Link Love: 12.14.17

Good googly mooglies! It has been forever since I posted a Link Love. I mean, it's kind of been forever since I posted anything, but, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Let's not dwell on the past, shall we? Here's a round up of some of the best bookish things I've compiled for you over the past couple of months. 

READ:

• I am so pleased with the diversity on my local library's Best Books of 2017 list! Way to be amazing Multnomah County!
• Caleb Green is my new hero. This adorable 4-year-old read 100 books (!) in one day. Because he wanted to!
• Enjoy this Harry Potter chapter written by a predictive text bot. I need a "Hermione Has Forgotten How To Dance" shirt now. 
• Language is political: Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year is 'feminism', Global Language Monitor's Word of the Year is 'truth', and Dictionary.com's Word of the Year is 'complicit'. (Still waiting to see what word/s the Oxford English Dictionary and the American Dialect Society announce.)
• Judge books by their covers: Paste's 30 Best Book Covers of 2017. What would you add to this list?
• The first poster for the upcoming Ready Player One movie was released and I suspect Photoshop was used. Poorly. 
• Redcurrant and blackcurrant jelly may have eluded poor Meg Brooks née March in Little Women, but if you follow this recipe you can master it! It sounds delicious and I am not on the hunt for currants. 
• Cover design forecast for 2018. I have zero complaints about any of these trends. 
• Okay, I can follow the logic on banning the pop-up version of A Charlie Brown Christmas (you could hide weapons in it), but I fail to see how Freakanomics could incite a riot where Mein Kampf is okay. If you want to see the entire list of what books are banned in the Texas prison system, you can here. 
• It's so hard not buy books for everyone because, well, BOOKS! But this article makes a good point about not buying books for non-readers this holiday. I'd be mad if someone bought me golf clubs just because they like to golf, because I do not like to golf. 
• Speaking of prisoners and books, an Oakland firefighter is collecting books for inmate fire crews through December. 
• I'm not sure I agree 100% with Eco's logic, but I love that my "antilibrary" is a good thing, especially since I have a small addiction to my library hold function.
• NPR's 2017 Book Concierge is here. 
• "The skin along her arms and shoulders are different shades of tan like water stains in a bathtub." is the line that earned Christopher Bollen this year's "Bad Sex in Fiction" award. 
• Carrie Fisher has been nominated for a posthumous Grammy for the audiobook of The Princess Diarist. Miss her. 
• Why ARE children's authors so eccentric?

BUY:

• Obvious State's 2018 Bibliophilia Mini Calendar is stunning! (Of course it is, everything they make is.)
• I'd be okay if my house smelled like Frostbeard Studios' The Shire candle all the time. 
• Who needs the Sorting Hat when you can have your very own Sorting Candle!
• Literary Rocks Glasses for the book AND booze loving person in your life. FYI, I am that person, and I prefer the Sherlock Holmes one. Thank you in advance. 
• This is the coolest bookish necklace I've seen in ages!
• I LOL'd at this Bookmarks Are For Quitters t-shirt. 
• My husband just made me a tealight holder, so I am all about these Mini Library Scented Tea Lights!
• These Mrs. Darcy nail wraps are gorgeous. 
• Juniper Books' We Write, We Rise collection of female American writers is everything my feminist, lit-loving heart craves. 

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.

