Language geeks of the world, unite!

Oh em gee, so awesome:

I bet China Mieville would be interested in this. That's an extra perk!

Living in the past, sure, I do that

Because I have the essential Lost reading list. This show will never die! I'm up to four of these...

Netflix, marry me

We've already talked about streaming literary adaptations from Netflix. What will they come up with next? Of course it's a list of Netflix for people who love plays. Is there anything Netflix can't do? (Besides send me a copy of "Amadeus" that doesn't need to be flipped like an LP, of course.)

Gaga for Gaga, library style

Famazing:

Why I heart the Rejectionist and Le R hates Cormac McCarthy

I know we all already read the Rejectionist religiously, because that blog is so good and so smart and so spot on. Well, Le R strikes again with her analysis of man fiction and her response to Cormac McCarthy. Heart heart. Heart.

Orlando Bloom is not a musketeer

Orlando Bloom, continuing his domination of books-to-movies, will be the Duke of Buckingham in a new adaptation of The Three Musketeers. You heard that right, gentlefolk, they're going to put Orlando Bloom next to Christoph Waltz, and hope that no one notices that one of the people with an accent is actually a block of wood.

Hurray casting!

Storing the stash with style

For some of us, closet space is a mythical beast to be worshiped and lured into our homes. For this demographic, where do you store your books?

Om nom nom storage I love you.

Ray Bradbury: The man, the myth, the mythology

Ray Bradbury is super, super prolific, and may or may not be the great American mythologizer.

He's seen the future, and it's not all grand pink-stoned chess cities on Mars and houses that tidy up after you. It's also knowing that the world is about to end and that there's nothing to do but lie under the covers and wait for oblivion to come. It's a room full of robots telling stories about the people who made them, long after the human race has vanished from the earth.

Live strong, Ray.

Feminist toys for girls and boys

Check out the Bronte sisters action figures, and the Brontesaurus:

Do want. And thanks to Michael, for sending this along!

Futuristic dinosaur space fairy tales

Question: is there anything better than Qwantz? Answer: of course not.

Why yes, you do have time to read the entire archive during your lunch break. And I can tell you from experience: don't forget to read the rollover text, or you'll have to read the whole archive a second time.

That's what she said: Literary haterade

Writers are notoriously cranky, reader types, not only in regard to their own work, but also in regard to the work of others. And sometimes, they just want to throw down. Like Faulkner on Mark Twain:

A hack writer who would not have been considered fourth rate in Europe, who tricked out a few of the old proven sure fire literary skeletons with sufficient local color to intrigue the superficial and the lazy.

That is what the kids would call "a burn," I believe. And there are 49 more! Click click, sirs and madams.

Also, thank you michael for sending this along!

The First Brother-in-Law spills

And boy, does he have some nice, enthusiastic, and encouraging things to say. Note to Craig Robinson: you're doing tell-all wrong.

Robinson, brother of the First Lady, has a memoir coming out, in which he wrote about his parents meeting not-yet-President Obama. Verdict? "'Too bad,' Marian said. 'Yep,' Fraser answered. 'She'll eat him alive.'"

This is, of course, the prequel to Robinson's novel about zombie Michelle Obama, in which she literally eats Pres-bama alive.

Margaret Atwood loves Twitter.

Seriously, she loves the Twitter. She writes:

One follower led to another, quite literally. The numbers snowballed in an alarming way, as I scrambled to keep up with the growing horde. Soon there were 32,000—no, wait, 33,000—no, 33,500… And before you could say LMAO (“Laughing My Ass Off,” as one Twitterpal informed me), I was sucked into the Twittersphere like Alice down the rabbit hole. And here I am.

Oh my goodness, Ms. Atwood, I officially love you.

Yes, Twilight is a writing style

This discussion of the writing style of the Twilight novels is one of the funnier discussions I've read. I know hating on Twilight has been done to death (I am especially guilty of this one), but this piece ends with my favorite comment on these books perhaps ever:

Marc: Holy [bleep], did I just stumble into actual analysis of this thing?

