June 30, 2011
June 29, 2011
Materials: Natural wood finish, matte black metal
More info here.
June 27, 2011
“Our literary tribute this year rightfully honors Mark Twain, author of one of the greatest novels in American literature and the man whom William Faulkner called ‘the first truly American writer,’ said Postal Service Board of Governors member James H. Bilbray. “Mark Twain was a rarity, as he was one of the first writers to exploit the vernacular voice in his books, using the speech of common Americans.”
This new design is the 27th stamp in the USPS' Literary Arts series, which launched in 1979. Other honorees include Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The new stamp is on sale now for 44 cents; to buy online, click here. To check out the rest of the Literary Arts series honorees, go here.
June 23, 2011
{ A MICHAEL NUHN REVIEW }
“The drive from Iowa City was 150 miles and Janine said there were 150 redwing blackbirds, one on every milepost. She was from Chicago and she had these ideas about nature, which meant that she got excited about ordinary things.”Jean Thompson’s The Year We Left Home (Simon & Schuster) tells the somewhat depressing tale of a Midwestern family of Norwegian descent (this isn’t important to anyone who isn’t Midwestern or a fan of Prairie Home Companion, but readers get reminded every seventh page nonetheless), following the Erickson parents, children, and cousins across the span of three decades. I suspect that the depressing part is just my own reader’s response to the book, as I come from a similar location wracked with similar ruin. The story begins in 1973 in Grenada, Iowa, with a backdrop of the farmland hardships of the latter 20th century: economic and agricultural troubles leading to bank foreclosures and farm bankruptcies; small-town retail collapse; and hints of the rural methamphetamine plague creeping in at the end. These broad, underlying strokes and unspoken details do lend it an authenticity in both plot and characters, though, and are only truly depressing if a reader knows them firsthand or looks into them further.
June 22, 2011
The latest addition to our bookcase forest is, simply, Booktree. Designed by Venice-based Kostas Syrtariotis, this solid-wood bookcase debuted earlier this year at Milan Design Week as part of its kidsroomzoom event. But I think the bookcase is sophisticated enough that its aesthetic can appeal to big kids, too - especially the darker finish, which really ups the sleek ante. More info - and a video - here.
Materials: Solid wood, three finishes - ash, tineo, ebony.
Measurements: 90x190x20 cm
June 21, 2011
June 17, 2011
*Hey, parents (or babysitters or older, responsible-for-your-bratty-kid-sister siblings), if you've ever run into problems getting a child down for the night, then you'll probably get a kick out of Go the Fuck to Sleep
, a just-released "children's" book by Adam Mansbach. Even better - there's an audio version narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, and Werner Herzog has agreed to narrate another. You can download the Samuel J. Jackson recording for free here and listen to an excerpt here.*Nerd it up with me, everybody! The OED just announced its second round of updates and revisions for 2011. Among the new additions (1,800 in all): auto-complete, babe, brain candy (eye-candy and ear candy are old news to the OED), and, perhaps most surprising considering its history, use it or lose it. It supposedly dates back to 1887. (Can you imagine starchy Victorians using it? I am conjuring up many situations and inserting it - so great.)
*J.K. Rowling has something up her sleeve. It's called Pottermore. HP fansite The Leaky Cauldron was granted a sneak peek and described it as "one of the most amazing, engaging and breathtaking additions to this fandom imaginable." And in other news, millions of individuals reported brief hearing loss earlier today as Potter fans worldwide emitted a simultaneous scream of excitement.
*The new Green Lantern movie isn't exactly getting rave reviews from critics, and it's not hard to see why: the critics are comparing it to this brilliant version featuring the Muppets. (The Muppets make everything better. Seriously, the Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite adaption of the story. I am not joking.)
June 16, 2011
June 15, 2011
And, those of you who looked at Paperback and thought, as I did, "well, that's all well and good for casual readers," take heart - there's another, far more exciting size.
[via New York Magazine]
June 14, 2011
I love free stuff. It perks me up, brightens my day, maybe even makes me feel a little bit smug, depending on the freebie. But when free stuff bumps into book stuff, resulting in free book stuff (!!!), then I immediately revert back to my eight-year-old self, complete with squeals, giggles, and dancing feet (Does it get any BETTER?!). And these adorable bookplates are an express ticket back to a time of school-uniform culottes and slouchy socks.
June 10, 2011
June 08, 2011
Designed by Eva Alessandrini and Roberto Saporiti for Italian design firm Saporiti, it consists of modular cubes made of letters and numbers that can be rearranged to spell out a range of words or phrases, such as Read Your Bookcase above. Customers can pick from three cubes sizes and a number of interior and exterior colors.
[Thanks, Matt!]
June 07, 2011
“In Quebec there are children that don’t even have ONE new book… in 2008,” says Gaëtan Namouric, executive vice-president and creative director at Bleublancrouge, the ad agency behind the campaign. “Reading feeds our imaginations. When a child doesn’t have access to reading, that’s a child deprived of an imaginary world. This unbelievable injustice should mobilize a large number of industries in the field of culture, media, publishing and even ours, advertising. What would our future be if people couldn’t understand our messages?”
A TV spot accompanied the print ads, featuring additional characters:
[via Trend Hunter]
June 06, 2011
Based on what's jumping from page to screen, June has apparently been anointed the month of childhood. There aren't a lot of adaptions out there this time around - only four - but two of those are based on children's books and the other two take inspiration from old-school comics, so it seems Hollywood screenwriters are waxing a bit nostalgic. Are you? Video after the jump!
June 01, 2011
Can you imagine having an entire wall - or room - of this shelving? Faaaantastic. This is the Random bookcase by MDF Italia. I personally love the white, but if it's not your thing, try this instead:
Gorgeous.
More information here.
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