Link Love: 12.04.14

World Domination Cat Throw Pillow

• Here's a fascinating interview with George R. R. Martin (or "Grr" Martin as I like to call him every time someone asks me when the next book is coming out!).
• This illustrated online edition of The Monkey's Paw by W. W, Jacobs is the most perfectly delectable trifle to sate your afternoon reading itch. This story gives me chills every single time I read it. J'adore.
• Tom Hanks can do anything. Anything, I say! That's why I'm eagerly awaiting his debut short story collection.
• Confession: I still haven't read Yes Please by Amy Poehler. But, I actually want to. Especially after this charming slideshow of all the times Amy totally got us.
• What does your favorite kid's book say about you?
• It's not that I don't like the Kardashian clan, it's just that, well I don't really like them. Not in the I-wish-them-harm kind of way or even in the I-think-they're-the-downfall-of-society kind of way, but more in a I'm-not-at-all-surprsied-the-Jenner-Sisters'-YA-book-was-a-flop kind of way.
• I'm a perpetual sucker for all things Shakespeare, which is why this Grand Taxonomy Shakespearean Insults Poster might be making its way to my apartment sometime soon.
• The bookstore that introduced me to the world of bookselling, Fountain Bookstore, just got featured over on Kirkus Reviews' Shelf Space feature. (If you live in or near Richmond, VA you should be buying all your books from Kelly's shop, just saying...)
• Book Style is regularly featured over at Book Riot. Here's the latest batch: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Enjoy!

Link Love: 10.31.14

[image via Little House on the Corner]

• 7 non-fiction books about corpses and the science of the dead. Seasonally appropriate for you, year round reading for me.
• Enjoy these Extremely Serious Photos of Extremely Serious Authors. Sad Bear Sontag would be my favorite, of not for the terrifying visage of Mark Twain whilst playing billiards.
• The debate that surrounded Ira Glass' anti-Shakespeare comments has settled a bit, but this was my favorite piece that sprang from it. Oh, and viva la Shakespeare!
• I meant to share this about 2 months ago (what? I'm a bad blogger!) but now that it's my favorite season of the year, I still think I get to share this handy flow chart for what to read if you secretly (or not so secretly in my case) hate summer.
• 50 lady writers under 50 that everyone should read. Now.
• Not bookish, but who doesn't love cake? as art? It's so colorful and pretty and delicious!
• The Uprise Books Project has a wonderfully curated store for all of you book lovers and they are a great cause in general. I'll let them explaim what they do: 

"The Uprise Books Project is dedicated to ending the cycle of poverty through literacy, providing new banned and challenged books to underprivileged teens free of charge. By providing them with new, free banned and challenged literature, we’ll establish the love of reading that will lead to increased literacy, higher rates of college attendance and more lucrative earning potential later in life.

So why focus on banned/challenged books? First, we simply don’t believe in censorship. As the American Library Association says, “Constitutionally protected speech cannot be suppressed solely to protect children or young adults from ideas or images a legislative body believes to be unsuitable for them.” We think that parents have a right and an obligation to monitor their own child’s access to literature they feel might be inappropriate, but they can’t control another child’s access. By banning and challenging books in schools and libraries, though, they’re doing exactly that.

More importantly, we think that the idea that these texts have been banned and challenged will motivate kids to actually read the things. A sixteen-year-old might not care that the Radcliffe Publishing Course called The Great Gatsby the best novel of the 20th century, but his inherent teen sense of rebellion might entice him to pick up a book challenged because of its “language and sexual references.”"

•  Don't believe reading is one of the best ways to spend you time? Here's five reasons why you're wrong. (Also, why are you on this blog?)
• Here's some of the newest book adaptation news. I'm mostly just excited about Inferno, to be honest.
• Remember Book It? Prepare for the nostalgia. Thank you Pizza Hut!
• I loved Daria and this comprehensive list of books that made appearances on the show made me very happy. And then very angry that Daria isn't on Netflix.
• Books all millennials should read before they turn 30. I'm not really a proper millennial (or maybe I am?) but I'm 30 now and I can say I've only really read a very small handful of these titles. Some I mean to read but others I've tried, been uninterested and walked away from. Not a definitive list, but an interesting literary bucket list starter pack maybe.
• The Mister and I have been daydreaming planning a London vacation for a while and I'm now I'm going to have to insist we stay here.
• Fall/Halloween decorating ideas with vintage book pages.

My TBR Stack Is Going To Crush Me In My Sleep

[image via here]

We've moved. It's insane to think that it's already been a month, but it has, and we (my mister, our furry cat-child and I) now reside in Seattle. I couldn't be more excited to finally be able to settle into what is definitely my city, but losing my almost 3 hours of commuting has substantially reduced my reading time. Also, if the publishing industry could just agree to take a wee hiatus so I could catch up and pare this TBR stack down a bit... What do you mean "Not gonna happen"?!

