Need to open a secret passageway, Scooby-Doo-style?
Okay, I want one:B.Light Design has created a "Secret Passageway Switch" that uses a hard-bound book (without damaging it) to conceal its true function as an electrical switch. Sadly, it's alread...
Ranma 1/2 gets promoted
Rumiko Takahashi has drawn a poster for the upcoming live-action adaptation of her classic manga Ranma 1/2, and while I'm feeling most of it, what is up with Genma's panda suit?!? I understand no...
Would-be authors take note
There's another writing competition in the works: the Serendipity Literary Agency and the Gotham Writers’ Workshop are hosting their second "Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition". Aspiring YA ...
A story in stuff
Speaking of NPR, they recently posted an enthusiastic review of Caroline Preston's The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, a novel told via a scrapbook-style collection of vintage memorabilia. (The revie...
A modern classic
Much to my delight, the second book for NPR's Back-Seat Book Club is Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, one of my all-time favorite books. The Back-Seat Book Club is technically aimed at read...
Suppressed emotions and leg waxing
The first full-length trailer is out for The Hunger Games, and it focuses far more on the interpersonal drama than the kid-on-kid violence. Probably a smart move, considering I still have no idea...
Drive a superhero
Starting at the end of the month, Australian comic book fans will be able to adorn their cars with a range of classic DC superhero images. The plates are not cheap (starting at $195 AUD), and dec...
Ridiculously adorable... but also just ridiculous
I spend a lot of time thinking about punctuation, so I covet these Kate Spade Air Quote Mittens with a fiery passion. Sadly, I would need these gloves to be at least 75% off before I would even c...
Abridged beyond belief
These "Baby Lit" books are cute, right? And the Jane Austen one at least got a good review on AustenBlog. But how could anyone make Romeo and Juliet into a baby board book (even if it's just a "...
Romance Writing 101
Aspiring romance novelists take note: Harlequin is kicking off their second "So You Think You Can Write" contest this week. (Actually, I suspect this event would benefit more than just budding ro...
Miss Havisham: surprisingly young and hot
I just discovered that Helena Bonham-Carter and Gillian Anderson will be playing the role of Miss Havisham in two separate adaptations of Great Expectations due out next year. I'm sure they'll bo...
That's some very, very tiny font.
I'm totally delighted by the images from PosterText, a company that designs posters featuring the contents of various classic novels*, artistically arranged to depict an important scene or element...
Taking liberties
Very few of the recent film adaptations of Dr. Seuss's books have been successful, but I'm wondering if the people behind the upcoming movie The Lorax even read their source material. This is an ...
One or the other
According to a Belgian judge, Tintin in the Congo isn't a racist book, just a "reflection of [author Hergé's] time", and therefore cannot be banned on racial grounds. Of course, it was a racist t...
A classic British mystery
Man, I don't understand the English. Apparently, two of England's biggest newspapers (the left-wing Guardian and the right-wing Daily Mail) are all up in arms over Pippa Middleton's plans to publ...
Blood feud? I'd like to think so.
Heh. According to THR, Anne Rice is not a fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Ms. Rice recently wrote:"[My characters] feel sorry for vampires that sparkle in the sun... They would never h...
Practicing what she preaches
Nora Roberts has a new book out, and while I am (once again) suppressing my irritation over the $16 price tag, I was interested to learn that the story was directly inspired by the historic inn Ro...
Additional Crazy
Several years ago, Jennifer Crusie wrote a collection of interconnected short stories for her MFA. The characters in the collection eventually formed the basis for Crusie's full-length novel Craz...
The Magic Tree House gets animated
The full-length trailer is out for the upcoming Japanese anime adaptation of Mary Pope Osborne's mega-popular Magic Tree House books. The film will open in Japan on January 7, 2012, and I suspect...
In honor of Halloween...
According to NPR, William Blatty has written a "revised and polished" edition of his novel The Exorcist. In addition to the stylistic updates, the recently-released 40th Anniversary Edition also ...
Science fair season is coming up
Thanks to the fine people at io9, I now know that Britain's Royal Society has recently opened up their historical archive of journals to the public, free of charge. The Royal Society has been pub...
A step in the right direction
According to Scientific American, a Dutch researcher has developed a font designed to decrease the number of errors made by dyslexics while reading. The font emphasizes the differences between ce...
Dressing up
If you've ever dreamed of looking like a disturbed computer hacker with multiple facial piercings (and who hasn't?), start saving now: on December 14th, budget retailer H&M will be releasing a clo...
It's almost Halloween, right?
Slate recently posted an article about the original Pinocchio story, which they claim is considerably creepier than the 1940s Disney version. Now, normally this wouldn't come as much of a surpris...
Big book, big price
Baking Bites has posted a largely-positive review of the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, which apparently boasts over 2,000 recipes from the magazine's twenty-year history.The book costs forty dollar...
He probably has his reasons.
This weekend's big geek news item was the announcement that Joss Whedon has made a mysterious adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. I'm not sure why Whedon was compelled to ...
The Game of Triumphs, by Laura Powell
15-year-old Cat Harper, the orphaned protagonist of Laura Powell's debut novel The Game of Triumphs, is not your typical wide-eyed fantasy heroine. After witnessing a murder, streetwise, pragmati...