kate Chopin's The Awakening by taking a vacation from things in my life and moving away to the sea. And yet there was something about her introspection that really pulled at me, as if it was giving me a taste of what would or could happen in my own life if I didn't get my act together and really get to know myself now. Sad but inspiring, too.

8. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

I have no idea. The wordplay maybe? The incredibly well-done film version? The huge ampersand on the cover? I don't know why, I just love it.

And to switch things up, here are two books I thought I'd like, but absolutely abhor instead.

9. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

I apologize in advance to Ms. Emily Crowe for this, but I really couldn't stand this book. Also, full disclosure, I put it down after about 80 pages so can't speak to the full text. In the short piece I read, I thought the voice of the narrator was supremely unauthentic as a man tried to write as a man writing from the point-of-view of his mother whom he didn't ever know. In addition, it seemed that in terms of the storyline itself, all the parts I wanted to know about were the parts glossed over or missing. Then there were the incredibly detailed surgical descriptions which I thought were unnecessary to the story. Lastly, though this normally doesn't bother me, and yes, I know the young woman was a nun, but the constant Catholic, God, Catholicism, religion, etc. references were way too heavy for my enjoyment. It was the sort of experience where, because I have a friend that loves it and had heard so much about it, I kept checking the cover, title, author, and ISBN to make sure I had the correct book in hand because my reaction was SO drastically different from all the recommendations. I'm sorry to say this simply wasn't the book for me.

10. American Shaolin by Matthew Polly

It's difficult for me to speak, talk, write, or even think about this book without using strong language, but basically if you're going to be a self-centered American prick about it, you shouldn't get to write a book about your experience with a different culture. Take an Anthropology class and learn how to be culturally sensitive, you arrogant fuck. Also, if you get off your fat ass and actually practice some of the training and dedication these monks were kind enough to let you view, then maybe I'll have a little bit of respect for you, you piece of shit poser. There, don't say you weren't warned.

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

"The Best 100 Closing Lines from Books", according to UK's Stylist.

Flavorwire's "10 Real-Life Places That Inspired Literary Classics". Also, don't miss Jen Ross's beautiful photographs of the house that inspired the house in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fizgerald. The house, sadly, was torn down.

Thoughtful and provocative article in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled "We Can't Teach Students to Love Reading". Even though I'm of the mindset that I can still find the right book to entice anyone, I do believe we can't teach everyone to love reading the same way I do (and probably you do).

The Hairpin's "Favorite Books of the Secretly Jerky". My favorite:

• Secretly a Blubbering Manchild: Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
  I'm not saying this is a bad book. This is a pretty good book! I'd still like to raise two points. One, when a dude says it's his favorite, I automatically think "So he hasn't read anything since tenth grade English." And two, any time a person over the age of 18 tells you how much they identify with Holden Caulfield, it's a warning sign. Like a warning sign with flashing lights and shrieky sirens and a third alarming thing. I mean, I'm not telling you how to live your life, ladies. I'm just letting you know what you're walking into. Do it with your eyes open.

Blogs/Websites/Magazines

The Hairpin is a women's general interest blog that reminds me of Ladies' Home Journal, if the Ladies' Home Journal suddenly became more feminist. They do have a books section, one article of which is listed above in the "articles" section.

Jen Campbell over at This Is Not the Six Word Novel has a series of posts entitled "Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops". As a former bookseller I can attest to the truth in these.

Book-related Products You Don't Need but are Fun to Have

Personal Library Kit

I Read a Book pad (no, I don't mean for your child, I mean to give to the teenager or college student in your life)

BookBook - the laptop case that looks like a book - my personal favorite.

How many ways can you reuse old library cards? According to Etsy you can make notebooks, Save-the-Dates (don't miss adding a book page to the inside of an envelope), and even gift tags.

Community

Street Books is a "bicycle-powered mobile library for people living outside" in Portland, OR.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Underrated Books

The Broke and the Bookish, a brilliant book blog, 

hosts a weekly top ten list meme.

I like this meme because I like lists. I like this meme because it reminds me of the Top 5 lists from High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby as a book, starring John Cusak as a movie). And I like this meme because it causes me to think long and hard about book-related topics. So here goes:

Top Ten Underrated Books 

1. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

Not only a charming movie starring Frances McDormand, Ciaran Hinds, Amy Adams, and Lee Pace, this was originally a book published in 1938. It is one day in the life of a woman who pretends to be a social secretary. A fabulous slice-of-life look into the lives of women of many social standings in the late 1930s.

