Any excuse to use these covers
Elsewhere in The Guardian, there is a fascinating article about some new research about possible source material for Shakespeare's Macbeth. According to Dr John-Mark Philo, a lecturer at East Anglia University, there are close similarities between Lady Macbeth and two Roman queens...
No thanks.
The Guardian put together a list of the "Top Ten Uncanny Graphic Novels", for those of you with fearless natures, strong stomachs, and lots of disposable income. Their picks are all solid (and include Charles Burns's Black Hole, which I still haven't fully recovered from...
...okay, sure.
NPR recently posted an interview with Neil Gaiman about his classic Sandman comic book series. Sandman ended in 1996, but last month DC Comics released a deluxe edition of Sandman: Overture, the six-issue miniseries Gaiman wrote...
Spinning off
The "announcement trailer" is out for the hotly-anticipated (by Warner Bros, at least, who are clearly hoping that Harry Potter mania has not lost one ounce of its earlier fervor) movie adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. I have to give the studio props...
I WANT IT.
And speaking of horror stories, check out this Soviet cuisine cookbook! The recipes in Moscow-based food writers/historians Olga and Pavel Syutkin's The CCCP Cookbook: True Stories of Soviet Cuisine might not...
The Man in the High Castle (TV adaptation), by Philip K. Dick
Last week we reviewed Philip K. Dick's 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle, so this week we thought we'd take a gander at the first episode of Amazon Prime's recent TV adaptation of the material. The complete first season of this series is available here...
But why?
And in other perplexing movie announcements, why does the upcoming Tarzan movie even exist? The teaser trailer looks pretty cheeseball, the promo pictures are ridiculous, and...
CGI hands creep me out
The teaser trailer has been released for Disney's upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl's The BFG. This has never been one of my favorite books, so...
My eyes, they roll
Today in embarrassing book-banning news, a school board member in Marshfield, Wisconsin is trying to ban a Muppets book on the grounds that it contains images of suffering and poverty that are "too graphic" for a kindergarten audience...
Maybe a nice vacation?
So, I finally got around to watching the trailer for Captain America: Civil War. (It was posted last month, but my interest in Marvel's increasingly bloated universe is waning.) It looks...
Does not compute.
In an effort to arrive at a definitive list of the United Kingdom's greatest novels, BBC Culture contributor Jane Ciabattari polled 82 non-British book critics for their favorites. The resulting list is novels only (no short stories/poetry/plays), and it is perfectly respectable, although...
The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
According to Wikipedia, Philip K. Dick considered his Hugo Award-winning 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle to be his masterpiece, but was too disturbed by his own creation to ever finish a sequel. Seeing as Dick made a career out of churning out disturbing literature, this might seem surprising, but...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
This week's Book Giveaway is Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, which has recently been transformed into a TV miniseries from Amazon. I usually find Dick's ideas more interesting than his actual novels, but what the hell: it's only 274 pages, so it can't be that bad either way...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #8: Any of the literary posters at Pop Chart Lab
Gift Idea #8: Pop Chart Lab's extremely detailed literature-themed posters ($29)...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #7: 2016 Jane Austen calendar
Gift Idea #7: "Amiable Rancor", the Republic of Pemberley's 2016 Jane Austen calendar ($19.99)...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #6: Literary subscription boxes
Gift Idea #6: Literary subscription boxes (approx. $30 to $50 per box)...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #5: Any of the great Alice's Adventures in Wonderland anniversary editions
Gift Idea #5: Any of the 3 billion (or so) 150th anniversary editions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (approx. $10 to $50)...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #4: Edward Gorey anything
Gift Idea #4: Any of the many fine goods at the Edward Gorey House Store (prices vary)...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #2: "2 Spaces 4 America" Hoodie
Gift Idea #2: Any of the new Bloom County products, really, but particularly the "2 Spaces for America" hoodie ($49)...
Holiday Gift Guide Idea #1: Harry Potter artwork
Dear readers, it is once again time for the Wordcandy Holiday Gift Guide. As usual, we're running late, but (also as usual) we've found some awesome stuff.
Gift Idea #1: Harry Potter artwork from MinaLima (Prices vary, but are all high)...
Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
I have long owned the Mr. Boddington's Penguin Classics editions of Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and both suffer from a major quality control issue: the ink periodically fades to near-invisibility. Still, I loved the line's cover art, so when their edition of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
This week's Book Giveaway is the Mr. Boddington's Penguin Classics edition of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. This has never been my favorite Austen novel, but I figure the week after Thanksgiving is the best possible time to read a book about the heroism of family members who keep their personal issues to themselves...
Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Quarto Classics Reimagined), by Jane Austen and Lewis Carroll
As longtime Wordcandy readers know, I collect editions of Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I only have so much shelf space, so I try to be discerning, but every once in a while I see more copies that I absolutely need to own...
It's not meant to be a horror story, but...
The Guardian recently posted one of their pictorial essays on the real bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. Apparently, in 1914 a vet named Harry Colebourn was on his way to fight in World War I when...
About time
And speaking of H.P. Lovecraft, there's an article about his long and disturbing history of racism over on Salon. (See why I can't make a logical Christmas/Lovecraft connection?) Lovecraft has been in the news recently because...
I should Photoshop a Santa hat onto this guy.
The Guardian posted an article about British booksellers' attempt to create yet another shopping holiday: "Civilized Saturday", a day designed as the “perfect antidote” to the crazed bargain-hunting of Black Friday...
So pretty! Also discounted!
First: Hi, guys! We're not doing a Book Giveaway this week, because it's so short. The Giveaway feature will return next Monday.
Second: if you too admired the very beautiful "Mr. Boddington's Penguin Classics" editions that were previously only available at Anthropologie, you...
Pre-holiday shopping (for me)
I'm thinking of buying myself this adorable unicorn-shaped bookend from CB2 ($24.95), but I feel like I'd have to re-arrange my books so it was just holding back a shelf of fantasy novels, and I might be too lazy for that...
Year to date
The Washington Post has put together a timeline of the major literary news and events of 2015. I actually found it pretty interesting reading, but, um, 2015 isn't over yet...