This is also the first time I've had decent internet and a hooked-up computer in a couple of months, so I'm plotting some really good (dare I say "great"?) Book Styles for the next few weeks. Until then, I thought I'd share some Link Love with everyone as I continue scouring the interwebs for the perfect bookshelves so my books can have a proper home.

• The best trees in literature.
• Elliott Bay Book Company now has a killer young adult book group call The Elliott Bay Underground, you should check out their Tumblr page! These teens are voracious readers who write the best reviews! (Full disclosure, I might be a tad biased because I facilitate the group.) 
• Bennet sister fashion for the current times.
• I've always found physical books pleasing to own, touch and display, but this article about books becoming sexier as the medium is dying is very interesting. The Hipster's heritage movement might be good for something after all ;)
• My friend and coworker John Duvernoy recently had his first published collection of poetry, Something in the Way // Obstruction Blues, released. He had a lovely review from The Boston Review, another one on Shelf Awareness and did a stunning reading at Elliott Bay Book Company alongside Sarah Fran Wisby who is equally as stellar and someone you must be acquainted with immediately. 
• I know how I feel about it, but IS reading antisocial?
• I'm such a Shakespeare junkie.
• For anyone who's in Seattle, my bookstore is hosting a midnight release party for the upcoming Murakami: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. I'm most excited about the "colorless" costume contest, but you might be most excited about the chance to win the opportunity to purchase one of the limited number of signed editions!
• Not bookish at all, but I found the science behind tattoo permanence mind-blowing.
• I'm not sure how I feel about library wallpaper, I mean, why not just install some shelves and some real books? But I do know I'd love owning a couple of these Penguin deck chairs!
• My friend Amanda is vlogging about being a comic book newbie over at Book Riot.

Okay, now back to the reading, and the endless unpacking.

Link Love: 04.18.14

[image via Tea, Coffee, and Books]

• I've recently gone gluten and dairy free, so my dessert options are a lot more limited, but I can still have homemade marshmallows! Can't wait to try out this recipe for Sriracha-Orange Marmalade Marshmallows by Heather over at SprinkleBakes. (Also, if you haven't snatched up a copy of her cookbook, you need to hop on that.)
• A lovely piece on Austin Kleon and his new book Show Your Work. He is so inspiring. He also takes the best selfies!
• My store, the place of employment that provides me with my paychecks, The Elliott Bay Book Company, was up for Publishers Weekly's Bookstore of the Year award. Sadly we didn't win (that honor went to Green Apple Books) but that means I can now share with you this fabulous video that Justus masterminded. We're dorks, most of us can't sing, but we know how to have fun!

• I want this Jekyll & Hyde gin & tonic. No scratch that. I NEED this Jekyll & Hyde gin & tonic!!! Sadly, I'm not sure it exists outside of a gorgeous concept phase.
• If you're like me and your abode is on the tinier end of living arrangements, then you'll certainly enjoy this compilation of bookshelf/library ideas for small spaces.
• My coworker (and friend!) recently had a story published over at Paper Darts and it's superb. Go read it now and revel in Amanda's magical realism and Boston nostalgia.
• I've fallen in love with Neverland Jewelry & Oddities bookish accessories. 
• Wab Kinew's spoken word defense of The Orenda by Joseph Boyden is perfection.
• Fictitious dishes brought to life. Dinah Fried's new book takes meals straight from literature to her camera.
• Fangirl and Book Riot have both tackled the (most) recent controversy over the lack of non-white and non-male representation when discussing children's literature.
• I have watched this mesmerizing video, Paint Showers, on repeat all week. 

