Link Love: 07.25.15

Back cover of The Magic Box

This Link Love is so overdue. I think I've been hoarding some of these for months now, but life has been crazy and this blog doesn't always get the attention it deserves. This is my way of saying, if it seems like old news, it probably is.

• Rookie's guide to slacking off on summer reading made me laugh. We've all been there.
• Joyce Carol Oates has one of those Twitter feeds that you really hope is some sort of unannounced performance art piece. I'm not sure I quite believe that she actually knew this triceratops wasn't real.
• I just reread this article and doubled over with laughter again. Some journals aren't exactly up to par... (If the word "fuck" bothers you, maybe don't click.)
• This 23-year-old is writing her memoir on Instagram. And it's good. And impressive.
• If you haven't seen Jurassic World yet, hop on it (and roll your eyes at the obvious sexism), but first you should read about the strange bookish origins of the whole franchise.
• Uncanny Magazine's Top Five Myths About YA is a good read, particularly if you have lit snob tendencies. 

"In the time since I’ve started editing young adult fiction for the Kaleidoscope imprint at Twelfth Planet Press, I’ve learned a lot about what people do and don’t think about YA. In particular, I’ve seen a lot of people dismiss it as unimportant, insubstantial, all the same, and for kids. Essentially this is the exact same stuff people in the Science Fiction community complain about hearing from people who shove SF into the “genre ghetto.” It isn’t fair for SF, and it isn’t fair for YA, either."

• A classic novel for each Myers-Briggs personality type. I got Pride & Prejudice, which I wouldn't have guessed, but the description fits. 
• Patrick deWitt, author of The Sisters Brothers and the new (and brilliantly named) Undermajordomo Minor, gave a great interview to Maclean's. 
• Sexism and racism in publishing is real and the Sad Puppies win with Tor Books hurts my heart. Hard. 
• Maurice Sendak and Robert Graves wrote a children's book together about the magic of reading and I am in bookish fan-girl heaven about this revelation.
• Allegedly, this is the definitive list of the most evil child characters in all of bookdom. I love creepy kids.
• I find Lolita fascinating. The way the movie over-sexed the victim and made her the predator. The struggle with creating a accurate but non-sensational book cover. The fact that Nabakov almost burned the manuscript. If you find Lolita as fascinating as I do, you must read this powerful article that addresses Lolita as victim. 

"We have forgotten Lolita. At least, we’ve forgotten about the young girl, “standing four feet ten in one sock,” whose childhood deprivation and brutalization and torture subliminally animate the myth that launched a thousand music videos. The publication, reception, and cultural re-fashioning of Lolita over the past 60 years is the story of how a twelve-year-old rape victim named Dolores became a dominant archetype for seductive female sexuality in contemporary America: It is the story of how a girl became a noun. "

• Let's all take a break from having a crisis of conscious over the legality of publishing Harper Lee's new novel and celebrate the wonderful news about a new Dr. Seuss book coming soon!
•  Ummm... Hunnama I mean hummana hummana hummana. Charlie Hunnam is starring in a new spin on the King Arthur saga. The first images of him as Arthur Pendragon are my kind of erotica. Yum. Actually, the entire cast will make you drool.
• There is now a hotel in Tokyo that let's you sleep in a bookstore. 
• Which book protagonist are you?(I got Harry Potter.)
• Troy's list of diverse fantasy recommendations over at Book Riot will make you rethink how you think about the genre. I think I need to read them all.
• ICYMI: I did a roundup of fantastic feminist books for young adults over at Book Riot.
• Fictional currencies infographic. I love this stuff.
• I, for one, am part of the adult coloring book trend.

Book Style: Peter Pan

I'm a little obsessed with the Puffin Chalk series by Dana Tanamachi-Williams (of Tanamachi Studio), I've done Alice's Adventures in Wonderland before and I had, just had, to put another one together. Today is Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. For those of you only familiar with the big screen adaptations of this tale - Disney's Peter Pan & Hook are the usual suspects - let me give you a brief background. Barrie originally wrote Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up as a play in 1904 and then reworked it for a book originally titled Peter and Wendy in 1911. The bit of the story that was the jumping point for Hook wasn't part of the original play but was written in later and appears in the final chapter of Peter and Wendy as When Wendy Grew Up. An Afterthought. The play still rarely uses An Afterthought's content but occasionally producers elect to include it. The character of Peter Pan was actually based on Barrie's brother who died at fourteen. Barrie took comfort from that idea that since his brother died a boy, he would remain in that carefree space forever. Peter's first appearance is actually in Barrie's 1902 novel The Little White Bird.

Don't think of this outfit as a lady Peter Pan or as a modern Wendy. It's not either one. One of Peter Pan's most enduring lessons is that we are never too old for whimsy, so I made an outfit that is whimsical and fun and just a little bit overgrown schoolgirl. I'm not gonna lie, I want twirl around in this "Work to Play" dress. Peter may not appreciate the work part of that, but he would appreciate the Peter Pan collar. Fun Disney's Peter Pan boyshorts underneath these mind-blowingly perfect mermaid tights will give you adequate coverage should you decide to also spin about with me. Peter Pan inspired salt-and-pepper oxford booties are practical and cute. This "Wasson Pirate" cardigan will keep you warm should you decide to set sail with Captain Hook and his crew (not advised, but to each their own). A Tinkerbell purse and a "Neverland" beanie (special Shadow Edition) are up next. I wish I could afford this adorbs little crocodile bag charm! A "Wendy, Darling" phone case will keep your phone Neverland chic. For the jewelry I added a Peter and Wendy silhouette necklace, a pair of tiger lily earrings (Tiger Lily is still my favorite character from the Disney film - even if "What Makes The Red Man Red" and the representation of the Indians in general makes me cringe a bit), and a pirate skull cameo ring. For the finishing touch, brush on some super-sparkly "Mermaid's Dream" nail lacquer. Now sprinkle that pixie dust and away we go!