Booklicious

May 20, 2013

Etsy Gems: DesignAtelierArticle's Minimalist Bookends

[Monday, May 20, 2013 | 2 comments]

Lena and Dmitry of Design Atelier Article make a damn fine pair of bookends. They make other things, too — hooks, candle holders, clocks — but their bookends are worthy of any design-focused home store: think CB2, West Elm, Z Gallerie. And this is what I love most about Etsy — sure, you're going to find the Regretsy-worthy there, but more often than not you'll find pieces that any home (or body) would be proud to display. It's an honest-to-goodness 21st-century treasure trove.

DesignAtelierArticle's bookends run from the angelic:

to the athletic: and everything in between: You can browse the rest of Lena and Dmitry's shop here.

May 09, 2013

Eva Sernin Pernas's Lit-Inspired Makeup

[Thursday, May 09, 2013 | 0 comments]

Most days, my makeup routine consists of common, even boring, products like concealer, eyeshadow, and blush. I'd be the first to admit it's a snooze. But if Eva Sernin Pernas had to describe her look, she'd use words like orange slices, glitter, rhinestones, and sugar. It takes a lot more than a swipe of mascara and slash of lippy to make this girl happy.

That's because Eva really is a makeup artist. She uses her skills to transform her features into homages to movies, books, video games, even fruit. Check out her take on The Hunger Games, Alice in Wonderland, the Harry Potter series, and Breakfast at Tiffany's (above):


[The Hunger Games]

[Harry Potter]


[Alice in Wonderland]

[Alice in Wonderland]

You can view more of her incredible work here.

March 07, 2013

Getting Personal with the LRB

[Thursday, March 07, 2013 | 0 comments]

[The London Review of Books is Britain's most esteemed literary magazine. Published fortnightly, it features essays, reviews and the most outrageous personal ads ever set in type. The following is a selection from the latest issue.]

*Happy 37-year-old woman seeks sexy, reliable partner and father of her future children. China-based, can live anywhere. Literary, sociable, athletic, sings blues-rock, great cook, opera enthusiast, avid poetry reader (Christopher Reid! Billy Collins!), globe-trotter, theatre addict, museum-goer, stupendous smiler, fabulous lover, modest (obviously), knows nothing about wine and routinely picks whatever is from New Zealand. Totally into mindfulness meditation though can be sceptical about the Buddhism.
email: venus.ventus.temerarus@gmail.com

*Southwest Crusoe, 64, eclectic, languages, widower, yearns for female footprints in the sand – warm, witty, companionable, coeval, localish. Unearthing elusive culture, outings, innings, travel, LOL/LOL (horseless, textless), even fairweather boating, could occur. Break out and let rip, occidental bluestocking; sorry, MetroCantab gels.
email: fridayseeker@hotmail.co.uk

March 05, 2013

Lit-Inspired Baby Photo Shoot

[Tuesday, March 05, 2013 | 0 comments]

Does it get any cuter? This is Maddie, whose mother, Nicole Lepper of Monmouth, Ill., decided to forgo the usual Anne Geddes–style baby photos in favor of something a little more special. A fan of fairy tales, she worked with photographer Wendi Riggins to come up with a selection of scenes from her favorite stories, with Maddie dressed as a character from each. Called the Once Upon a Time series, the photos include scenes from Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood.

"The day of the session went better than we ever could have planned," Riggins posted on her blog. "Maddie didn’t mind the non-stop clothing changes, and seemed entertained by all the sets! She especially loved the “big bad wolf” and soap bubbles! And then, at the very end, she fell asleep, giving us one last shot to wrap up this perfect session, a shot we hadn’t even planned on and threw together very last minute!"

A similarly themed first-birthday shoot is scheduled for late March/early April, which Riggins also plans to post on her site. You can view more photos from the shoot here.

