News came yesterday that a short story by Charlotte Bronte had been rediscovered. The story, written in French for a favorite tutor, had been missing for almost 100 years and was recently unearthed in…a museum. (Isn’t this a fireable offense? Shouldn’t someone know about this?) This got me to thinking about some long lost literary [...]
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When I was eleven I was a proto sci-fi/fantasy book nerd. I didn’t know from genre, but I knew I liked elves and unicorns and quests that involved chalices and knowing older women, queens, who wore tiaras that I could look up to as models for my burgeoning womanhood. I would rule some elves and [...]
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(image via Pinterest) 1.) They know more than you do… about everything. 2.) They often use words that you secretly have to look up later. 3.) They have magical cards that get them books for free. 4.) They speak the names of people whom you’ve never met; who live in different countries, who lived in [...]
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“Every day she was very productive,” he said. “She was working on two books and had been doing illustrations until the day before she passed away.” Jan Berenstain, co-creator of The Berenstain Bears. ____________________________ The opera that Renée Fleming, the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s creative consultant, has chosen for the company’s new commission is [...]
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On Sunday, I challenged you to identify a few fictional locales by their descriptions. Time now to see how you did. (Highlight text next to ANSWER to reveal). Here they are: 1. There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any [...]
Read the full postI saw the below call for recommendations on Twitter the other day and thought Book Riot readers might be particularly suited to help out: What’s a great book for an 11yo who loved Hunger Games and is fond of @neilhimself books (besides more Hunger Games and @neilhimself books)? — John Moe (@johnmoe) February 25, [...]
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If you hang out in the bookish Twitterverse, you probably have at least a passing familiarity with such feeds as Emperor Franzen, Michiko Kakutani and Eugenides’ Vest. These fake Tweeters, in a word, rule. I wish there were more like them. If I had unlimited time and an inexhaustible comic muse, here are five I’d [...]
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Two weeks ago, I presented at and attended the 2012 O’Reilly Tools of Change for the Publishing Industry Conference. (You can find a description of the panel I moderated here.) It’s my second time at “TOCCON,” as it’s known by the cognoscenti (geekoscenti?), and I noted again that this is more of a conference for production and process than [...]
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During a recent conversation, the topic of celebrities that we (being a group of readers) would like to see at a book event came up. A list of names was tossed out – including Alec Baldwin – and the first question asked was, “What do any of them have to do with books?” At [...]
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1. Penguin cufflinks: These cufflinks are made with vintage paperback covers of Penguin classics and are pretty damn cool if you ask me. 2. Teacup bookshelves: Inspired by Dr. Suess, these teacup shelves are one-of-a-kind and super fun. 3. Book page eggs: A fun idea for bookish Easter decorations, Lemon Tree Creations offers step-by-step instructions [...]
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Overall, Roald Dahl remains the top author although his position has weakened somewhat since last year. In all fairness, the guy has been dead twelve years. But the kids, they still love him. ____________________________ In contrast with his father, who was said to focus on literature and lepidoptery to the exclusion of all else, [...]
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French Chef Jacques Pepin embodies the American idea of a Frenchman: he’s opinionated, precise (might one say “fussy?”), continental. He has an outrageous accent; his cooking show is one of the many reasons I love PBS. My kids, 4 and 6, see him and shout, in unison, as I have taught them, “cocquilles St. Jacques!” [...]
Read the full postWe love our readers, and we love what they say just as much. Here are a few gems from last week. DRUNK HULK LIKE BIG BOOKS! AND DRUNK HULK CAN NO LIE! YOU OTHER BROTHERS CAN NO DENY! THAT WHEN BOOK WALK IN WITH ITTY BITTY SPINE! AND SMALL COVER IN YOU FACE! YOU GET [...]
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This is a guest post by Scott Beauchamp. Scott is a writer living in New York City. Rarely do good books get turned into good movies. And rarely do good movies come from good books. Of course everyone can think of a few examples (Deliverance, The Thin Red Line, The Last Temptation of Christ), but [...]
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A couple weeks ago, I began my Big Reading Project of 2012–a re-read of Toni Morrison’s full backlist in anticipation of the release of her new novel Home and our day-long celebration here at Book Riot on May 8th. The first time I ever read Morrison was seven years ago in a college seminar with [...]
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Now that we’ve sent out the invitations, and decorated for the ceremony and reception, it’s time to proof those fantastic photos you took! Good thing you used our guide on pictures to help inspire some fabulous ones that could go into the Book Geekery Hall of Fame (which, by the way, is a top honor). [...]
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Book trailers have become part of the reading world–a growing part. Not only are there more of them, but they are also getting more interesting and more diverse. The problem has been…where do you find them? If you knew which book you were looking for, you could search a video channel. Otherwise, random tweets and [...]
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“I’ve been to the National Book Awards a couple of times, and, trust me, it could be a convention of cloggers (the poets) and software designers with bad haircuts (everyone else).” I’d take this over the carbon-based bag of vacuity known as Ryan Seacrest anyday. ____________________________ The whole literary versus genre argument just won’t [...]
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Caught an interesting bit on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” this week (turns out it was a replay from July, but hey—why should romance novelists and reality TV producers be the only ones who get to rehash old material?). Neal Conan chatted with “Grammar Girl” Mignon Fogarty about her new book (well, new in July), [...]
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A few weeks ago, I challenged you to guess some famous characters by their physical descriptions. Well, we’re back with a similar challenge. This time, though, it’s guess the setting. I’ll give you a description of a place from a novel, and you try to guess it. Ready? Here goes: 1. There is a lovely road [...]
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