2. Letters from an Age of Reason by Nora Hague

Sadly Nora Hague's only published novel, this is an epistolary novel taking place in the 1860s that spans two continents, and discusses race relations, slavery, socio-economic standing, early feminism, Europe's fashionable obsession with the spirit world, and interracial love among many other topics in this incredibly researched, well-written, dual-narrated epic.

3. Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott

I think this YA novel got lost somehow among all the other more paranormal books coming out in 2008, but this fantasy novel features a very strong female protagonist who not only kicks butt, finds love, saves her man rather than the other way around, but matures to lead the people she was born to lead.

4. Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M.M. Blume

This stand-alone middle grade reader is perfect for all audiences charmed by the National Book Award winning series The Penderwicks. A little quieter, yet equally engrossing, this book tells the story of lonely Cornelia who befriends Ms. Somerset across the hall and hears all about her amazing adventures with her sisters. In retelling these stories, soon Cornelia makes friends of her own age. Encourages travel, independent young women, imagination, and friendship.

5. M.A.S.H.: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker

Though the movie version starring Donald Sutherland is a scream, the short story chapters contained in this novel are equally hilarious and worth the read.

6. Alexandra Ripley as an author

You knew I was going to sneak this in here. Yes, she's the author of my favorite book, Scarlett, and though that was originally a New York Times bestseller when first published, no one remembers it now. They don't remember it almost as much as they don't remember Alexandra Ripley wrote several other books, too, and they were just as good. 

7. Nicola Griffith as an author

I don't read much "lesbian fiction" and in fact, picked up my first book from this author without knowing the main character or the author was gay. What draws me to the series Nicola Griffith writes about Aud Torvingen are the complexities of her characters, the noir feel of her writing, and the setting descriptions that enable me to see the place without having her give me a drop-by-drop description of the weather conditions. I absolutely recommend her for gay and non-gay readers alike.

8. You by Charles Benoit

I firmly believe every person who has a teenager in their life in any way should read this book. Especially those who have teenagers who "showed so much potential" but seem to have lost it along the way somewhere. Read this. Understand what might be happening. Work to change it.

9. Darling Jim by Christian Moerk

Despite what you may think, working in a bookstore does not mean you get to sit there and read all day. I picked up this book intending to only read enough to know what it was about to recommend it, and 100 pages later got a scolding because I was still standing in the same place at the cash register completely enthralled. Spine-tingling but not nightmare-inducing, this is Christian Moerk's only novel published in the States, and in fact, may be his only novel published in English, which means I now need to go learn Dutch so I can read everything else he's written.

10. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Last but not least, this is a heart-wrenching and heart-warming memoir about the lifelong friendship between Ann Patchett and her BFF. It really reveres female friendships and discusses how they change as people grow up and move away and yet still are connected to those we love.

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

"10 Action Librarians" featured on The Mary Sue. Need I say more?

NPR Books recommends "Laugh Yourself Cool: 5 Funny Books to Beat the Heat".
I'm one of those readers that forgets completely where she is and really does laugh out loud, even if I'm in my office or on a crowded train car. I'll have to add one or two of these to my list.

Having recently pimped my own ride, "Reading and Its Rewards," an article by Maile Meloy (doesn't that sound like an Agatha Christie character?) from the New York Times about reading to earn a bike was a sweet trip down memory lane to my own childhood book reports (though with no bike as incentive - I just happened to be the child of academics who thought summertime book reports would help me later in life. As much as I hate to admit my parents were right, they did.).

"Favorite Snacks of the Great Scribblers" by Wendy Macnaughton over at the New York Times made me think what my writing snack is. Admittedly it's been a little while, but if I'm feeling really indulgent, probably chocolate and peanut butter-covered pretzels. 

To counter last week's Hipster Lit article, here's Flavorwire's "Yuppie Lit: Books About the Filthy Rich".

The world's first waterproof book - discuss.

Not gonna lie, I stole this entire thing from Shelf Awareness:

Good Advice: Live with More Books than You Read

"He should live with more books than he reads, with a penumbra of unread pages, of which he knows the general character and content, fluttering round him. This is the purpose of libraries.... It is also the purpose of good bookshops, both new and secondhand, of which there are still some, and would that there were more. A bookshop is not like a railway booking-office which one approaches knowing what one wants. One should enter it vaguely, almost in a dream, and allow what is there freely to attract and influence the eye.

