Designer assistance with your 2012 resolutions
If you're looking for help with your New Year's resolutions, the To Resolve Project offers a collection of downloadable designer wallpapers—including Matt McCraken's utterly awesome "Read More" de...
A book club pick with purpose
NPR's Backseat Book Club pick for January is Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. According to NPR, the book was chosen because "[it] has the ability to entertain and info...
And I'm sure the Hollywood version will be even deeper and more thoughtful than the original.
There's a fair amount of big-name casting news out for the upcoming movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. I've always disliked the book (I was particularly irritated by Card's intr...
The sincerest form of flattery
The company that represents the Diary of a Wimpy Kid brand recently won a temporary restraining order against the publisher of two Wimpy Kid-parodying graphic novels: the "Wimpy Zombie" series by ...
Half of The Hobbit
The Hobbit trailer is out (at long last):Uh... is that a touching moment between Galadriel and Gandalf? Because I don't know if I want to see that.
She must be joking.
You guys reckon this will go way, way on sale after Christmas? Because I would only pay $325 for a clutch (even a super-cool one, like this) if it came stuffed with at least $250 in cash.Note: Ac...
Yet more Bond
And speaking of upping the grimness factor in popular movie franchises, Daniel Craig is reportedly in talks to star in five more James Bond films.
Doom, gloom, and brunettes
The Batman: The Dark Knight Returns trailer is out:I'm certain there's some thoughtful comment I should be making about what this movie has to say about the current state of politics and the econo...
Because of Winn-Dixie goes musical
According to Playbill, songwriter Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening) and Legally Blonde lyricist Nell Benjamin are adapting Kate DiCamillo's children's novel Because of Winn-Dixie into a Broadway-aim...
Katniss's manicure
Uh... when I think about potential Hunger Games merchandising tie-ins, nail polish is not the first thing that leaps to mind. However, China Glaze has announced that there will be a line of HG-th...
Rating downgrade
According the Horn Book Blog, Akashic Books is releasing a G-rated version of their best-selling humor book Go the [Expletive] to Sleep entitled Seriously, Just Go to Sleep. This confuses me. My...
Skip Beat! goes live-action (but remains pretty cartoony)
The website Koala's Playground has posted a 20-minute-long "preview" (although it's more like promotional music video... on crack) of the upcoming Taiwanese drama adaptation of my beloved Skip Bea...
The anti-James Bond
And speaking of dour movies, the new adaptation of John le Carré's 1974 espionage novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has hit theaters:It's getting great reviews, so if you'd like to see something ...
The gift of library signage
One last gift idea:I totally covet this vintage-style wooden "Library" sign from Three Potato Four. The sign was inspired by public library signage from the 1950s, and costs a (relatively) reason...
A worthy sacrifice
The always-entertaining design blog Swiss-Miss recently introduced me to Isaac G. Salazar's "Book of Art" pieces. Behold:Pretty amazing, huh? Being me, I immediately wondered how you could dust ...
I hope those were all recycled.
According to Refinery29, Australian skincare line Aesop's New York store was constructed out of 400,000 strips of the New York Times. Newspaper strips, it turns out, make for remarkably beautifu...
What's with the New Age cover art?
If you're looking forward to the upcoming Lisa Kleypas novel Rainshadow Road, the website HeroesandHeartbreakers.com has an exclusive excerpt of the first two chapters. They're also running a swe...
Congratulations...?
It's that time of year again, dear readers: time for the 19th annual Literary Review "Bad Sex in Fiction" Award. This year's prize was given to David Guterson's novel Ed King, which they describe...
Them's fighting words
There appears to be a lively feud brewing between comics-world superstars Frank Miller and Alan Moore, sparked by their very different views on the Occupy Wall Street movement. Both authors are t...
Why so far away, May 8th?
At long, long, long last, the book cover and plot description for the final (sobs) Sisters Grimm book are out:"In the final volume in the Sisters Grimm series, Sabrina, Daphne, and the rest of t...
Cusack has made worse-looking movies
Okay, so this movie isn't based on a book, but it does feature a fictionalized version of Edgar Allan Poe:
Wordcandy's Holiday Gift List: 2011 Edition
It's December, and that means it's time for Wordcandy to release our annual Holiday Gift Guide! We've chosen a variety of deeply awesome potential gifts for the bibliophiles on your shopping list...
Oooh, cheesy!
The first full-length trailer is out for Disney's John Carter (based on the "Barsoom" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs), and it looks like it's staying pretty close to its space-western roots:Barrin...