Magpie Monday!
Welcome to another week! Please to enjoy the assorted sights, sites, and sounds of the interwebs I have collected for you. And I may have some tasty mid-week snacks for you, too.
♦ HEAVEN IS A KIND OF LIBRARY.
Loved these pictures of La caverne aux livres, a train-car-cum-bookshop found in Auvers-Sur-Oise, France (north of Paris). The photos are courtesy of the Gallifreyan Detective’s tumblr (I found them at Boing Boing). Do click through to see more!
La caverne aux livres | Photo by the Gallifreyan Detective
I know Akeem will appreciate this photo as much as I do, if not more: a photo of Clive Barker‘s library taken by Michael McCreary for Havens. That huge window is too fantastic, and those high, high shelves—ah, me! As with all these library pictures, click to embiggen.
Clive Barker’s library | Photo by Michael McCreary
Oxford Union Library found on the Facebook community No, I do NOT have too many books! If you like pictures of books on shelves, do “like” NIDNHTMB! Thanks to Bonnie, through whom I discovered NIDNHTMB! existed.
Oxford Union Library, Oxford
Here’s another photo from No, I do NOT have too many books!; unfortunately, this photo didn’t have any identifying information, but luckily members of the community recognized it as la Salle Ovale at la Bibliothèque nationale de France in Richelieu. That ring of skylights around the dome is magnifique!
La Salle Ovale dans la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Richelieu
♦ THE HORNS OF ELFLAND.
These songs have been buzzing in my ears lately:
Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris, featuring Florence Welch. First two lines: “You took my heart and held it in your mouth / And with a word all my love came rushing out.” Oh, yeah. Great lyrics, great sound.
From a few years back, Remedy by Little Boots:
Young Love by Eli Lieb:
For something completely different, Return to Oz Remix by CounterClockWise (via):
♦ TURN THE PAGE.
Love You Forever: 5 of Hollywood’s Sexiest Men Read to You from Children’s Classics. Well, sort of read—it’s really just pictures of actors with text from children’s books, but, as memes go, it’s fun. If you like Javier Bardem, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ryan Gosling, and/or Channing Tatum, you’ll enjoy the list (I have to say, Tatum’s is the funniest and Bardem’s perhaps the kind-of-creepiest, especially if you think of his role in No Country for Old Men). But you’ll have to click through to see what I’m talking about. Until you do, enjoy Idris Elba reading Love You Forever.
Idris Elba reading from Love You Forever
“With these hungry eyes / One look at [these links] and [you] can’t disguise” how much you want to read them (yeah, I worked too hard for that one):
From Weird Fiction Review: Wunderkindergarten by Marc Laidlaw.
From Tor.com’s 5th birthday extravaganza: Rocket Ship to Hell by Jeffrey Ford; One by Nancy Kress; Dragonkin by Lavie Tidhar (the fantastic accompanying illustration by Greg Ruth is below); Old Dead Futures by Tina Connolly; and Contains Multitudes by Ben Burgis (I know this guy: we went through our MFA program together—go read this story!).
Dragonkin illustration by Greg Ruth
From Daily Science Fiction: Of Ash and Old Dreams by Sarah Grey; Tell Them of the Sky by A.T. Greenblatt; Bedtime Stories by Jayson Sanders; The Flight Stone by K.J. Kabza; and On the Big-Fisted Circuit by Cat Rambo.
Flax-golden tales: Undisclosed Intentions of Departing Angels by Erin Morgenstern.
I love this photo of Octavia Butler reading, and I love this quotation from her that went along with it: “I’m comfortably asocial—a hermit in the middle of a large city, a pessimist if I’m not careful, a feminist, a Black, a former Baptist, an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty and drive.” Vintageblackglamour via Awesome People Reading.
Octavia Butler reads
Two book trailers for you: First up is the trailer for A Trifle Dead, the debut crime novel by Livia Day. As Tansy Rayner Roberts says, “Basically, prepare for food porn.” Here’s the book description:
Tabitha Darling has always had a dab hand for pastry and a knack for getting into trouble. Which was fine when she was a tearaway teen, but not so useful now she’s trying to run a hipster urban cafe, invent the perfect trendy dessert, and stop feeding the many (oh so unfashionable) policemen in her life.
When a dead muso is found in the flat upstairs, Tabitha does her best (honestly) not to interfere with the investigation, despite the cute Scottish blogger who keeps angling for her help. Her superpower is gossip, not solving murder mysteries, and those are totally not the same thing, right?
But as that strange death turns into a string of random crimes across the city of Hobart, Tabitha can’t shake the unsettling feeling that maybe, for once, it really is ALL ABOUT HER.
And maybe she’s figured out the deadly truth a trifle late…
The second trailer is for Phoenix by S.F. Said, created by Dave McKean (who also illustrated the book). Here’s the description:
Lucky thinks he’s an ordinary Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing and wakes to find an uncontrollable power rising inside him.
Now he’s on the run, racing through space, searching for answers. In a galaxy at war, where Humans and Aliens are deadly enemies, the only people who can help him are an Alien starship crew and an Alien warrior girl, with neon needles in her hair.
Together, they must find a way to save the galaxy. For Lucky is not the only one in danger. His destiny and the fate of the universe are connected in the most explosive way . . .
I really like this trailer (via).