"To walk the rounds of the bookshops, dipping in as curiosity dictates, should be an afternoon's entertainment. Feel no shyness or compunction in taking it. Bookshops exist to provide it; and the booksellers welcome it, knowing how it will end." —Economist John Maynard Keynes, as quoted in a Canberra Times piece headlined "Bookshops about more than just purchasing."

Blogs/Websites/Magazines

The Book Cover Archive: An Archive of Book Cover Designs and Designers

I totally want to team up with the folks at Little Free Library. Maybe after my next carpentry class, I'll build my own.

Help Ex-Borders Employees. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.

Can't find a book at the library? Even if it's the BPL, a fantastic library system, that sadly can't always keep up with my eccentric tastes? Check out Paperback Swap.

Typography

Want to drool over fonts all day? Sign up for emails and a hardcopy mailed right to your house of fonts produced by House Industries' Photo-Lettering (aka PLING). While you're at it, you should also sign up for the House Industries email.

Book Blogger Hop

Participating in all kinds of follow memes today, hoping to get back in the game.

This week on the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books, the prompt is:
  
Highlight one book you have received this week that you can't wait to dig into.

I'm heading to the library on my lunch break to pick up four books that just came in for me. It never rains but it pours, right? I'll have a hard time deciding which one to dig into first. These four are:

Black Blade Blues
J.A.Pitts

Lesbian fantasy - be still my heart! Sarah Beauhall has more on her plate than most twenty-somethings: day job as a blacksmith, night job as a props manager for low-budget movies, and her free time is spent fighting in a medieval re-enactment group.The lead actor breaks Sarah’s favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. That’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the "dwarf" claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters? As if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.”  As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move. Suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.

Museum of the Missing: A History of Art Theft
Simon Houpt

Priceless masterpieces...Brazen thefts: The true story behind the blank spaces on the museum walls. What kind of person would dare to steal a legendary painting--and who would buy something so instantly recognizable? In recent years, art theft has captured the public imagination more than ever before, spurred by both real life incidents (the snatching of Edvard Munch's well-known masterwork "The Scream") and the glamorous fantasy of such Hollywood films as "The Thomas Crown Affair." The truth is, according to INTERPOL records, more than 20,000 stolen works of art are missing--including Rembrandts, Renoirs, van Goghs, and Picassos. "Museum of the Missing" offers an intriguing tour through the underworld of art theft, where the stakes are high and passions run strong.

Original Sin: A Sally Sin Adventure 
Beth McMullen

In this hilarious debut, a former U.S. spy turned stay-at-home mother of a toddler tries to find a most elusive work-life balance when the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction) decides it desperately requires her services again, and calls her back into the field.

Prisoners in the Palace: How Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, A Reporter, and A Scoundrel: A Novel of Intrigue and Romance
Michaela MacColl

London, 1838. Sixteen-year-old Liza's dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in an accident. Penniless, she accepts the position of lady's maid to young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servant's world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. Is it possible that her changing circumstances may offer Liza the chance to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future queen?

So, which should it be? Lesbian fantasy? Literary non-fiction? Hilarious girl spy thriller? Or historical YA?

Feature and Follow Friday

Participating in all kinds of follow memes today, hoping to get back in the game.

Next comes Feature & Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

This week's featured blogs:
 
The Book Addicted Girl
and
The Little Book Blog

This week's question: Let's step away from books for a second and get personal. What t-shirt slogan best describes you?

That's a hard question to answer as I purposely don't wear t-shirts with slogans on them. BUT, there is this absolutely adorable t-shirt sold in my friend's shop that I do occasionally sport. It's a chipmunk/squirrel creature his hands up (I think of it as a him) and the word bubble coming from his mouth says, "Books Rule!" That describes me to a...well...pardon the pun...T.

TGIF at GReads!

Participating in all kinds of follow memes today, hoping to get back in the game.

First up: TGIF at GReads!

This week's questions:

If you could be one character from a book, who would you choose & why?

I'm going to borrow this idea from the original post and also break this up into categories:

Historical
If you've been on my blog before, you're probably tired of hearing me talk about my favorite book, Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. But here we go again, because I would most likely want to be her, despite going through the Civil War, various husbands, and let's not forget - corsets. She also gets to travel a lot of the country/world, ends up living in Ireland, has a head for business, is absolutely loaded, and ends up with Rhett Butler. Overall, I think pros outweigh the cons.