Link Love: 03.28.14

[image found here]

• Beautiful bookshop love. Honestly, what else do you need to see on your vacation?
• Benjamin Lacombe's illustrations pair so well with Poe's Tales of the Macabre.
• I need to own this edition of Alice in Wonderland illustrated by the always talented Ralph Steadman.
• 1920s Literary New York!
• Sofia Coppola + The Little Mermaid = a must see for me (and you!)
• I've gone gluten and dairy free, but I can still have marshmallows! I really want to try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen!
• Listen to George Orwell explaining how to make the perfect cup of tea.
• Doug Dorst talking all about S., his new book that was a collaboration with J.J. Abrams.
• Cut footage from the animated Lord of the Rings film shows Gandalf doing battle with the balrog.
• "Narratively: Human Stories, Boldly Told" profiles Kurt Thometz and his Little Black Bookshop. Such an interesting listen for book lovers, booksellers, and anyone who is interested in race and its implications.
• My store, The Elliott Bay Book Company, got a lovely write up over on Between The Lines Book Club.
• Comic book nail decals!!!

Link Love: 01.04.14

[image found here]

• Those yummy cupcakes up there, those are Sprinkle Bakes' Spiked Eggnog Ganache Cupcakes. Seriously, glitter deer and eggnog should both be year round acceptable.
• James Bond's liver was impressively impervious to all that booze.
• Notes for next Christmas: Jen's book paper garland is happening in approximately 330-ish days.
• A Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie? Count me in!
• Cassie went to LA's The Last Bookstore.
• I want all of Bunnyhell's book necklaces. ALL OF THEM!
• Not that I'm surprised, but pleasure reading is incredibly important.
• Rebecca discovered a charming bookstore & cafe on a recent road trip named Stone Soup!
• Mark Twain's advice to little girls was probably not meant to be this adorable and hysterical. (This book is a gem)
• Alison Oliver illustrates my favorite kids' board books - Jennifer Adams' Baby Lit series - and I just discovered you can buy the prints. I need all of these for my house.
• I'm so guilty of this, but apparently hitting the snooze button is way bad for you. (I hate it when The Mister is right.)
• Be prepared to cry a bit and then feel horrible about yourself after you watch third world kids reading first world problems from Twitter and Facebook.
• My macarons are still ugly little footless things, albeit tasty, I can't even imagine how Steph made these too-cute-for-words penguin macarons.
• The Mister and I have really gotten into Bob's Burgers recently, and I just found this blog where one guy is making all of Bob's Burger of the Day come to life.
• I couldn't stop laughing at Disney men without beards.
• Jumbo book lover match cases are perfection. (Look closely at the titles!)
• Check out this immaculately replicated Central Perk hidden in Beijing.
• Sherlock is free!!!

Link Love: 12.07.13

[image found here]

• Some of us, like me, and a huge chunk of book people (I would imagine), are not all the comfortable making adult friendships. I found this article about the importance of courting your friends to be extremely insightful and helpful at gaining perspective on what makes grown-up friendships work.
• I want these rainbow pencils so so so much. I want to doodle with them all winter over steaming cups of coffee and tea.
• All female Doctor Who cosplay wins the internet!
• Nice little article about dealing with holiday gatherings when you don't see eye to eye with your family on political issues.
• The real film locations and where their fictional counterparts are supposed to be of many of your favorite series.
• These photographs of hand drawn dresses strategically lined up with the model in the mirror are optical illusions at their very best.
• The fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon may finally have a real location!
• Booty shaking time: Outkast is really getting back together!!!
• Some more great friendship advice - making friends in a new city is simpler than it seems with these tips.
• On the beauty front, this double ponytail tutorial is amazing. When my hair grows back out I am totally trying this (so in like 3 years).
• Some fabulous older women who said "Hell No!" to dressing their age! I have new role models!
• How they painted Bond's golden girl.

