Unexpected
Last month, Literary Hub published a fascinating essay by graphic designer Linda Huang about the differences between hardcover and paperback book cover art. Ms. Huang works for Vintage & Anchor Books
Newer & improved
Mental Floss recently posted some comparison images of the changes Richard Scarry’s 1963 picture book Best Word Book Ever underwent between its initial publication and...
Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed To Earth, by Judd Winick
According to the press materials for Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth, series creator Judd Winick set out to create a genuinely kid-friendly superhero comic. School librarians rejoice: the end result is perfect for your 9-year-old reluctant readers (even the ones with super-conservative parents)...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth, by Judd Winick
This week's Book Giveaway is Judd Winick's graphic novel Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth. Winick set out to write an action comic that's 100% all-ages-appropriate, and I want to let him know that my mother (who works in a small, conservative, private school library; the kind of place where she occasionally has to tell kids that their parents won't allow them to check out the Harry Potter books) is...
Maybe if it came with a really delicious dessert...
According to Fast Company, Eat Vegan Before 6:00 author Mark Bittman has left his longtime gig at The New York Times to join The Purple Carrot, a "plant-based meal-kit startup"...
Arm and a leg
I can't afford this stuff (note: I don't know what it costs... but I'm sure I can't afford it), but I am weirdly attracted to Marc Jacobs/Disney's Alice in Wonderland-inspired capsule collection...
No cafe, though.
According to the Seattle Times, the very first brick-and-mortar Amazon store opened this week in Seattle's swanky University Place mall...
Upping the ante
The first trailer is out for AMC's upcoming adaptation of Garth Ennis's comic Preacher, and it looks like hyper-stylized, violent fun. From what I remember of this comic (which, admittedly, is not much), the show is going to need to edit out a lot of stuff to even reach Game of Thrones-levels...
The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School, by Kim Newman
Kim Newman's The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School is 300 pages of precisely detailed world-building, held together with 100 pages of adventure. It's a fun read, at least if you're part of the (presumably small) subset of people who like slowly-percolating stories...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School, by Kim Newman
This week's Book Giveaway is Kim Newman's The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School, which is not (contrary to appearances) a young-adult book. Personally, I'm hoping for a grown-up version of Catherine Jinks's...
Oh, you can afford it.
Sometimes I almost enjoy Apple's sheer nerve. According to Reuters, the tech giant has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to toss an appellate court decision from earlier this year that found Apple conspired with five publishers to artificially jack up e-book prices...
Real-world math
This is a little booknerd-specific, but there's an interesting article on InsideHigherEd about Alain Bourget, an associate professor of mathematics at California State University at Fullerton. Bourget recently received an official reprimand...
It will still be a step up
And speaking of theater, I notice that my local performing arts center is hosting TheatreworksUSA's touring production of The Lightning Thief, a musical (WHY?) mash-up of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. I'm not a fan of either musicals or "approximately one-hour" long adaptations of five-book series, so...
For the rich and/or devoted
J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website recently posted a helpful round-up of all the available information about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the stage play that will serve as the eighth official Harry Potter story...
Crafty! But evil.
I've been reading (and enjoying) Jenny Trout's coverage of the Laura Harner scandal. For anyone who missed this story, Harner is a prolific author of romance novels with homosexual pairings. She has recently been accused of plagiarizing several of her stories from writers of heterosexual romance novels...
Cold-Hearted Rake, by Lisa Kleypas
Lisa Kleypas's latest historical romance, Cold-Hearted Rake, checks quite a few of my preferred boxes: there's a strong focus on money, a period-appropriate (well, more or less) wariness about sex, and a celebration of family support systems. Unfortunately, the actual romance falls a little flat, but even sub-par Kleypas novels are well worth reading...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Cold-Hearted Rake, by Lisa Kleypas
This week's Book Giveaway is Lisa Kleypas's newest historical, Cold-Hearted Rake. Judging by that cover art, this is perhaps the least Halloween-appropriate giveaway ever, but if it helps, I will totally be eating candy while I read it. A review will follow shortly...
WANT 2.0
And speaking of glorious cover art design, the latest volume of my beloved Bad Machinery is out, and I think it's the coolest-looking one yet. (Plus it features the series' weirdest storyline, and considering the rest of BM, that's saying quite a lot.) The Case of the Lonely One is...
WANT.
Okay, I am in love: The Casual Optimist introduced me to Pelican Books' latest editions of Shakespeare, featuring absolutely amazing covers by graphic designer Manuja Waldia...
Asking Google is less embarrassing, though
A recent Jezebel article pointed me in the direction of the New York Public Library's Reference and Research Services' Instagram feed. The library has been featuring the contents...
Lookin' forward to it.
According to THR, actresses Lauren Graham and Mae Whitman (who worked together on the TV drama Parenthood) are teaming up to adapt The Royal We, the book by Go Fug Yourself co-creators Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, for CBS Films...
The Masked Truth, by Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong's standalone novel The Masked Truth is the YA version of the movie Speed: instantly absorbing, action-packed, and blessed with Grade-A chemistry between its two leads...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Masked Truth, by Kelley Armstrong
This week's Book Giveaway is Kelley Armstrong's The Masked Truth, which, if my eyes do not deceive me, is actually a standalone. This earns the book several points before I've even read it, because I don't have the patience to sit through another Armstrong series. Our review will follow later today...
Revived!
This week's Fresh Air featured a lengthy interview with Bloom County author Berkeley Breathed, who recently revived the comic after a twenty-five-year-long hiatus...
Where there are re-releases, there's hope.
Jennifer Crusie fans take note: there is now an standalone e-book version of her holiday-themed 2006 novella Hot Toy, which we originally reviewed here. Last summer my hopes were raised when...
Library threats
There's a fun article over at Collectors Weekly about the lost art of the artist-designed bookplate. Bookplates are apparently highly collectible, and I've decided that I, like bookplate collector and expert Lew Jaffe, really need a collection of bookplates featuring people with severed heads...
Wasteful
While poking around a local bookstore, I finally had a chance to see Penguin's Classics Deluxe edition of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. The cover art is absolutely gorgeous, and I was immediately tempted to buy it... until I saw the price ($25! For a paperback!) and felt the weight (3 pounds! Also for a paperback!)...
Doctor Who: City of Death, by James Goss and Douglas Adams
Beyond coveting one of the character's trademark scarves, I've never been a Doctor Who fan. I am, however, a big Douglas Adams nerd, so when I was offered a novelization of the famous Doctor Who serial City of Death—written partially by Adams—I accepted it, my lack of Doctor Who knowledge be damned. This, my friends, is why God gave us Wikipedia...