Booklicious

Bookcase Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 16:00:00 +0000

This wobbly-looking bookcase is Quake. Designed by Antoine Phelouzat for Eno Studio, it's a modular, stackable shelf system made of sturdy wooden planks and asymmetrical metal cubes. The result is minimalist, ubermodern shelving that looks like nothing else out there — and would be a deathtrap for clumsy people like me.

The cubes are iron — in chrome, white, or black — and you can choose from beech, oak, or walnut for the shelves.
Materials: iron, wood
Measurements: 166cm x 30cm x 130cm
Money: 790€–1780€

You can ogle more photos of the Quake here.

Getting Personal with the LRB

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 16:30:00 +0000

The London Review of Books is Britain's most esteemed literary magazine. Published fortnightly, it features essays, reviews and the most outrageous personal ads ever set in type. The following is a selection from the latest issue.

*Marilyn seeks Arthur Miller. Sweet-natured blonde F (28, London) WLTM confident, witty, warm and single older M (45+, ideally) for something special.
email: finishingthepicture@gmail.com

*Determined passionate generous married man, mid-50s, seeks thoughtful female reader/writer for mutual appreciation and exploration between the covers.
email: booksb4cooks@gmail.com

Penguin Has Designed the Creepiest Children's Book Cover Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 16:00:00 +0000

Meet the new 50th anniversary cover of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. No, it's not a joke. And no, someone didn't accidentally switch it with the design for Lolita.

Penguin Books says:

"This new image for CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY looks at the children at the centre of the story, and highlights the way Roald Dahl’s writing manages to embrace both the light and the dark aspects of life, ready for Charlie’s debut amongst the adult titles in the Penguin Modern Classics series."

I say: WTF, Penguin? Remove the copy from the cover, and the image does nothing to shine light on the story within. A popular theory was that the cover depicted Violet Beauregarde or Veruca Salt, but Penguin says this isn't the case — making the selection even more bewildering.

Judging from the media storm and comments on Penguin's Facebook and Twitter, most readers aren't fans, although a small minority are defending the publisher.

"I don't think that adults will be saying 'oh look, I've never read that and that new slightly creepy cover is just what I was looking for to read on the train.'"

"This looks like an escapee from some weird children's beauty pageant."

"Maybe Terry Richardson can do James and the Giant Peach next."

"Who can forget that memorable scene in the Chocolate Factory where Charlie stumbles upon Wonka's creepy collection of Oompa Loompa-sized Real Dolls?"

Penguin is standing its ground and says the cover was approved by the Roald Dahl Literary Estate, so it looks like the new edition will still make it onto shelves next month. Whether it will sell is another story.

15 Surprisingly Beautiful Pictures of Abandoned Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 16:00:00 +0000

Some of these are photographs of real places, some are imaginary. But all are beautiful. I'd love to know the titles of these forgotten books — are they formerly loved classics? Outdated encyclopedias? Trashy romance novels? We'll never know, and that's part of their mystique.

[mika@urbex]

[Ron Osborn]

[Andre Govia]

[Camilo Jose Vergara]

[Sven Fennema]

[Christopher Bowler]

Author Interiors: Step Inside Shakespeare's Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:00:00 +0000

This room is 587 years old. It's where a young William Shakespeare learned Latin and Greek, and even though that was almost 450 years ago, the room looks today exactly as it did then. Surprisingly, for such a culturally significant location, it isn't open to the public — although that may be about to change.

King Edward VI Grammar School has applied for a £1 million grant to restore the Guild Hall, the building that houses the schoolroom — it needs a new roof, timbers, and stone preservation work. The school will find out if its bid has been successful this June.

[17th-century school desks]

Browse more photos of Shakespeare's school here.