March 04, 2013

This Week's Bestsellers

[Monday, March 04, 2013 | 0 comments]

New York Times: Combined Print & Ebook Fiction
1. Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson
2. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4. Wait for Me by Elisabeth Naughto
5. A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

New York Times: Combined Print & Ebook Nonfiction
1. American Sniper by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
2. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander
3. America the Beautiful by Ben C. Carson and Candy Carson
4. Drinking and Tweeting by Brandi Glanville with Leslie Bruce
5. Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Indie: Hardcover Fiction
1. Tenth of December by George Saunders
2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
3. The Dinner by Herman Koch
4. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
5. A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

Indie: Hardcover Nonfiction
1. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
2. Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott
3. I Could Pee on This by Francesco Marciuliano
4. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
5. The Future by Al Gore

Design Your Own Pulp Cover

[Monday, March 04, 2013 | 0 comments]

Although most of us don't have the mental fortitude to bang out a full-length pulp story, author and illustrator Bradley W. Schneck's Pulp-O-Mizer means we can at least create our own pulp-fiction covers. With a huge array of backgrounds, images, text treatments, and copy options, the Pulp-O-Mizer has the potential to monopolize hours of your time — don't say I didn't warn you. You can download your design in a variety of sizes and add it to merchandise like cards, posters, mugs, and iPad covers sold on the site.

March 02, 2013

Jack Black, Goldilocks, Regina Spektor, and Curious George Made a Music Video

[Saturday, March 02, 2013 | 1 comments]

To raise support for its Book People Unite campaign, literacy nonprofit Reading is Fundamental rounded up literary icons like Captain Ahab and Humpty Dumpty and entertainers like Jack Black and Regina Spektor for a little music video.

In underserved communities in the U.S., there's only one book for every 300 kids. Learn how to change that number here.

January 14, 2013

David Paler Photographs the Books of the Dead

[Monday, January 14, 2013 | 1 comments]

Photo: DavidPaler.com

I love finding treasure in trash reading. The other day, I was skimming an article about Kelly Ripa putting her apartment on the market for $24.5 million (!!) and idly clicked over to the website of the photographer who took photos of the property. David Paler specializes in architecture and interiors, which gives him poignant insight into a little-talked-about situation: photographing the possessions — in particular the library — of the recently deceased.

But it’s the bookcases and their contents that usually catch my attention. When you shoot enough apartments both living and dead, you can tell when someone buys books for show and when they actually read them. It’s fascinating to see literally acres of paper, literature they read in university and out, row upon row of history books and biographies, solemn legal or medical tomes utilized for a life’s work, or vast art book collections, many out of print. Generations of books. There were times where I found that the deceased owner was actually the author of several of the books, and I wondered how much knowledge and wisdom was lost.

You can read the rest of David's article here and view his portfolio here.

January 07, 2013

{blast from the past post}
Darth Vader Reads Bedtime Stories

[Monday, January 07, 2013 | 0 comments]

{This is content that originally ran February 2, 2012. Click here for the original post.}

James Earl Jones reading a children's story — does this not sound like the perfect way to drift off to sleep? I am so envious of today's kids, because not only do they get Darth Vader reading them bedtime stories, they also get Betty White, Ernest Borgnine, and Robert Guillaume (but only if they're well-behaved, obedient children — otherwise they get stuck with the likes of Amanda Bynes and Haylie Duff).

All this narrative magnificence comes to us via Storytime Online, a SAG-funded program whose selling point is essentially what I presented above: famous people reading children's books. Any book that is read by a famous Joe is also available for purchase (for you Victorians who actually prefer to read to your own children in the flesh — OMG).

This almost makes me wish I had kids.

January 04, 2013

{blast from the past post}
The Great Gatsby, Nintendo-Style

[Friday, January 04, 2013 | 0 comments]

{This is content that originally ran February 17, 2011. Click here for the original post.}

When Michael forwarded me this link on Monday, exhorting me to feature it, I was initially dismissive. Fast forward to today, however, and suddenly I'm singing a different tune.

Here's the deal. Four guys combined their programming, art and lit skills to create an open-source version of a "lost" Nintendo game based on The Great Gatsby. It's pretty funny stuff — they've put together a back story, a manual and box art, as well as the pretty darn entertaining flash game itself. You can play it whenever you want, wherever you want — it's hosted here and playable in-browser. I predict a sizable drop in productivity this week...

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