books

List

From the Dictionary to a Book Called "Horse": The Surprising Complaints Against 6 Books

This week (September 24 through October 1, 2011) is the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, an "annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment." We've all heard about books like Lolita and The Awakening being banned, especially from schools, for overly sexual content; other books are banned—or at least challenged—for violence, curse words, being "obscene," or otherwise containing content deemed objectionable or dangerous. But some challenged books... READ ON

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Neal Stephenson's Latest: REAMDE

It takes guts to title your blockbuster novel using an intentional misspelling. But fortunately for readers, Neal Stephenson has guts, a killer story, and -- for the first time since Cryptonomicon -- a thriller I can thoroughly recommend to any reader, not just the King Dorks of the crowd. Expect to see REAMDE enjoyed by regular human beings on airplanes, in coffee shops, and in geek-dens (the hive-like underground warrens where computer programmers go to sleep). I can only begin to tell you how... READ ON

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Not Your Momma's Cookbooks (Part 3)

For someone who doesn't like to cook (and who rarely cooks), I sure own a lot of cookbooks; I love seeing all the different foods that can be made. In my ventures through the cookbook aisles, I've noticed some with less-than-typical main ingredients, cooking methods, and themes. This weekend, I'm sharing with you a sampling of the most unusual—in one way or another—cookbooks out there. Tonight: cookbooks with unique layouts and design Unusual... READ ON

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Not Your Momma's Cookbooks (Part 2)

For someone who doesn't like to cook (and who rarely cooks), I sure own a lot of cookbooks; I love seeing all the different foods that can be made. In my ventures through the cookbook aisles, I've noticed some with less-than-typical main ingredients, cooking methods, and themes. This weekend, I'm sharing with you a sampling of the most unusual—in one way or another—cookbooks out there. Tonight: special themes and science-y goodness Special... READ ON

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Not Your Momma's Cookbooks (Part 1)

For someone who doesn't like to cook (and who rarely cooks), I sure own a lot of cookbooks; I love seeing all the different foods that can be made. In my ventures through the cookbook aisles, I've noticed some with less-than-typical main ingredients, cooking methods, and themes. This weekend, I'm sharing with you a sampling of the most unusual—in one way or another—cookbooks out there. Tonight: strange ingredients, unusual cooking methods, and unlikely author-chefs. Strange... READ ON

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Smell of Books: A Product I Wish Were Real

Oh, how I wish this were real. I would very much buy Smell of Books™, available in five signature fragrances (three of which are shown above). The notion is to add that comforting book smell back to an era when many of us are stuck using fragrance-free ebooks. From the description of Eua, You Have Cats: Specially engineered from the concentrated aromas of 20,000 second-hand books. This special scent is guaranteed to please animal lovers and avid book collectors alike. It’s just like... READ ON

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How the Humble Bar Changed American History

If you ask Christine Sismondo about prohibition, she'll tell you it didn't have nearly as much to do with alcohol as it did with trying to close down the saloon. And that's a key distinction if you, like her, consider the American bar to be the equivalent of the London coffeehouses and Paris Salons. Sismondo contends that America is the way it is largely because of the saloon culture, which provided a place for people of all classes and creeds to get together and discuss their problems, goals, politics,... READ ON

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Pop-Up Books For The Adult Reader

Pop-up books traditionally only belong in the kid's realm of the bookstore, but not all titles are so easily shelved away. WebUrbanist has an excellent collection of pop-up books with distinctly adult themes and subjects. From the Pop-Up Book of Phobias to Visionaire 55: Surprise to Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy, these delightful titles are artistic, interesting and they feature content that would not be appropriate or interesting for youngsters for a variety of reasons. While they may not... READ ON

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Rare Shel Silverstein Videos

Did you know that Shel Silverstein wrote "A Boy Named Sue," the song made famous by Johnny Cash? In this clip, the pair perform a brief, bizarre duet of "Sue" on The Johnny Cash Show, then Silverstein takes the stage solo to perform his song "Daddy, What If." The Giving Tree If that's not enough Shel for you, enjoy this 1973 animation of The Giving Tree, featuring a scratchily-recorded Silverstein narrating: For more on Silverstein: Shel Silverstein’s Unlikely Rise to Kid Lit... READ ON

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Jules Verne: Poignantly Prescient

When we think of Jules Verne, we think of the genius behind 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Journey to the Center of the Earth (my personal favorite of only because I read it first, at an impressionable age, and it got me on a sci-fi kick). In these stories, as well as others like Around the World in Eighty Days Verne, brilliantly prescient, wrote about flying, space and underwater travel way, way, way before any of it was actually possible. But his ability to foretell the future, especially with... READ ON