Booklicious Reviews: Love Letters to the Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:00:00 +0000

{ A SARAH GORR REVIEW }

In Ava Dellaira’s Love Letters to the Dead, Laurel is 14 years old, entering high school, and dealing with the sudden loss of her older sister, May. Given an English assignment to write a letter to a dead person, and, unsure who else to turn to, Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain. Before long, she’s filled her notebook with letters to people who aren’t here anymore-—and who went too soon. As she goes through freshman year without her sister, Laurel regularly writes to Kurt, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Judy Garland, and others, seeking to make sense of her splintering family, her first love, and her own grief.

On the face of it, I can imagine myself loving this book at 13 or 14. When I was a kid, and into my teens and even college years, my literature of choice always had a dark streak. I never went for comedies. I never picked up romance. Never read a Baby-sitters Club or a Sweet Valley High. If it wasn’t Harry Potter, it was dark (and even Potter got a bit bleak toward the end). I read books about skinheads (Skin Deep), ghosts (The Doll in the Garden), murder (When Dad Killed Mom; Monster), depression (Cut). It’s easy to see that Love Letters to the Dead would have fit in by its title alone.

But more than that, I can see myself connecting to Laurel’s loneliness and her uncertainty about who she is without her sister. The figures she looks to remind me of those I looked to when I was that age. Her inability to grapple with powerful emotions is something I would have gravitated toward and empathized with.

But I don’t feel any of these things now. Love Letters to the Dead simply did not resonate with me the way other young adult books have, regardless of how far removed from my teenage years I was when I read them.

I think the book’s main problem is a combination of the writing and the book’s structure. Throughout the novel, Dellaira regularly sacrifices Laurel’s voice for the sake of pretty writing. It’s not that I think the writing can’t be pretty if we’re to believe a teenage girl wrote it; it’s more that the beauty of certain wording or turns of phrase is jarringly adult in comparison to the character Dellaira has created. It’s clear Laurel is meant to have a knack for writing, and in portions of the book this shines through, where Laurel’s voice as an average 14-year-old girl is intact and her talent is clear and the writing is sharp. But there are many sections that just don’t work in this kind of diary format.

At the end of the day, as interesting a concept as this take on the epistolary novel is, I found myself wishing Dellaira had abandoned it. I think the format really hindered her, to the novel’s detriment.

Overall, I think the book is a relatively solid read and a decent first effort by Dellaira, but this is definitely one best left to the kids.

Love Letters to the Dead is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and goes on sale today.

Friday Bookmarks

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:00:00 +0000

*A billion husbands are about to to be replaced.

*Going on a date with someone new? Be sure to ask them about their favorite book — it can be pretty enlightening. [via the Date Report]

*Lauren Graham fans, here's some exciting news: the actress and now author is already working on the sequel to her book, Someday, Someday, Maybe. [via Reddit]

*Turns out Jane Austen is even more awesome than we thought — when she was 15, she wrote a satirical work called The History of England, which thumbs its nose at the children's schoolbooks of the day. [via Open Culture]

*As a Scot, I love this: a new app called Bookspotting tell you when you're near the location of a scene from Scottish literature. The free app pulls from approximately 3,500 books, and users can search by character, setting, place, theme, and location for recommendations. [via the BBC]

*Why do people have such a fascination with ghost stories? In a semi-secret late-night event at TED 2014, Neil Gaiman presented his theory. [recording via Brain Pickings]

*In I-wish-I-were-a-rich-person news, a letter by Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell went under the hammer yesterday. In it, she discusses the casting rumors swirling around the film adaption of her book. [via GalleyCat]

*Did you know Harriet the Spy is 50 years old?? To celebrate, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass., is hosting an exhibition that features original art from the book. [via GalleyCat]

*Hey, YA readers — Holly Black, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments, have something they want to tell you. [via the Guardian]

The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 17:00:00 +0000

Thank you to everyone who entered to win a copy of Kayce Swigelson's The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis — the lucky recipient (selected by the Randomizer) is Jim in Atlanta! Congratulations, Jim!

The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis is available from Amazon or Barnes and Noble; if you haven't checked out my interview with Kayce, you can read it here.

