Sage advice for the young'uns
Ah, satirical advice from Disney's cartoon princesses! Check out these words of wisdom from "Belle" and "Ariel":To be fair, I feel like cherry-picking objectionable messages from Disney films is ...
Christmas (themed books) come early...
Oooh, Lisa Kleypas is releasing another holiday-themed novella (after 2008's A Wallflower Christmas). Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor will be out in late October, and appears to be the first entry...
A book club take on Mockingjay
Okay, one last post on Mockingjay, and then I'm done talking about it (at least until the inevitable movie* comes out). The online magazine Slate has chosen Mockingjay as the subject of one of th...
Edgar Allan Poe fights (or possibly commits) crime
John Cusack has apparently signed on to play Edgar Allan Poe in a (fictionalized) account of the poet's last few days of life. The description of the film on Cinematical mentions something about ...
The Walking Dead on AMC
Behold, the trailer's out for the upcoming AMC zombie series The Walking Dead, based on the comic book of the same name by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore. Enjoy... but not right befo...
Aisha finally hits the big screen
AustenBlog has posted a review of Aisha, the Bollywood update of Jane Austen's Emma. The critique is positive but far from gushing, and the author notes that the movie appears to be a close remak...
Onwards and upwards
Now that one buzz-worthy summer release is behind us, it's time to move on to the next. The final book in the 39 Clues series comes out next week. Behold:Fans of this series know that only a fra...
Catching Fire and Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
Well, dear readers, I waded through both Catching Fire and Mockingjay yesterday, and my emotions were mixed. There were elements I liked, but the violence was so constant that I found myself actu...
The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
One of my goals for this summer was to read Sun Tzu's The Art of War. I'd like to say I had some noble purpose in mind, but the truth is I'm just a huge, huge nerd—I wanted to hone my war-mongering...
Complete with recipes!
If you're a Hunger Games fan and 21 years of age or older, be sure to check out Forever Young Adult's Hunger Games Drinking Game, which I'm sure will make the whole "Peeta Vs. Gale" debate a whole...
Frankly, my hopes are not high.
Well, dear readers, today is August 23rd, and tomorrow is the release date for Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay. If you're desperate to celebrate this event, you can nip down to your local Hot Topic a...
Saving one's spot
If you're looking for some book-themed presents that manage to be both awesome and affordable, check out these bookmarks by Olympia-based artist Sarah Utter, creator of the "Reading Is Sexy" t-shi...
Branching out
My, my... Janet Evanovich has written a full-length novel about Diesel, the mysterious supernatural being who consistently turns up to hit on the heroine in Evanovich's holiday-themed Stephanie Pl...
I'm sorry for posting this.
No, I really am.You can apparently buy J.D. Salinger's seatless, lidless, uncleaned toilet (complete with a letter of authentication) on eBay for one million dollars. Ordinarily, I'd add a picture...
Middle Earth: the theme park?
According to Cinematical, there are rumors that Universal Studios is toying with the idea of making a Lord of the Rings theme park (presumably thanks to the success of its Wizarding World of Harry...
The end of the beginning of the final Harry Potter movie
MTV's Movies Blog is reporting that the first half of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will end at roughly Chapter 24, for those of you who've been wondering. (Here's h...
Embroidering Mr. Darcy
Artistically-inclined Jane Austen fans take note: you can buy a PDF version of this Mr. Darcy cross-stitch pattern from Etsy artist thetimeisnow for a mere $7.00. The pattern is printable, in col...
Cookbooks for the ages
The Guardian has assembled a list of the Top 50 Cookbooks Ever. (Here's the top ten, for readers in a hurry.) Turns out I don't own a single one of 'em.
A guiding hand
Flavorwire has compiled a list of their top-ten picks for Literature's Best-Dressed Characters. Their choices lean heavily towards Literature That Has Inspired Movie Adaptations, and I'm somewhat...
Low, lower, lowest
Slate just posted an article speculating that e-readers like Amazon's Kindle will soon be costing less than one hundred dollars. While this is certainly more reasonable than the 2009 price of rou...
Cathy, Electra, Irving, and her mother ride off into the sunset...
Ohio cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, the award-winning creator of the comic strip Cathy, has decided to retire her feature as of October 3rd. I can't say I'll truly miss the strip (actually, I'm not ...
Because *all* vampires need regular manicures
My goodness. Check out the complete line of Twilight-inspired nail polish from Twilight Beauty:Which vampire wears the Malibu Barbie hot pink, do you suppose?[Via BellaSugar]
Textbooks on the cheap...er
Good news for poor college students (particularly college students who have to pay zillions of dollars for those textbooks that will be out of date about .6 seconds after they pay $95 for 'em): Ba...
(Not for $48, though.)
There's a new collection of Disney Couture jewelry out, this time inspired by their take on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. I'm usually not a fan of themed jewelry, but something ab...
My feelings? Totally hurt.
If you're a Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan in the East Coast/Midwest area, be sure to check out Amulet Books' second annual ice-cream-truck promo tour. According to Publishers Weekly, the tour..."[...B...
Flipped: new and improved?
If you've never read Wendelin Van Draanen's adorable 2001 novel Flipped, Random House is releasing an "enhanced" e-book edition of the book featuring a bunch of tie-ins from the upcoming movie ada...
Low standards
Twelve—the recent film based on the 2003 Nick McDonell novel* of the same name—is not the kind of movie I usually see, nor is it the kind of book I usually read (unless I have to review it). Stil...
The fall of the book-selling empire?
Further hints of the crumbling world of major chain bookstores: Barnes and Noble is considering putting itself up for sale. (Specifically, they're exploring "strategic alternatives", one of which...
RIP, OneManga
It is with mixed emotions (about 55% irritation, 45% resignation) that I say goodbye to OneManga, the popular manga scanlation site that shut down for good last week. Now, it's possible that the ...