Dec 20 2022

Lockwood & Co. on TV

For fellow fans of my beloved Lockwood & Co. series, I'm assuming we're all counting down the days until the upcoming TV series, which will be released at the end of January. I'm still irritated with the teaser trailer...

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Dec 19 2022

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo, Vol. 1, by Drew Weing

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If you are shopping for any middle-grade readers this year, I highly recommend the collected volumes of Drew Weing's webtoon The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo. It boasts all the joys of an 80s kids movie (distracted parents! loads of adventure! legit brushes with danger!), but—thanks to being a comic—no worries about cheesy special effects or wooden acting...

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Dec 19 2022

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo, Vol. 1, by Drew Weing

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Our current Book Giveaway is the first collected volume of Drew Weing's excellent middle-grade webcomic The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo. I sent a copy of this to some 10-year old cousins, but first I read it aloud to my preschool-age kid (with some light editing) and my retirement-age mother, both of whom listened with interest, so suffice to say it appeals to a wide variety of ages. A full review will follow shortly...

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Dec 15 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 10: stocking stuffers

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And, last but not least, here are a handful of smallish gifts you could probably order off Amazon and they'll be here in time for Christmas (or even Hanukkah, if you get right on it). Personally, I think $20 is pushing "stocking stuffer" limits, so for what it's worth, I think any one of these would be a lovely full-on gift, too...

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Dec 15 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 9: Can You See What I See?

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Walter Wick is best known for the I Spy books, which featured text by Jean Marzollo, but has also produced a line of very similar books by himself called Can You See What I See?. If you're celebrating Christmas this year, there's a "Night Before Christmas"-specific book (and several more that would be suitable for other holidays)...

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Dec 14 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 8: Read With Us print

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Gifting people artwork can be dicey, but this print from artist Jon Klassen feels like a safe bet. It's cute and creepy (my aesthetic sweet spot!) and should work for a book lover of any age. Plus, even if the recipient hates it, all profits...

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Dec 13 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 7: Mincing Mockingbird journals

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Depending upon the sense of humor of your gift recipients, you could theoretically check off everyone on your list via this one site! The Mincing Mockingbird's adorable, affordable blank journals have titles ranging from extremely specific ("Passive-Aggressive Fan Fiction") to all-purpose ("Schemes". Give that one to Grandma!). Their holiday cards are...

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Dec 13 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 6: National Park Monsters Puzzle

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I love pretty much everything from this etsy shop, but this particular 1000-piece puzzle seems like the ideal gift for any outdoors-y sci-fi nerds in your life...

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Dec 12 2022

A Magic Steeped in Poison, by Judy I. Lin

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Judy I. Lin's A Magic Steeped in Poison is a fun novel by any standard, and a really impressive debut. In Lin's Chinese- and Taiwanese-inspired historical fantasy, a girl named Ning is desperate to cure her dying sister. Ning's only hope is winning the shennong-shi trials—a high-court competition of magical tea-brewing, with a royal boon as the grand prize. Armed with her late mother's tea knowledge, Ning...

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Dec 12 2022

Weekly Book Giveaway: A Magic Steeped in Poison, by Judy I. Lin

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Our latest Book Giveaway is Judy I. Lin's A Magic Steeped in Poison. A word of warning to any interested readers: I started this book at midnight, finished it at about two in the morning, and then discovered that I wouldn't be able to get the sequel for at least five days. Learn from my mistake, and make sure you acquire both books in the series at the same time...

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Dec 8 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 5: the best Dracula

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And now we're going with something I already bought myself, because there are some things you just don't leave to chance: this absolutely amazing deluxe edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula from Union Square & Co., featuring the illustrations of Edward Gorey and an introduction by editor Marvin Kaye...

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Dec 8 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 4: Calendars

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Calendars are always useful, right? And you have to stare at them all year, so that definitely justifies a bit of a splurge. The Eric Carle Museum's gift shop has got some great options, especially if you've got kids...

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Dec 7 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 3: Moomin mugs

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Okay, this is an extremely taste-specific gift suggestion, but if you know anyone who likes the Moomin series, I've found some (reasonably) affordable Moomin-themed mugs. As a lifelong lover of the Moomin stories, I have always been chagrined by how expensive the various merchandising tie-ins are...

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Dec 6 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 2: Depressing Nonfiction

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If you have someone on your gift list who likes to while away the winter with a cup of tea and some gloomy nonfiction (livin' the dream!), I have two equally depressing-yet-engrossing picks. As a fan of Russ Jones's #TheWeekinTory threads on Twitter, I was aware of the various scandals besetting the U.K.'s Tory Party, but...