Bookcase Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:00:00 +0000

What a great way to use a space that no one tends to think about. Being short, I do wonder how practical it is — I know I'd have no chance of reaching the shelves that are high up and closest to the wall — but it's a a clever way to maximize space. Although, on second thought, if you have a staircase like this in your property, is it likely you're going to run out of space anytime soon?

But practical issues aside — because book collecting isn't exactly practical to begin with — I'm a fan.

Giveaway: Win a Copy of Kayce Swigelson's The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 17:00:00 +0000

As promised (though it's definitely no longer last week; apologies!), I have a signed copy of The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis to give away to one lucky reader!

Interested? Send an email to giveaways@bookliciousblog.com, with Louis in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the email. This contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only. The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. this Friday, and the winner will be announced the following Monday. If you haven't read the book, check out my interview with author Kayce Swigelson here.

Good luck!

Get to Know: Children's Author Kayce Swigelson

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:00:00 +0000

Kayce Swigelson is the author and illustrator of The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis, a children's book that follows a mustachioed cat around Paris as he searches for a present for his owner and adds his signature look to the city's landmarks with a flourish of his paintbrush. The book educates as it entertains by introducing readers to French culture and vocabulary as the story unfolds.

By day, Kayce teaches French and art at a private boys' school in St. Louis. She also happens to be my good friend and former college suitemate, so I am doubly thrilled to bring you this interview with her about her debut book. And check back later this week to win an autographed copy of The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis!

Booklicious: What was your inspiration for this story?
Kayce: I've had the idea for a mustache-painting little French character since 2003, but he didn't become the tower of grace known as "Petit Louis" until 2007 when I put together the first (and very poor) draft of the book. I did an overhaul in 2009.

Many forms of inspiration aligned unexpectedly, but I think it's essentially compassion for human imperfection and the mystery (and humor!) of the creative process. The simplest thing can be an inspiration. For me, it was spending time drawing mustaches on models in J. C. Penney catalogs when I was little ... I've just always loved the unexpected and the whimsical. Once the story developed, I knew that I did not want it to be just a chain of events but a relatable journey for the imperfect human being with learning at the heart of it. Petit Louis is a fine example of the unabashed vanity and pride that we all have traces of. He's a seeker like we all are, but it's a bumpy road. However, it all comes back to that mustache, which he manages to turn into his form of love.

B: When did you start thinking about writing a children's book?
K: Books were and are one of the loves of my life. Children's literature had such an effect on me and sent me into a tailspin of love for color and poetry and escape (and they still do!). I can't remember a time when I didn't just love holding and reading books, yet I wanted to be someone who produced them as well. It's an irritating tendency of mine ... I can't just watch, I have to try and do and be a part of everything, even if only behind the scenes. That old joie de vivre is inescapable when you know your passions and when you allow yourself to be as creative as you can be.

B: Which came first, the words or the illustrations?
K: I've always wondered this myself! The only way that I can describe it is that both existed concurrently in my mind as sort of a cloud or a swirl. It was just a matter of making the time to write and illustrate it (or perhaps to "translate") it into something real, readable, and touchable to match what I saw in my mind's eye ... and that takes a lot of editing and re-doing. I've ironed over the wrinkles of this work so many times I'm surprised I haven't burned it!

B: What surprised you most about the publishing process?
K: I was prepared for how discouraging it was going to be and how much I would have to believe in myself, but I think I was surprised by how much I really did. The flood of rejection and self-doubt and editing and perfectionism really force you to invest in yourself simply because the whole process requires it, even when you're too exhausted to give it another go. I'm used to putting my head down and working through things, but this was over years of inexperience and learning and maintaining the confidence that I had created something of which I could be proud. I think that I needed the time. You really have to want it, and I still marvel at the ethereal disbelief of hearing a "yes." There is so much to learn, and I'm becoming an overall more confident woman and advocate for myself because of it. Publishing is baptism by fire, but a slow roast at that.