Contemporary
Just about any Nora Roberts character from the last 10 years. I love her strong women, overcoming the odds with a sense of humor, business savvy (can you tell I want to open my own business someday?), love of dogs, straight-talking honesty, and eventual partnership.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy
This category is a tie and I'm going to cheat just a little. Lt. Eve Dallas from the ...In Death series by J.D.Robb (a.k.a. Nora Roberts) may live in NY, but it's not like the NYC we know. Set in the future, with all kinds of advancements like flying cars, interplanetary travel, and legalized prostitution, and despite the trauma of her early childhood, who wouldn't love her former bad-guy turned bad-ass husband, ex-thief turned rock n' roll star best friend, and the satisfaction of being NYC's top murder cop? But, in terms of an actual fantasy world, Jacqueline Carey's Phèdre nó Delaunay (Kushiel series) has the most true grit, determination, beauty, sexual adventures, and smarts of any character I've ever read.

Children's
Last but certainly not least, in the children's book category, let's break this down by age-appropriate book type:
Picture book: Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. Obviously I'd like to be Miss Rumphius, and hope I still can be someday. I just need to figure out what I can do to make the world more beautiful. I've got an idea. Stay tuned.
Middle Grade: Clementine (series) by Sara Pennypacker/illustrated by Marla Frazee. Precocious and intelligent, warm-hearted and artistic, she's not the easiest of children but her family and friends still love her.
YA: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. Aside from being the heroine of my favorite YA, Taylor Markham has a gender-neutral name (which I love), a plucky attitude, a sense of fairness, and simultaneous emotional strength and vulnerability. She also has a secret past to figure out, a present adventure involving secret tunnels and school wars, and a future with people who care about her.

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!

Children's Books

Absolutely gorgeous redesigned minimalist children's book covers by Christian Jackson featured on Flavorwire. You can also see them on his website here.

Reimagined children's book covers by various artists on this blog: Uncovered Cover Art.

100 Scope Notes (a children's lit news and review site) reports on School Library Monthly reporting on Red Hawk Elementary School's new library system.
A few elementary school libraries have begun to organize their books based on the bookstore model, also known as "WordThink", doing away with the Dewey Decimal system.
I am in favor and here's why:
1. It's elementary school. For those who respond that the children will grow up not knowing how the rest of the library world operates, they will have plenty of time to learn that in jr. high/middle school and high school.
2. It absolutely facilitates more reading based on interest. Particularly for those reluctant readers who may have been greatly surprised to find themselves enjoying a Harry Potter book or a Carl Hiasson novel, they can now pick another book off that section's shelf and risk possibly enjoying another, similar, read.
3. The purpose of school reports at that age are, in part, to teach the fundamentals of research. The fact that you can look up several books on your subject in one place might actually encourage a student to do MORE research for a project, as all the books are look, right there! By the time they've realized they've read three rather than two books on the subject, the project will practically have completed itself. Then when they're older and will have to run around the library looking up books on their subject based on call numbers, they might be more likely to look up a few more rather than just that one big one they found in that one spot.
That's just my unsolicited 2 cents. What's your opinion?

Download the first four chapters of fantastic fantasy from husband-and-wife team, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, Wildwood Chronicles (a middle grade novel being released August 30, 2011). Lots of extras on their website, in addition to the preview, like videos, music, and their blog.

In case you didn't get enough of this last week, I now present Werner Herzog reading Go the Fuck to Sleep at the NY Public Library (it's a short clip, not the whole reading).




Articles

I can't decide if this should go under "children's" or "articles", so here it is on the cusp of both. io9 presents "10 Creepy, Sexy Fairy Tales That Should Be Films". I believe they stretch the definition of "fairy tale" just a bit with some of their suggestions, but I understand the sentiment. I, personally, keep hoping for a live-action, Ang Lee-directed, Mulan with Ziyi Zhang, the amazing martial arts star/actress from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Mediabistro's GalleyCat has "Free Samples of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction Longlist".

For something a little more lowbrow, take a gander at HuffPo's round-up of the "15 Most Ridiculous Book Titles Ever".

