The more Crusie the merrier
So I decided to swing by and check out the "Upcoming Books" page for Jennifer Crusie (author of our current Featured Book, the excellent Maybe This Time). And while it's possible some of the book...
Want to smell tomato-soup-roast-beef-and-blueberry-pie fresh?
Of all the candy mentioned in Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Violet Beauregarde's full-course-dinner gum has always struck me as the least appealing, but apparently scientis...
Singin' in the library
Flavorwire has put together a list of ten music videos (plus one bonus clip) set in bookstores and libraries. Their choices range from Ludacris to Van Halen to She and Him, so you should brace yo...
The sweet scent of a horror-story victim
Behold, two limited-edition perfumes oils inspired by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:Aren't they cute? I'm not sure I actually want to smell like a spicy pumpkin, but for a mere ...
Higher and higher
Salon has posted a fascinating (and quite angry) article on the rising price of new e-books. I'm not sure that two e-books costing more than their printed-and-bound equivalents qualifies as a "tr...
I do like the "Stupidity" title card, though.
Check out the upcoming, gender-swapped movie adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest:It looks like a music video. And (it must be said) kind of a low-budget music video.
Kate Spade gets literary
If you're very, very wealthy and therefore don't mind dropping $325 on a novelty item, may I suggest these Kate Spade "Book of the Month" clutches? Sadly, they don't come with copies of the actua...
Maybe This Time, by Jennifer Crusie
A new Jennifer Crusie novel is always cause for celebration, and Maybe This Time—her first full-length solo effort since 2004's Bet Me—is no exception. In this lively re-working of Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw...
I was hoping this trend would be beyond tired by 2012.
Twentieth Century Fox has purchased the film rights for Seth Grahame-Smith's novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. (Grahame-Smith also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and is therefore the...
I'm pretty sure this is contradicted by Hogwarts: A History, but...
The students of Hogwarts are embracing modern technology.
Ooooh, hardcore!
Well, dear readers, here are a couple of movie trailers based on books that wouldn't quite make the Wordcandy A-list. First, I Am Number Four:It's that dude from that terrible-looking Beastly mov...
At least Harry Potter didn't make the list...
In honor of Banned Books Week, here's the list of last year's top-ten most frequently challenged books (according to the American Library Association):1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren M...
Hipster cruelty
I am very fond of bookends, but I'm only mildly tempted by these "Glass Half Bookends" from Urban Outfitters:They look cool, and they're supposed to double as vases (although putting flowers in 'e...
The passion of the gnomes
Well, the trailer for Gnomeo and Juliet is out:On the one hand, there's an A-list cast (well, except for Ozzy Osbourne). On the other, there's Elton John music and that inexplicable (and totally ...
Consider that shark officially jumped
It's been a few weeks since I last experienced that "Wait. It's not April 1st, is it?" feeling, but it's back:Apparently, this Twilight-inspired road safety sign in Portland, Oregon is, like, a r...
Chatting about the common cold
Salon.com has a fascinating interview up with science journalist Jennifer Ackerman, author of Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold. I had no idea I'd find the subject so interesting, bu...
Why does Voldemort's hissing always, always make me laugh?
Speak of the new Harry Potter movie and a new trailer appears:
So many bad ideas in one place...
Speaking of the book-to-movie transition, the fine people at BuzzSugar have put together a list of 15 Books To Read Before They're Adapted For the Screen. At least at this point, I'm only plannin...
Artemis Fowl the movie: MIA
Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch column has posted an article guessing at the next YA book to be adapted for the big screen. Most of the story is pure speculation—will Hollywood ever made a 3-D ad...
Looking to waste some time?
Have I got the iTunes app for you: several "classic" Choose Your Own Adventure titles have been launched recently as interactive reading experiences for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Even as a...
Get thee to a bookstore
How did this slip by me? I know last month felt like it was all Mockingjay, all the time in the kids' lit world, but seriously: how did I miss this?Author Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feif...
Just like in Scooby Doo
As you all know, I have many problems with fake books. One, they're fake books. Two, what are you supposed to keep in them? They're tiny! Three—and this is particularly true in this case—they'...
Ah, gimmicks
Yet another snippet of Disney Princess news has come my way: a sing-a-long version of Beauty and Beast will be shown in a limited number of theaters on September 29th and October 2nd. Hopefully t...
Romeo and Juliet + Zombies = Inevitable
NPR has posted a review of Anne Fortier's novel Juliet, a modern, completely re-imagined take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I'm not sure I'll read this—the cover is totally boring, and I am ...
Eat, Pray, Love, shop
Meg sent me this link to a limited-release line of three Eat, Pray, Love-inspired fragrances on Friday, but the maker has already sold out. The sprays are apparently still available in some store...
"Best of 2010" already?
The 2010 Hugo Awards for outstanding science fiction or fantasy works were given out this week. The best novel award was a tie this year—China Miéville's The City & The City and Paolo Bacigalupi'...
Safety first
Check out this owl-shaped bookend from Etsy artist Aprilfoss:Pretty cute, huh? And, at $26, relatively affordable. Aprilfoss's owls come in a wide variety of colors and fabrics, and each one sho...
Witch-hunting for fun and profit
Cinematical is linking Noomi Rapace (who played Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) to an upcoming American project called Hansel and Gretel: Witch ...
From one creepy extreme to another
These oddly melancholy images of obese Disney princesses are popping up all over the Internet. (They're drawn by Aly Bellissimo, the artist behind the questionably-SFW Creepy Miranda blog.) I wa...
Down for the count
PublishersWeekly recently posted an interesting article about chain bookstores' ongoing attempts to stay profitable during the economic downturn. Of the three major U.S. book chains (Books-A-Mill...