B: Has this experience colored the way you view books now?
K: I only love them more, although I still can't walk past a bookshelf and see my own name there without detaching a bit. This really happened? I've joined the ranks? It's not a joke? Sometimes you want something for so long that you can't even believe it when it comes around! It's a great problem to have. I still hold books reverently, smell them and touch them, and collect like a maniac. They are friends, and now I just happen to have one that is a relative. On a practical level, I have learned so much about books, pricing, markets, promotion, and care for and attention to your audience. It takes a lot for someone who is nameless to the world to emerge and be known. I'm not afraid of doing it slowly, because I still believe in what I do and I'm old fashioned like that. I think that lasting things can move slowly.

B: Where did your love for French culture spring from?
K: Yet another mystery! And like many mysteries, it was always thus. It may sound odd to say that it was just waiting to be discovered in me, but I think that it was. I started taking French in high school with very little sway toward French or Spanish, but at the last minute I chose French. From day one learning the verb "être" I was in love. I couldn't get enough. Visiting France with my French and art history teachers sealed the deal. I remember going to a flower shop (actually in a moment of desperation just to get change for the large bill I had) and the flower seller put as much care and artistry and love into the five dollars that I spent there as one would expect for an outrageous sum of money. It was then that I learned that in France it's not about quantity, it really is about quality and experiencing the beauty of life at every level. I can snobbily quote Charles Baudelaire's poem called L'Invitation au voyage about my love for France: " Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté, Luxe, calme et volupté." (There all is order and beauty, / Luxury, peace, and pleasure).

B: Tell us about a favorite French memory.
K: Oh, I have many, and very funny ones at that. I lived with a French family in a wonderful three-story row house from the 1880s just around the corner from my university. The time I spent with them was cloaked in magic ... they were so loving and giving and whimsical. At the time, I was on a low-carb diet (impossible in France, just impossible). I was there with my roommate and we at dinner with the family every night at a round table. In France, bread is everything and I had to find creative ways every night to politely refuse it without offending them. At one point I remember giving a football-worthy pass of my bread across the table to my roommate and her stuffing it into her mouth before they noticed. You gotta do what you gotta do.

B: How did you manage to juggle writing this book with your day job?
K:The book was mostly in the publishing slush pile by the time I started working full time. The first draft was done when I was a senior in college and I embarrassingly sent that version to a number of publishers with dismal results. I abandoned the project save for a romanticized, escapist dream when I was studying French literature in graduate school.

It wasn't until I was working as an adjunct French lecturer at a university in St. Louis after getting my master's that I spent much of my spare time and then habitual late nights creating again. Life was very dense and focused during my studies (again, perfectionist), so I reveled in the freedom and lightness that art and writing gave me in that transitional period. It was a pleasure. The entire process slowed down when I started teaching full time, which is why it is even more miraculous that Petit Louis came to be during that period when I least expected it. As a teacher, I'll brainstorm and write down ideas in a Moleskine during the year and really attack writing and illustration in the summer.

B: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers or illustrators?
K: I can only really relate what others have taught me and what I've discovered from countless interviews with other authors, as I am in no way an expert. I can, however, liken it to another hobby of mine: antiquing and thrifting (on the cheap). Why do collectors and lovers of the past keep going to thrift stores, antique malls, and estate sales? Because you just never know when that item you've been searching for (or didn't even know you wanted) will show up. It's a hunt, it's the pursuit, and it's exciting and wonderful even when you're not finding "it." This is how I feel about writing and art; you must enjoy the journey and love it not only for the hope of finding "it" but also for the process of discovery along the way. It may eventually pay off in the way that you are expecting but the great part is how much payoff there is along the way in doing and discovering what you love. Keep at it no matter what. The time will pass anyway, you might as well spend it productively.