"A Whiff of History" is an article about capturing and recreating the smells of history, whether that's a 3,500-year-old perfume or the scent of an endangered flower. Why would I recommend this? Besides the obvious "learn something new every day" factor, these lines show the stretch I'm making between olfactory history and books:

"Perfumers like New York-based Christopher Brosius have used headspace to re-create less obvious smells, like the odor of an old fur coat or a well-worn paperback [this is the part where I interject and say, "And this is why I don't own an e-reader..."]. Their goal is an artistic one, but the same approach could serve as the beginning of a database. Imagine having a library of scents specific to a particular time or place, from the strangely sweet aroma of a plastic-wrapped CD case to the blend of horse dung and candy that permeates Boston’s Faneuil Hall."

"An institution called the Osmothèque, headquartered in Versailles, France, operates as a kind of Library of Congress of perfumes - a collection of historically important perfumes, in their original formulas, kept chilled in aluminum flasks."

Okay, it IS a bit of a stretch, but it's a really interesting read, either way. And as someone who is particularly sensitive to smells - and is probably the only person in the world to vehemently dislike the smell of lavender, tea tree oil, and patchouli - this article gave me a nice trip down my olfactory memory lane.

AAGH! The New Yorker has an article about a bookstore in Sag Harbor that has a...wait for it...it hurts to say...HIPSTER LIT section. I'm dying inside. Sorry self-identified hipsters, I'm just not that into you. Thank goodness there's only one book on this list that I love - High Fidelity by Nick Hornby - and so can still hold my head up. If you ARE into "hipster lit", Flavorwire has the ultimate "hipster lit" round-up.

The Daily Beast asked authors what their most favorite summer read was. Admittedly I only cared because I wanted to know what Sherman Alexie said (The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll), but some of you may care about the other books other authors recommended.

Speaking of Sherman Alexie, I signed up for his newsletter and occasionally I get emails with a poem that he wrote in it and it's the best part of my day when that happens. I highly recommend it.

Blogs/Websites/Magazines

Thanks to Ms. Emily Crowe over at As the Crowe Flies (and Reads!) for turning me on to these book posters that take the ENTIRE text of a book and put it on one page. Spineless Classics has done just that with several of your favorite books (including one of my favorites, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll). Other posters feature Dickens, Jane Austen, Black Beauty, and even the Bible.

Though Trashionista doesn't generally review books that are to my particular taste in reading (for those who like specifically women-oriented literary and non-literary fiction, this is the site for you), I would wear this dress they've featured.


On a related note, this article also points you to Spoonfulofchocolate's Etsy site, where "handmade book handbags and book e-reader covers" are sold.

Letterpress

A really exciting "moveable type" project is making its way to a city near you! (If you're in the States, that is.) Power & Light Press, despite sounding vaguely religious, is actually a letterpress studio based in Oregon. They've rigged up a movable type truck and are driving around the country bringing letterpress to the people. Find out all about it by clicking the highlighted links and watching this video.

Book Review: First Grave on the Right/Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

First Grave on the Right
9780312662752, $21.99, St. Martin's Press

Second Grave on the Left
9780312360818, $21.99, St. Martin's Press, Pub. Date: August 16, 2011

by Darynda Jones

Stephanie Plum (of Janet Evanovich fame) meets the supernatural - hilarious, kick-ass, and sexy.

Charlotte (Charley) Davidson is the Grim Reaper, though she likes to replace the grim with sarcasm. Basically, she's the big shining beacon of light that all ghosts who neglect to cross over on their own are guided towards. Usually it's ghosts who have a reason to stay behind, for instance, because they've been murdered. That's where her day job comes in. Charley's also a PI (private investigator) and a "consultant" for the police department where her father was a cop and her uncle is still a detective. Between helping Uncle Bob solve crimes, working on her own PI cases, and helping ghosts receive closure before they pass over, Charley's plate is pretty full. Somehow she still manages to find time to find herself involved with one ridiculously gorgeous, bad-ass dude who may or may not have been shadowing her, and saving her from almost certain death, most of her life. While his corporeal body is in prison for the murder of his father (not that the abusive bastard didn't deserve it), his incorporeal self is visiting Charley in her dreams and then her waking moments, bringing heat of all kinds with him.