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Dec 6 2022

Holiday Gift Idea 1: The Folio Society edition of Howl's Moving Castle

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We're kicking off our annual gift guide with something I wish someone would buy me: this staggeringly gorgeous (and, alas, equally expensive) Folio Society edition of Diana Wynne Jones's modern classic Howl's Moving Castle. Seriously, the high-pitched noise I made when I first saw this book scared my cat...

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Dec 5 2022

Pride and Premeditation, by Tirzah Price

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Tailor-made for fans of the Enola Holmes movies, Tirzah Price's Pride and Premeditation is a fun historical whodunit that takes the characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and puts them in a slightly different setting...

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Dec 5 2022

WE RETURN

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It's been about three years since we last blogged, and—as someone with multiple asthmatic family members who need to continue to take covid very seriously—that's about how long it's taken me to accept that the world probably isn't going back to our pre-2020 version of “normal” any time soon...

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Dec 2 2019

Weekly Book Giveaway: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Pulp! the Classics edition), by Lewis Carroll

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This week's Book Giveaway is the Pulp! the Classics edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This is basically all about that cover art: if the twisted hippie take on Judy Garland (...right?) makes you laugh...

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Nov 27 2019

Pre-holiday shopping

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If you've got any hardcore Lord of the Rings nerds to shop for, check out Moleskine's line of limited-edition J.R.R. Tolkien notebooks. (There are some lovely Harry Potter-themed items, too.) The official Moleskine site...

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Nov 26 2019

No, on so many levels

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I just saw a trailer for an upcoming film adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, and it was extremely off-putting. A) I hate Jack London. B) Why is CGI still so bad?!? It might have improved (slightly) since the terrifying Polar Express movie, but...

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Nov 26 2019

More Shakespeare for your walls

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Vintage Shakespeare festival posters were the third suggestion on our annual Holiday Gift Guide, but that was because we were focusing our 2019 list on used, vintage, and consumable items. If you're in the market for something new, definitely check out the posters for the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, which...

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Nov 25 2019

The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, by Ella Quinn

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On the back cover of Ella Quinn's novel The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, there's a glowing promotional blurb by novelist Grace Burrowes: “Lady Phoebe is a heroine Georgette Heyer would adore—plucky, pretty, and well worth the devotion of the dashing Lord Marcus. A marvelous find for Regency romance readers.” Burrowes is lucky there's no such thing as a Better Business Bureau for romance novel promo quotes, because that comment is a pack of liiiiiies...

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Nov 25 2019

Weekly Book Giveaway: The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, by Ella Quinn

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This week's Book Giveaway is Ella Quinn's romance novel The Seduction of Lady Phoebe. The promotional quote on the back name-drops Georgette Heyer (always a dangerous comparison to make, IMO), so we'll see if it can live up to such high praise. A full review will follow shortly...

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Nov 21 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #8

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Gift Idea #8: Amusing literary soaps (this is more of a stocking stuffer, unless you tossed in a copy of the actual book)

One more consumable suggestion: The Unemployed Philosophers Guild sells blocks of soap inspired by a wide variety of books...

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Nov 21 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #7

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Gift Idea #7: The 1619 Project

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved people being brought to the United States from Africa. In August, The New York Times Magazine devoted an entire issue to the subject, featuring essays, photos, poetry, and fiction. It immediately sold out, but copies can be found on sale online...

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Nov 20 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #6

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Gift Idea #6: Jane Austen's Sanditon (the good version)

In January, American viewers will have the opportunity to see ITV's adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon. From all accounts, this miniseries is both dumb as hell and features a depressing ending, so...

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Nov 20 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #5

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Gift Idea #5: Literary candles

We promised you some consumable goods too, right? How about these $16 literature-themed soy candles from Uncommon Goods? (Sherlock Holmes's 221B Baker Street apparently smells like black currant tea and leather books...

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Nov 19 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #4

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Gift Idea #4: a used copy of Amy Dacyczyn's The Complete Tightwad Gazette

Well before the internet became a haven of frugality tips, Ms. Dacyczyn produced a newsletter that compiled...

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Nov 19 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #3

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Gift Idea #3: Vintage Shakespeare Festival posters

Look, there are a lot of long-running Shakespeare festivals, and they nearly all printed posters, so chances are good you'll find one that strikes your fancy. Personally, I'm thinking of requesting this incredible Romeo and Juliet poster for...

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Nov 18 2019

Holiday Gift Pick #2

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Gift Idea #2: The out-of-print book you loved as a kid

Rather than buying some of the kids in your life yet another toy, share one of the harder-to-find books that you loved as a kid. (If it's out of print, chances are better that they won't already own it!) Here are some suggestions for books...

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