B: Tell us about a great book you've read recently.
K: Joan of Arc by Mark Twain, a book that he loved and cared for and researched for 12 years. We see a different side of Twain, a gorgeous look at medieval France, and, ever-Twain, he disarms us. This time, however, he does it through beauty and tragedy. It's a rare moment when an artist (and a humorist) steps out of his normal milieu and surprises us with a work of art that can leave us speechless. It was breathtaking.

B: Tell us about a terrible book you've read recently.
K: I can't book-bash at the moment, but I do admit to finally overcoming my "must-finish-every-book-I-start" complex. Now I throw it across the room and move on.

B: What are some of your own favorite children's books? What do you love about them?
K: Oh, I can't even begin and this is in no way a comprehensive list! The classics are the classics, like The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and the Tomie dePaola books. I love Tuesday by David Wiesner, Wild, Wilder, and Wildest by Fr. Ralph Wright, Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully, a little-known one called Our Cat Flossie by Ruth Brown, the illustrated version of Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (Susan Jeffers), a beautiful take on the Cinderella story called The Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin, and any beautifully illustrated version of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It is a dream of mine to illustrate this story in particular.

For older readers, the Anne series (the best) by L. M. Montgomery, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (it's amazing to re-read these books and feel even more for them as an adult!), and of course The Chronicles of Narnia. I love that children's literature maximizes on the joy of being alive and does it so freely. Never are we so free to be joyful and uninhibited then as children and imagination is rampant ... anything is possible and what a privilege to access that in something that is so lasting as a book! I also love the depth of pathos that can be addressed in children's work, too, as children feel things so deeply and so differently than adults do. The entire human story can be accessed through literature for children, and I think it's even purer and more real that way. We can analyze it, chart it, graph it, write 50 pages theses on it (and boy have I ever), but in the end we are all humans and it's truth in its simplest form that we come back to. That in and of itself is joyful.

You can purchase The Grand Adventures of Petit Louis here and learn more about Kayce and Louis here.

Etsy Gems: The Literary Statement Skirts of GoFollowRabbits

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 18:00:00 +0000

I'm always blown away by the creativity I find on Etsy. Just when I think I've seen it all — every reclaimed-wood bookcase, dressed-up dictionary page, and typewriter-inspired trinket out there — I stumble upon a shop like GoFollowRabbits.

Its owner, Ashley Berthiaume, designs fun clothing using quirky and unexpected prints. I especially love her use of "novel" material* — from Harry Potter to Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast to Sherlock Holmes, her whimsical skirts run the literary gamut.

I have two especial favorites:

This Alice in Wonderland trompe l'oeil skirt is absolutely adorable.

But it comes second to this skirt:

Gorgeous.

You can browse the rest of Ashley's fun prints at the GoFollowRabbits shop.

*come on, how could I resist a pun like that?

Bookcase Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 18:00:00 +0000

This unusual bookcase is the work of Dime Mexican Design. Based in Acapulco and headed by Jose Ignacio Lopez Benitez, this Etsy store specializes in minimalist design.

I like how flexible and lightweight this bookcase seems — it'd be perfect for someone who moves around a lot and needs low-fuss furniture. As the product description points out, the bookcase is ripe for customization — you could switch out the fabric with the color or material of your choice, making it a fantastically chameleonic piece. The downside is that it doesn't hold many books, but it's rather hard to find a bookcase that's both lightweight and high capacity — especially for $135, which is the price tag attached to this one.

Check out the listing or browse the rest of Dime Mexican Design's Etsy store here.

Paddington Bear Collection by babyGap

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 18:00:00 +0000

In a stroke of sheer brilliance, babyGap has released a limited-edition collection of Paddington Bear–inspired kids' clothes. I don't have a kid, but when the email announcement hit my inbox, I started drooling. Firstly, kids' clothes are adorable, and are second only to kids' shoes, which turn me into a cooing, squealing bag of lady hormones. And secondly, I'm a huge Paddington Bear fan. I had one as a kid, and I remember it so fondly that I bought one for a friend's daughter a couple of years ago. She reportedly ended up beating it against her toy stove (or was it the floor, Sarah?), so perhaps the bear from darkest Peru didn't quite capture her heart in the way it did mine. Ah well.