Link Love: 11.23.13

Unwoven Light by Soo Sunny Park

• Think your vocab is up to snuff? Try this tough vocab quiz. Then try the advanced one. For as much crap as everyone always gives me for using weird and obscure words, I didn't get 100% on either test.
• Wanna watch a robot paint the Mona Lisa by firing paint out of a cannon? You know you do.
• Things I learned this week include how the crossword helped (if we're using a very loose interpretation of the word) end World War II.
• These Burton-ized Disney Princesses are so perfect.
• My bookstore, Elliott Bay Book Company, made the list of indies to throw your money at this holiday season. Yay! (No really, throw your money at us. We're selling online too!)
• If you've ever watched a Disney film with me, you probably already know all these, but here are some of the true - much less warm & fuzzy - versions of the fairy tales.
• Kaelah posted this recipe for a Hot Butterscotch Cocoa cocktail and now I don't want to drink anything else for the rest of the winter.
• I always love when I find kindred spirits who feel the need to correct other people's  ignorance, so finding We Are Not Amused, a tumblr that trolls the Victorian tag and kindly corrects all the mistakes, made my day.
• I need Prologue Tea Company to be real. Now. Concept art this good should not be allowed online because it reminds me of what I can't actually throw my money at.
• I want this piggy bank.
• The 100 best novels as chosen in 1898. SO interesting to see what would still make the cut and what's painfully obscure.
• I love the idea of ghosting. 
• I need to visit these magical places in my lifetime, and the best part is I've already checked one (the glowworm caves) off the list.
• Stunningly beautiful food, at least on the inside. 
• Please say it's true: Monty Python is reuniting!!!

Link Love: 11.09.13

[image found here]

• Let's discuss racism in classic literature with Amanda over at Dead White Guys.
• So this doodled styrofoam cup has left me in awe, especially after reading about the nonchalance with which it was created. 
• Be prepared to sob as you watch this video of a father whose dying wish was to be able to walk his two daughters down the aisle. SOBBING.
• Steampunk pendant light DIY. This is why Jen is my hero.
• Need a bookish Christmas present idea? Why not get your resident bookophile a subscription to Book Riot's Quarterly box?
• Gala tells us how to travel alone without ruining your marriage.
• Gail Carriger's reddit. You're welcome.
• Gorgeous shipping container homes. I would love to live in all of them, but #1 and #23 are so amazingly perfect.
• Does being called plus size sound or feel different to you than being called curvy?
• Disney princesses as Marvel heros.
• Best nail art I've seen in a while. I'm obsessed with the evil eyes, the black on black polka dots, and that geometric blue one.
• Hey, how about we put our phones down and notice the armed gunmen around us. Wow.
• I found this so fascinating: How the blind perceive race.
• The Panopticon is going to be a film! Yay!
• So pretty. So mesmerizing.
• Watch live Letterform talent happen.
• Meet the real (read: inspiration for) Jessica Rabbit.
• These long exposure shots of couples sleeping are so fascinating. I wonder what the Mister and I would look like?
• 27 adult jokes in kids' cartoons that flew right over your head when you were younger (but you can totally enjoy now).
• I want me a creepy-cool PyroPet candle.
• Here's an intriguing, interactive choose your own adventure style story.
• I must see this Calvin and Hobbes documentary.
• YA picks for fairy tale junkies like me.
• I would also love to own this skull sugar spoon. 

Link Love: 10.19.13

[image found here]

• This infographic about the differences between Whisky (or Whiskey) and Bourbon is fascinating.
• Grover does science!
• I can relate to Leandra Medine (aka the Man Repeller)'s aversion to answering the phone so much.
• '90s girl Halloween costumes make me so so so happy. I want to dress up as all of them.
• Pip has put into, hilariously accurate, words how we all feel when our men are sick.
• This is such an interesting read. Feminism often loves to target men's magazines for publishing scantily clad women and objectifying them, but Vogue never takes the same amount of flak. (Fashion mags take flak for body image not for objectification). 
• GAAAH! I want to put a geometric glitter wall in my house, too.
• Bourbon Plum cocktail sounds delicious.
• Sprinkle Bakes made a perfect Corpse Bride blue velvet cake.
• Speaking of feminism, take a moment to educate yourself about the horrible sexism that took place in the science community recently.
• Cat gifs. Because they make everything better.
• I think I found my next project, this hand-stippled teapot is so rad.
• This is the best prank ever!