Say what you will about loving it or hating it--you will stumble into an actual analysis, and it will blow. Your. Mind.

The Country Bunny is the best books ever

At the New Yorker Book Bench, Kelly Bare writes about introducing her son to books she read as a child, including The Country Bunny.

I looooved this book as a kid (hey, Jews love Easter too...for candy and bunnies...). Some fun facts about the secret civil rights and feminist undertones:

“The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes” was published in 1939 by Du Bose Heyward, who is most famous for “Porgy and Bess” (he wrote the novel “Porgy,” co-wrote the play of the same name with his wife, Dorothy Heyward, and wrote the libretto and some of the lyrics for Gershwin’s opera). It’s illustrated by Marjorie Flack, whom you probably know (if you know her) from “The Story About Ping,” and it is the kid-lit total package. Lyrical writing, glowing illustrations, fuel for the imagination, a sense of humor, and, of course, a message: plucky little girl bunnies who defy prejudice and believe in themselves can grow up to become fully actualized lady bunnies who raise smart, happy, kind children and do fulfilling work outside the warren.

Having an excuse to purchase this book is on my list of reasons to have children. Also on the list is making it less weird to go see children's movies, and having a small tribe to begin building my army.

Childhood heroes

The Guardian has a great slideshow of the top ten heroes from children's books, including Pippi Longstocking, Anne of Green Gables, Matilda, and Sara Crewe of A Little Princess. There are also some boys on the list, but, you know. Eh.

The life of the writing woman

Confession: I do not always love the blog the Millions, mostly because it actually asks me to read real paragraphs and essays, which is beyond me on the internet. Another confession: I mostly hate when people write about writing. I find it excruciating. But Victoria Patterson's essay on the writing woman was just sooooooo goooood that I think I need to re-evaluate my stance on both the site and writing about writing. To quote:

I’m a nervous writer. I drink coffee and subsequently get thirsty and drink water. I chew gum—packs and packs, studding the wastebasket with my spit-out wads. I read my work out loud, again and again (I imagine one might hear a light mumble coming from my direction). There are frequent trips to the bathroom (coffee and water). I have to haul my writing materials—computer, notebooks, etc.—with me, so that they won’t get stolen. Or else I take on the Bathroom Sprint—going as fast as I can, returning in a light sweat.

Please, Victoria. Be my friend. The essay in its entirety is well worth the read.

Never give up, never surrender

One, I think Eric already used this post title. Two, it is more apt here, because this is about people who can't quit any book, even the bad ones. I suffer from this disease! It is frigging terrible! I would love to quit sometimes, but I just. Can't. Toby Lichtig sums it up:

I read the first few pages of a book, I can't quite get into it, but I struggle on until I'm a third of the way through and after that I simply have to reach the final page. It's not exclusive to novels. It's not even just to find out what happens. I think it's more compulsive than that: something to do with being assured that I've actually read the damn thing and not wasted my time on only some of it.

Seriously, this man is in my head. Please cure me.

The right way to write: The rules

The Guardian ran different authors' rules here and here--Anne Enright has the ever amazing "Try to be accurate about stuff" and "The first 12 years are the worst."

Book Bench shakes this down into the essential truths: you have to make your own rules. And remember: if you don't write it down, it never happened.

The structure of true romance

I am in love with this guide to writing romances, with interviews from some of the most prolific Mills & Boon writers. Because most genre is incredibly formulaic, the incredible output of thrillers, space operas, and yes, romances from a stable of authors is all the more impressive.

While I'm sure many consider success to be personal recognition from the public and Safran Foer-ness, I consider it fiscal, not artistic, and would loooove this kind of stable (in both the secure and the horses senses) writing work. Mills & Boon, or, hey, Harlequin, call me. I have no idea how to write any of this stuff believably or well, but I will take your money and help comment on your covers.