But back to these clothes. They are so damn sweet — I'm especially digging the wellies, the toggle-front sweater, and the duffle coat. I checked them out this week, and they're just as captivating in person. There's even a hat with built-in ears.

You can browse the entire Paddington Bear for babyGap collection online and at select Gap stores. For more note-perfect sweetness, watch the promo video below.

Bookcase Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 18:00:00 +0000

I'm really digging the industrial chic look that's been creeping into furniture design recently. I've seen the high-end version, the artisanal Etsy version, and now we've finally got the mass-market version.

This is West Elm's Pipe bookcase. Made of mango wood and iron, it comes in narrow and wide versions at $499 and $799 respectively. As both are new additions and they're already on backorder, I'd say I'm not the only one giving them an admiring eye.

The Book Art of Terry Border

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 18:00:00 +0000

Roger Ebert called artist Terry Border "brilliant." After looking at his Wiry Limbs, Paper Backs series, it's easy to understand why.

Border takes standard paperbacks, adds a bit of wire, and magically transforms them into vivid depictions of the stories that lie between their covers. The results are clever, funny, and even a bit provocative.

You can view the rest of his series here.

[via BuzzFeed]

New from Penguin Classics — Penguin Drop Caps

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I'm not exaggerating when I say I love every single edition that Penguin Classics releases. The black originals. The old-timey cloth-covered versions. The whimsical Threads collection (part 1 and 2). Every single one. So when I read that there's a new release in town, my expectations are high. I've yet to be disappointed.

During my recent blogging hiatus, Penguin added a new release to its roster. (Apologies if this is stale news to some of you, but I'm indulging myself.) Here's a look at Penguin Drop Caps, a series of 26 hardcover classics — one for each letter of the alphabet:

Elda Rotor, associate publisher and editorial director of Penguin Classics, describes the lineup:

For the book lover, the series is a nod to the tradition of printing and the distribution of ideas, stories, and opinions—ranging from paper to digital media. For the writer and artist, the series pays homage to the significance of composition, texture, and form. With Penguin Drop Caps, we are inspired by the timeless tradition and craft of letters and their endless capacity to communicate.

You can browse the Drop Caps collection here. A–P are on sale now, with the remainder scheduled for release through 2014.

Bookcase Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

I originally posted this shelf to my Pinterest a couple of weeks ago. But I found myself coming back to it again and again, and decided I needed to know more about this unusual design.

So here's what I learned.

This is the Lifeblood bookshelf. Sold by Lovli, an Italian design site, it's been given one of the most ridiculous product descriptions I've ever read:

Lifeblood is more than just a bookshelf, is touches the sense of a "real" metaphor, consisting of only two essential materials: wood and books. The sense of its leaf shape is evident when the books are placed in the appropriate spaces, making them essential components of the structure. Books, therefore, act as a lifeblood, able to filter and process existence through a spiritual photosynthesis, essential to the human spirit. A poetic and elegant piece of furniture. [sic]

You can browse more photos of the Lifeblood bookshelf here. To buy it, you'll need about 2,000 euros and have to make the nail-biting decision between light-oak-colored and dark-oak-colored.

Bookcase Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 19:30:00 +0000

Brought to you by the people who carved the Hulk bookcase. This time, you'll have to cough up $915 to show your sci-fi pride.

