From Rapunzel to The Little Red Riding Hood, Beloved Children’s Classics as Minimalist Posters

by Maria Popova

Visual hyper-distillation of iconic storytelling.

100 Best First Lines of Novels

The titles range from Don Quixote to Middlesex

The editors of American Book Review selected what they consider the most memorable first lines of novels. The titles on the list span centuries and genres and include classics and contemporary novels that are certain to become classics. Use this list to test your literary knowledge.

Read more: Best First Lines of Novels | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0934311.html#ixzz2ZbtHqf8j

10 Decidedly Highbrow But Still Beach-Appropriate Summer Reads

                                                       by Emily Temple

an illustration or a graphic representation or words. Color is important. I do not like photography on book covers. I like to reserve the right to imagine the characters myself. A drawing lets me. It's not so definite. A photo demands that this is what Susie looks like and if I've imagined her differently or don't like how this model looks, too bad.

I buy books because of covers. I wonder about the cover as I read. One of the reasons I like physical books as opposed to ebooks is that I can go back and look at the cover whenever I want -- okay, okay, I know you can do that on an ebook too,  but it's not the same as just holding the cover in your hands and often the printed book has a different cover than the ebook. The fonts, the color, it all makes a difference to me. Have I liked books that I hated the cover of? -- of course, just like I've been devastated by bad books in great covers. When I listen to books on my iphone I find it very satisfying to hear the story unfold while staring at the cover.

How many times have you asked a librarian for guidance on something to read or where to find a book? There are 16,000 public libraries in America and soon the librarians will come to you via a new online recommendation service called LibraryReads. 

LibraryReads is a joint effort between the ALA (American Library Assn.), AAP (American Assn. of Publishers) and the ABA (American Booksellers Assn.) A number of major publishers have agreed to participate as well.

Each month librarians will present a list of their favorite top 10 books they have read and want to recommend. The service will officially launch in the fall of 2013 at the web address www.libraryreads.org. 

In this sweet silly tale, I liked the present day storyline much more than the back stories although the adventure in Russia was great. Jonasson's characters remind me of very mild Carl Hiassen ones and his back stories are like Peabody's Improbable History -- if anyone remember's it -- a part of the televisied cartoon The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. If not that, then for those younger, Forest Gump's way of getting into history's big moments. 

12 Vintage Book Covers That May Have Predicted Internet Memes

Guess what meme this is (CLICK on it) :

As we all know we have a passion for books (or we wouldn't be here right?) but what do we do when our favorite old books fall apart? I hate to part with these old titles that have become more like old friends then just belongings. I've been looking over the web for ways to recycle these loves into art that can stay with me and spread a little cheer to others that visit my humble home. Here are a few of my favorite ideas.

For the love of books shared a wonderful idea to turn old book spines into bookmarks. It's such a clever idea!

Google image search turned up this interesting birdhouse made from old books. Wish I could find a tutorial for it but it does look pretty straight forward to make. Another idea would be to buy a wooden birdhouse and use something like mod podge to cover it in your favorite pages.

To go with this cute house I'd love to make a little paper mache bird to sit on the perch. Something like this little guy made out of my favorite pages. That Artist Woman has a wonderful tutorial on her site.

I also have to admit that I love the idea of turning old books into works of art. That's what they are to me. Beautiful words that have gifted me with wonderful highs and lows and to see them turned into art that can transfer that emotion in a few seconds is a beautiful thing over here to view more of this artist's creations.

For the chic literary fashionista here's a tutorial to guide you through making your own book purse. I'll be the first to admit I'd love a whole collection of these.

And finally I found an etsy store selling book bins. They've taken simple wooden bins and added old book spines to the front. It would be such a simple project to DIY. I think we'll have to make some for our school bookshelves to hold our markers and math blocks. They would look great from the front and would give our shelves a clean, organized look. The kids can help pick out their favorite spines from their old books to recycle.

Books Should Be Free
Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBooks
Download books for iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players

Just a few titles:

This! From the Diaries of Pussy-Cake by BY GARY SHTEYNGART.