Link Love: 10.05.13

[image via here]

It's been a while, over a month a while, since my last Link Love post, so some of these links may be old news to some of you, but I still thought I'd share everything that I'd stockpiled. :)

• Yet another incident, and this one closer to home for me, of a pedestrian being injured by a cyclist. Listen people, if we want the cars to watch out for us, then we need to obey the rules of the road and watch out for pedestrians. Riding a bike may be good for the environment, but it doesn't make you magically immune to safety hazards. 
• History jokes make me happy. 
• My former bookstore and boss, Kelly Justice, got a great article written up about them. Woo! 
• The human body and its systems used as landscapes is such a weird idea that turns into some absolutely mesmerizing artwork.
• Green Shoe Studios is the best for giving 96-year-old widower Fred the opportunity to record his love song to his deceased wife. This is beyond touching.
• Disney movies all take place in the same world. It's a great concept, albeit with some time-space continuum issues, and I love seeing all the cameos by different characters in one place.
• Cake Wrecks compiled some of the best Tim Burton inspired cakes around. Perfect for October. What am I saying, Tim Burton is perfect 365 days a year. (Well, if you can forget the Alice fiasco...)
• For all of us visual learners, here are 40 maps that will help you make sense of the world (and all those statistics which are only numbers to our visual only learning minds.)
• This retired PE teacher accidentally wore the same picture-day outfit for the first two years of his career and then decided to make it a thing. For 40 years!
• Amélie is going to be a musical!!!
• And now I want all of my vacations to include eating at one of my favorite celebrities' culinary haunts.
• Jen's newest cosplay is a steampunk White Rabbit. It's so good I don't even have words. And her hubby, John, is rocking a steampunk Cheshire Cat.
• Gala wrote, yet another, lovely post on body image. It hit me extra hard because I've always been a bit envious of her figure.
• Do you finish a book no matter what? Or do you drop it like it's hot if it doesn't grab you? I personally almost always finish (I can only think of one book I never picked back up and completed) but I'm clearly in the minority.
• These highly realistic, Prohibition-era reimaginings of Batman villains are divine.
• If the Mister ever takes me to South Africa, we have to stop into Truth, a gorgeously realized steampunk coffee bar.
• Pirate kitten!!! Meet Sir Stuffington, the cutest one-eyed kitten you'll ever meet.
• Learn all about your fictional languages (like Elvish).
• I could not have said it better myself: The problem with Miley, Kesha and all of their mostly-naked, pop star peers is that something done just for shock value isn't really that shocking, it just looks cliche.

Link Love: 08.24.13

[image found here]

• This interactive "Haunted House" Tokyo art museum is awesome.
• Are they a pair of hot dogs or a pair of legs? You'd think the answer is an easy one until you check out this Tumblr.
• Hank bought a bus. (And now the Mister wants one too!)
• So I never really stopped wearing them, but Birkenstocks are big again! (And that makes me fashionable again!)
• Be prepared to be disturbed and little bit oddly heartwarmed by this story of a boy, his knee and a very unique injury.
• Sophia McDougall hates the "strong female character" and I have to agree with her. This is a must read article!
• Ooooh, pretty pictures of the Seattle Great Wheel.
• Literal fire and ice moments captured by an amazing Russian photographer.
• I found the best thing: Online Chip's Challenge!!!!
• Let's put the moon into perspective, shall we?
• Did you know that some of the most famous founding fathers were mere teenagers? I sure didn't.
• Learn how to pronounce those tricky food words. Trust me, when you find our you've been saying quinoa wrong for years you feel pretty dumb.