In First Grave on the Right, Charley is helping to solve the murder of three lawyers, also while working on a side project - trying to figure out just who, or what, that deliciously sexy man is who keeps slipping in-and-out of her day- and nighttime dreams. The lawyers were working to free an innocent man convicted of the murder of one teenage boy and the disappearance of his own nephew. Meanwhile, when she finds him, the man of her dreams (literally), happens to be in prison. In a coma. And has three days left before the state pulls his life support. With the help of her assistant, Cookie, several ghosts, and reluctantly working with hunky, skeptic, fellow PI Garrett Swopes, Charley tries to connect the dots between an abandoned warehouse, a human trafficking ring, a priest, the innocent man, the missing boys, and the lawyers. All while racing against the clock to find a way to save Reyes Alexander Farrow, the convicted murdered in a coma, who happens to appear very much awake and alive the several times he appears to either kiss her or save her life.

Read an excerpt here.

In Second Grave on the Left, Reyes Alexander Farrow (Mr. super-gorgeous, possibly evil, lifesaver - literally) has disappeared. Never mind he's hidden himself in an effort to protect Charley; she's found him once, and she'll find him again. Unfortunately Reyes isn't the only thing on her mind. Her assistant/best friend, Cookie, needs her help to find another missing person. An old high school friend of Cookie has gone missing, and the more they search, the more they find out about a long-buried high school secret among a an old group of friends. Unfortunately, someone out there is killing to make sure that secret stays buried. It's another race against the clock while Charley and Cookie search for the missing Mimi and the missing Reyes before they both end up dead.

Read an excerpt here.

Friday Round-Up

I'm going to be trying this new weekly post where I collect all the (mostly book-related) articles/websites/book recommendations from around the web/life in a given week and post them on Fridays. We'll see how well this goes. Here's this week's Friday round-up:

Children's Books

Lemony Snicket Recommends - this link kills two birds with one stone by introducing you to a fantastic blog, Dinner: A Love Story, and to David Handler's (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket, author of the Series of Unfortunate Events) summer reading children's picture book recommendations.

Christopher Walken reading The Three Little Pigs. An oldie but a goodie.


Book Trailer for Hugo, the movie based on the best-selling, Caldecott-winning Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Go read the book. Then watch the movie.

Samuel L. Jackson reads the children's book Go the Fuck to Sleep.

Quiz


Name the missing word in the book title quiz
I answered 38 of 42 missing words in these titles in 2 minutes, and can honestly say I'd never heard of the 4 titles I didn't know. How did you do?

Blogs/Magazines

"The Broship of the Ring" - a hipster take on The Lord of the Rings - on the art blog of Noelle Stevenson, A Girl and Her Demons

Better Book Titles
Discovered this a while ago and then forgot about, this blog is brilliant in summing up a book by giving it a new title. For instance, instead of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, blog creator Dan Wilbur suggests "Are We There Yet?" as its "better book title".

Persephone Magazine
-"a daily blog focused on topics of interest for modern, intelligent, clever women"

Articles

Flavorwire's "Take a Dip: Literary Greats in Their Bathing Suits" (not nearly as racy as I'd hoped).

Salon's "The Greatest Books That Never Were" (and basically any other article written by Laura Miller).

Not really book-y, more just nerd-y, but a fascinating article from GOOD on how technology is saving dying languages: "How Do You Save a Dying Language? Crowdsource It."

The Guardian's Top 10 Iranian Books list, as put together by author Kamin Mohammadi.
While you're at it, check out Ms. Mohammadi's new book, The Cypress Tree, which uses three generations of women — Ms. Mohammadi, her mother, and her grandmother — to tell Iran's history. Sadly for the Americans, it's only out in the UK right now.

The Guardian's "Famous for the Wrong Book" article, by John Self.
Okay, yes, obviously I love The Guardian's book articles. But, to chime in with my opinion, despite loving High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked, I actually prefer Nick Hornby's non-fiction, book-review-ish essays collected in a three-part series of books beginning with The Polysyllabic Spree. And though she's best known by Anthropology undergrads for her more academic treatise, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, my life would not have been complete without Anne Fadiman's essay collections, Ex Libris and At Large and At Small. Last but not least, though it's not quite the same, I will forever treasure Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley, the authorized sequel to Gone With the Wind, above and beyond anything Margaret Mitchell ever wrote.

Watch This

PBS documentary, Biblioburro: The Donkey Library about one school teacher's determination to bring books to children living in very rural, very remote, very dangerous parts of Colombia.

Guinea Pig Writers July Post

This month's theme at my writing group's blog - guineapigwriters.com - is travel and books.

Here are my two posts on this topic:
Post 1
Post 2

So far no one has answered the question, To what book do my post topic titles refer? Be the first and win the satisfaction that comes with knowing you've made me a happy blogger.