Friday Bookmarks

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

*Gillian Flynn is rewriting the ending of Gone Girl for the upcoming movie adaptation. This annoys me, but the news has piqued my curiosity to the extent that I'll probably see it now — just as Flynn knew it would. Dammit. [via the Guardian]

*Some Australian dude invented bulletproof bookcases for schools — at approximately $4,000 a pop. That works out to a helluva lot of PTA bake-sale brownies — better get started on that fundraising now! [via the Daily Telegraph]

*Good news, everyone! eBook reading is on the rise — but fear not, traditionalists: so is print reading. [via Pew Research]

*And that good news continues: the University of California Press has made 770 of its titles free to the public via an online library. Subjects include art, science, history, music, religion, and fiction. So, basically all subjects. [via GalleyCat]

*British bookshop owner posts desperate plea for customers on its Facebook page, the Internet responds and boosts his sales 4,000%, book lovers everywhere tear up. [via the Daily Mail]

*As a former copy editor, I'm keenly aware of the importance of appropriate punctuation. And although I've relaxed a bit since moving on from the job, I still get a kick out of this article about famous punctuation marks in literature. [via Vulture]

Booklicious Reviews: Eleanor & Park

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:00:00 +0000

{ A SARAH GORR REVIEW }

You don’t have to read YA fiction to notice the trend that’s been going strong since Harry Potter. First came the boy wizard, and then came Twilight, Eragon, Percy Jackson, The Mortal Instruments. Even The Hunger Games doesn’t stray too far from the path in its eschewing of reality for a horrific dystopian future. So when buzz about Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park started drifting my way, I noticed. Because what sets this book apart is that its title characters are, well, normal. They don’t have special powers. They’re not “the chosen ones.” They don’t save a nation from unspeakable forces. Eleanor and Park do something that felt much more magical than any of that — they fall in love.

Told from its title characters’ points of view in alternating chapters, Eleanor & Park explores the lives of two wayward teens in 1986 middle America and their blossoming relationship.

I purposefully chose to read the book in September, in the heart of back-to-school season, in the midst of my annual rewatching of My So-Called Life. I set the scene for myself because I had a feeling the book would just fit into my heart better that way. And it did.

I found myself lingering over pages in this lightning-quick read, rationing chapters, hesitating before turning the page, just so I’d get to spend a little bit longer with it. Just so I wouldn’t finish it too fast. Which, of course, is exactly what I did with all my favorite books in high school. Eleanor & Park felt more honest than almost any other portrayal of teenage love I can think of. When I finished it, I wished I could have gone back in time and found this book when I was still 16.

It’s a supremely easy read. I don’t think I’d call it groundbreaking, either. It’s just refreshing. It’s like a comfortable old friend. Just seriously consider picking it up the next time you’re in the mood to remember high school without all the bullshit of having to actually be in high school.

[note: I’d been wanting to write about this book since the day I finished it. I have no idea why I put it off so long. Now go read it.]

10 Recordings of Famous Authors

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 19:00:00 +0000

Embarrassingly, this post has been a work in progress for a couple of years now. Usurped by one of my favorite posts, which features dead-and-gone writers captured moving on film, it's been on the back burner far too long. Today, it finally gets its place in the sun. (Or "polar vortex," if you're like me and living with wind chills between -40 and -60 degrees Fahrenheit this week.)

VIRGINIA WOOLF
This is the only surviving recording of Woolf's voice and is from a 1937 BBC radio program entitled "Craftsmanship."

IAN FLEMING INTERVIEWS RAYMOND CHANDLER
Save this for when you've got a minute — it's a four-part interview between Ian Fleming and Raymond Chandler, and it's an absolute gem. (No video, sadly — just dialogue.) No one knows a writer like another writer, and fact that both seem a bit sozzled only makes it better. Skip to 5:45 to pass over the introduction and get straight to the action. Fleming speaks first.

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
Incredibly, this recording of the poet reading his epic poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" dates back to 1854. Taken via wax cylinder, the recording has some distortions, so I recommend reading along as you listen.

WALT WHITMAN
Also captured via wax cylinder, this recording of Whitman reciting four lines of his poem "America" was taken in 1889 or 1890, but its authenticity is still doubted by some experts. You can read more about the discovery and debate here.