Link Love: 08.17.13

[image found here]

• Have you ever committed any of these common makeup mistakes? I know I sure have.
• I think this might be my favorite story of the year: A Russian man counter offered a sweet credit agreement with a major bank, they accepted without reading/noticing the changes, and now that they have noticed, they're a might upset. Only problem is, it all looks legal. Go Dmitry! 
• The abandoned Walmart in McAllen, Texas has been turned into an amazing public library. I do love it when the things I hate are replaced with the things I love.
• If you really want to depress yourself, you can use this online calculator to figure out how many more times you will see your parents before they die. Yeah, depressed.
• Love Amanda's translations for things that book snobs notoriously say.
• Maybe it's the fact that I catch my bus at the train depot everyday, but I've been fantasizing about taking a train trip somewhere for our next vacation and this list of iconic train trips is not helping things.
• Prepare to be awed by these elderly women who really know how to embrace life. #MyNewIdols
• In case you don't know why you shouldn't text and drive, a little reminder.
• Kaleidoscopic art!
• I am all for this anti-date rape glassware. How to we make this happen everywhere?
• Facebook may not be struggling as much as some predicted, but it's still losing popularity and I am fascinated by this article written by a 13 year old about why she and her friends don't use it.
• I may be a little late to the game here, but I just discovered Tatty Devine jewelry and I'm in love.
• Meet the two real life candidates for the inspiration behind Snow White.
• And while we're on the subject of fairy tales: Some of the weirder Grimm's fairy tales you've forgotten all about.
• These 16 gorgeous bookstores are now on my bucket list of places to visit.
• JTT!!!!! (Sorry for the squealing, but he was my first celeb crush and I wondered where he'd gone to.)

Link Love: 08.10.13

[print available here]

• Following up on my review of Homeward Bound, I found this great little interview with the author, Emily Matchar.
• If you spent the bulk of your childhood and adolescence in the '90s like me, then this rather thorough list of y/our childhood toys will make you rather nostalgic. 
• J.K. Rowling is a fabulous author and an even more amazing human. All of the royalties from her no-longer-secret novel, Cuckoo's Calling, will be donated to charity. Rock on.
• Book-inspired ice cream flavors. My favorite is the Clockwork Orange (duh!), but the Oliver Twist is pretty funny and that Whirled War Z is a brilliant play on words.
• Fellow Americans, you too can flex your patriotic muscles and help select the US Luge team's new outfits. Here's the direct link to the voting site. (I'm torn between "Silver Wave" and "Racer").
• In case you haven't seen this awesomeness yet: Concentric sphere cakes done up to look like planets. I'm not sure what's more mind blowing, the dedication to detail or the fact that there are perfectly round cakes inside of other perfectly round cakes.
• Who wants to try and make this DIY wrapped wire wall art with me?
• Gingers (or redheads if you refuse to indulge my faux-Britishness) might be going extinct. What!?
• I would be terrified to come across any of these in person, but I have to admit that these are some freaky-cool looking spiders.
• Meredith Bryan decided to try being nice instead of keeping her walls up and was surprised by the feedback. Turns out if you're nice people will reciprocate.
• Remember how so many ignorant people were all freaked out about having an interracial family in a Cheerios commercial? Well these kids' react just the way you'd expect to the controversial commercial: They don't understand what's different about the family at all. Kid brains are way better in a lot of ways.
• If you're not familiar with the Henrietta Lacks case, let me summarize: Her cancer cells were harvested and have been used for important and profitable research for years. Without her knowledge and without any sort of repayment. Her descendents weren't so happy about this and it went to court. Well now a compromise has been reached. 
• Meet Gabrielle Turnquest, the youngest person to pass the bar exam and become a barrister in the United Kingdom in several centuries. She's only 18 and an American to boot. So rad.
• Oh, and while were on the subject of exceptional young women, meet Thessalonika Arzu-Embry who is preparing to receive her bachelor's degree in psychology at the ripe old age of fourteen!
• I love Birmingham's (Alabama) solution to a outdated tunnel that was dark and consequently dangerous: They had a happy-inducing light installation installed. Now it's lit and artistic.
• Enjoy this mini Empire Records reunion.
• Finally, in sports news I really wish would happen: The MLB is considering a lifetime ban for A-Rod.