I bet they were tough to take in real life, too.
It's time for the Toronto Film Festival, and reviews of book adaptations and literary biopics are pouring out. First up is Screen Daily's enjoyably nasty review of Vita and Virginia, about the love affair between...
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Graphic Novel), by Ransom Riggs and Cassandra Jean
I rarely read graphic novel adaptations of popular books, because they never look like the stories do in my head. But I was recently given a copy of the graphic novel version of Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and it had two things going for it...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs and Cassandra Jean
This week's Book Giveaway is the graphic novel adaptation of Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. (I realize the original version of the book was also pretty graphics-heavy, but apparently someone decided to go all the way.) Again, a full review will follow shortly, and please note: due to a bunch of overdue postings, this giveaway will run through October 12th...
Sorry, not a coincidence
An assistant professor at UC Berkeley recently analyzed The New York Times' "By the Book" column (which asks authors about the specific books on their nightstands)...
New and expanded
THR recently offered an in-depth look at DC/Vertigo's new one-shot The Sandman Universe. This book will serve as a launch pad for four ongoing series inspired by Neil Gaiman's The Sandman...
Depressing, so no.
The teaser trailer for HBO's miniseries adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend is out, and I'm concerned that it features multiple scenes of children being slapped. It all looks very elegant and...
Snowdrift and Other Stories, by Georgette Heyer
I am a die-hard Georgette Heyer fan and have sincerely loved Sourcebooks' elegant, well-made reprints of her work, so it pains me to say this, but despite the great cover art and a couple of solid entries, the short story collection Snowdrift is for Heyer completists only...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Snowdrift, by Georgette Heyer
This week's Book Giveaway is Snowdrift, a collection of 14 short stories by beloved historical romance novelist Georgette Heyer. A full review will follow shortly, and please note: due to a bunch of overdue postings, this giveaway will run through October 12th, so best of luck...
Creepifying
There was a fascinating (and slightly disturbing) article recently published in The Guardian by Maryanne Wolf, the director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Wolf outlines the research that suggests that skimming information online is actually changing our brains...
I want one!
I don't know anything about this book, but I LOVE the cover and I'm in awe of how they managed to make the food look plausibly vintage, yet avoided falling into the trap of making it look like...
I WILL hunt a copy down somewhere
I've been meaning to check out Uzma Jalaluddin's novel Ayesha At Last ever since it was featured on Lainey Gossip earlier this summer. Apparently, it's a modern take on Pride and Prejudice featuring an all-Muslim cast...
Maybe from the library
NPR recently posted an essay about Anne Boyd Rioux's Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters, a scholarly examination of the themes of Alcott's classic novel. Boyd Rioux, a professor at the University of New Orleans, argues that Little Women "exerted more influence on women writers as a group than any other single book"...
Yay...?
This Game of Thrones-inspired egg cup is... a thing that exists.
Okay, and it costs $16, and I don't think the crown is included...
To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is the perfect back-to-school treat: a YA romance with an adorable heroine, endearing love interest, and enjoyably ridiculous plot. Plus, the entire trilogy has already been released, and Netflix has just released a super cute movie adaptation, so impatient fans (read: ME) won't have to wait to see how it all turns out...
Weekly Book Giveaway: To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han
This week's Book Giveaway is Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before, which I read after watching the cute-as-a-freaking-button Netflix adaptation. Due to a bunch of overdue postings, this giveaway will run through October 12th, so best of luck...
Crafty!
Mental Floss recently posted a list of 11 Facts about Little Free Libraries that I perused with interest. (I love Little Free Libraries—particularly the ones with lurid paint schemes and/or architecture, because I'm pretty unobservant and those are the easiest ones to spot.) Did you know...
The Alice one is going on my Christmas list
Out of Print just launched a collaboration with S'well water bottles! There are only three designs (The Great Gatsby, Alice in Wonderland, and a black-and-white Composition book style), and...
Libraries to the rescue, too!
Okay, I love this: The New York Public Library has launched a program at the Riverside Library on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that allows library card holders to borrow ties, briefcases, and handbags for three-week periods...
Cookbooks to the rescue
If you, like me, find Create TV extremely soothing, you may have noticed that the recent show based on Nigella Lawson's latest cookbook At My Table seems to be always on, even though there's only a handful of episodes...
Girl Waits With Gun, by Amy Stewart
I usually avoid novels about historical figures, because I'm constantly wondering how much of the story is real and how much is invented. But as far as I can discover, there is very little known about Constance Kopp, the heroine of Amy Stewart's novel Girl Waits With Gun, so the author was able to let her imagination run wild—something she does with wit, style, and charm...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Girl Waits With Gun, by Amy Stewart
This week's Book Giveaway is Amy Stewart's 2015 novel Girl Waits With Gun, which I freely admit I picked up solely because I liked the cover. Thankfully, thus far I like the story, too, but a full review will follow shortly...
Money is no object
If you're a hardcore Harry Potter geek, apparently there is now a new-and-improved ultimate Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit game on the market, with three times the questions, a custom board, and whatever "House mascot movers" are. It's also not cheap (nearly $50), but...
At least they've finally run away...?
io9 recently posted an update on season two of Hulu's Runaways. I'll probably check out an episode or two (or at least read the recaps), but the first season was my biggest TV disappointment of the past year...
In the works
Huh. I had no idea that Ursula K. Le Guin’s work was becoming such a hot commodity: according to io9, there are five Le Guin TV or movie adaptations in some stage of development. Sure, that's not quite Philip K. Dick/Stephen King levels of enthusiasm...
Vital role
And speaking of both interviews and the upcoming Crazy Rich Asians movie, Forbes recently posted an interview with CRA costume designer Mary Vogt about the importance of "Sartorial Storytelling". If you've read the book, you...
Her own best salesperson
While a lot of online enthusiasm has been focused this week on the film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, the Netflix adaptation of Jenny Han's YA romance To All the Boys I've Loved Before has been making waves, too. The Mary Sue recently interviewed Han about the adaptation of her book, and her answers...
Stars Uncharted, by S.K. Dunstall
I'm not surprised that there's a promotional quote on the front of S. K. Dunstall's new novel Stars Uncharted comparing it to the popular book/TV series The Expanse. The two stories have a number of similarities (multiple narrators, ragtag space explorers, nods to film noir), but Dunstall's book has its own strengths and weaknesses...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Stars Uncharted, by S. K. Dunstall
This week's Book Giveaway is S. K. Dunstall's new space opera Stars Uncharted, which I'm hoping will fill the gap that The Expanse's summer/network-swapping vacation has left in my heart. A full review will be posted shortly...
Summer reading
The Guardian recently posted a great article on tips and tricks to encourage children to read during the summer. I've always been a fan of the "give them no other option" approach myself, but...