J. M. BARRIE
In this short clip, the Peter Pan author speaks at the 1931 unveiling of a statue of friend and fellow literary great Thomas Hardy.

E. M. FORSTER
"I am quite sure I am not a great novelist." Sir, you may be the only one.

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
The Great Gatsby writer reads an excerpt from Othello.

C. S. LEWIS
Alas, as with Woolf, this is the sole surviving recording of Lewis's voice. It's taken from a 1944 BBC radio broadcast.

T. S. ELIOT
The poet reads "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

J. R. R. TOLKEIN
Finally, and perhaps most timely, Tolkein reads from The Hobbit.

10 Favorite Rereads

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 18:00:00 +0000

Rereads are a peculiar thing. They're not necessarily my favorite books—although some of them are—and they're certainly not all the best books I've ever ever read. But there's something about each one that keeps me coming back. It could be the story's atmosphere, the things I've learned while reading it, or even just the circumstances and mood surrounding the first read, which then bonded the book to my memories. Or, you know, it could just be mindless fun.

So without further ado, here are my 10 favorite rereads, a motley crew if ever there was one:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [C. S. Lewis]
Notes from a Small Island [Bill Bryson]
An Old-Fashioned Girl [Louisa May Alcott]
Anne of the Island [L. M. Montgomery]
Dancing Star: the Story of Anna Pavlova [Gladys Malvern]
Gloria [Keith Maillard]
Jane Eyre [Charlotte Bronte]
Confessions of a Shopaholic [Sophie Kinsella]
Pride and Prejudice [Jane Austen]
The French Lieutenant's Woman [John Fowles]

What are your 10? The conversation continues over at Facebook and Tumblr.

Friday Bookmarks

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 18:00:00 +0000

*Oh snap! That professor who introduced you to Beowulf probably taught it to you wrong. [via the Daily Telegraph]

*Want the riches of J. K. Rowling? The fame of Stephen King? The notoriety of E. L. James? Don't read this article. [via Cracked]

*Next time you're on the train, on the bus, or in a cafe, take a look around and take note of who's got an e-reader. The bestseller lists imply that at least one of them is reading Mein Kampf. [via the Guardian]

*Barnes and Noble is screwed. [via GalleyCat]

*Aspiring authors — if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. A shocking number of now-iconic writers went though the same thing. Don't believe me? Go read their rejection letters. [via Mental Floss]

*Simone de Beauvoir received a lovely Google doodle on what would have been her 106th birthday. Bon anniversaire, madame. [via the Independent]

Booklicious Reviews: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 3

noreply@blogger.com (Evangeline) — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 18:32:00 +0000

{ A MICHAEL NUHN REVIEW }

This has been an interesting review to write, since The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 3 is basically exactly the same as 1 and 2: same kind of things, same kind of spread, same kind of art. Which volume you like the most basically comes down to which one you find your favorite story in, or, if you're fickle like me, which cover is blue.

A passage from a different book has somehow become associated with TBoTS in my mind. Willie Ashendon, W. Somerset Maugham's narrator in Cakes and Ale, says of the (rhetorical) poet, "he makes the best of us [prose writers] look like a piece of cheese." It's a funny thing, though — before I read that, I hadn't really considered TBoTS a poetry anthology, which it is. Not all stories have to be prose, after all. In any case, since this is the final volume and I've talked about the how and the why in the other reviews, here are some of my favorite pieces:

"The fork spooned the knife, so the spoon knifed the fork."

"From my ship, adrift, I spied you.
And I thought you were an island.
Alas, you were an iceberg."

"She drank in all their compliments
and soon she was full of herself."

And here's one that they better watch out before Wes Anderson ganks it and makes another irritating movie with a couple of old-before-their-time child leads:

"We have captured the stars...the night belongs to us!"

To get the full effect, though, you'll have to get your hands on the actual book and read the stories with their accompanying illustrations, which are sometimes complementary and sometimes essential.