♦ THE BOOK NOOK.
Some Harry Potter stuff: Emily Asher-Perrin’s Everyone Should Want to Be a Hufflepuff, or, Stop the Hogwarts House-Hate was an entertaining look at the “ugly ducklings” of Hogwarts, and everyone should read it. And I’m not just saying that because every time I take one of those online Sorting Hat quizzes I get sorted into Hufflepuff.
Check out these 16 Harry Potter pieces, all previously unreleased, by illustrator Mary GrandPré.
Mary GrandPré
And here’s the latest anniversary-edition cover by Kazu Kibuishi:
Cover art by Kazu Kibuishi
Book Riot has an illustrated guide to buying the classics. It’s quite a good guide to the variety of options you have for works ranging from The Awakening to Thus Spoke Zarathustra, from the super-cheap Dover Thrift Editions to the high-end-high-price Folio Society editions. Something for everyone, as they say.
The Folio Society Collection
Love this cover for Phillipe Claudel’s The Investigation (Claudel wrote and directed I’ve Loved You So Long,which I also loved):
♦ THE NINTH ART.
Wolverine: The Musical … with puppets! This video is pretty darn fun and clever, to boot (has anyone ever put Jamie Madrox to better use?)—and, Fara, our favorite fuzzy elf makes an appearance. Via.
I was happy to hear that Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez—two creators I like very much—will helm the new Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland series from IDW. Cover at left; click to embiggen.
The Mary Sue has a preview of Supergirl #22.
Marvel Comics is free from paying web-shooter toy inventor royalties. Ouch!
News that makes me sad: Saoirse Ronan has not been approached to play Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.
The alternate Dave McKean cover for the first issue of The Sandman: Overture (via) makes me so happy I could cry:
Cover art by Dave McKean
Speaking of The Sandman, as one does, I’m cuckoo over this mash-up of Benedict Cumberbatch and Morpheus, found over at Neil Gaiman’s tumblr. Holy smokes, does this work:
As per usual, great mash-up covers over at Super-Team Family. I really dug The Decoders (Oracle, Tron, C3PO, Max Headroom, and Iron Man 2020) and Justice League of American versus Dr. Doom (I’m a big fan of the original JLA cover), but I had to share The Spectre and Doctor Strange ’cause, you know, the Master of the Mystic Arts is my man.
More Wonder Woman bits than you can shake a magic lasso at (okay, maybe not that much):
Preview of Wonder Woman #22—on New Genesis! Drawn by Cliff Chiang!
For those of you wondering, Brian Azzarello confirms a connection between Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl in the New 52.
New Yanick Paquette art revealed from the Wonder Woman: Earth One graphic novel, due out next year.
DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter, and her thoughts about a Wonder Woman movie or television show are interesting. The Beat and The Mary Sue have commentary on the interview.
Alan Kistler’s Stay Geeky 01: Wonder Woman Needs a Movie! lays out the many reasons why we can’t have a Wonder Woman movie—and by “the many reasons” I mean there’s no reason we can’t have one. Via The Mary Sue, who has some context on the history of getting Wonder Woman to the big and small screen.
Proof of Kistler’s thesis is First Impressions, a short film directed by Leo Kei Angeleos (co-written with George H. Ruiz). I do think the plot’s a bit shaky (you’ll see what I mean), but it was fun to watch, and Doug Jones does some fine villainy. Via.
♦ THE WRITING DESK.
Making your writing the best it can be: top tips from children’s books editors. Also, Cressida Cowell’s Summer Reading Challenge top writing tips.
14 things you didn’t know about Neil Gaiman (I did know most of these, but not about the Wensleydale or the manananggal).
Chuck Wendig on 25 things to know about your story’s stakes and So, you’ve just had your book published.
Advice from literary agents: How to approach a literary agent: dos and don’ts; 13 ways to convince a literary agent to represent you; and Why didn’t I say “yes” to your submission?
James Smythe sends an open letter to new and would-be writers.
LitReactor on Dramatic Structure and Freytag’s Triangle.
Leigh Evans on when a writer reads.
♦ VIEWERS’ PARADISE.
My dear Molly, you’ll be as happy as I was to know that Alice returns to Luther this season, and we have the ocular proof:
Via the Nickelodeon Theatre on Facebook: Wim Wenders’ 50 (that’s right, 50) Golden Rules of Moviemaking.
Cute animated short by Leigh Lahav about a fangirl meeting (if “fangirl” doesn’t bother you as a descriptor). “To be a fangirl is to have hope.” And I laugh out loud at the last bit. Via.
Uhura’s bend and snap is a classic (via):
A new UK trailer for Seventh Son, starring Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. Looks like it could be fun. Here’s the official description:
In a time long past, an evil is about to be unleashed that will reignite the war between the forces of the supernatural and humankind once more. Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) is a knight who had imprisoned the malevolently powerful witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), centuries ago. But she has escaped and is seeking vengeance. Summoning her followers of every incarnation, Mother Malkin is preparing to unleash her terrible wrath on an unsuspecting world. Only one thing stands in her way: Master Gregory.
In a deadly reunion, Gregory comes face to face with the evil he always feared would someday return. He has only until the next full moon to do what usually takes years: train his new apprentice, Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) to fight a dark magic unlike any other. Man’s only hope lies in the seventh son of a seventh son.
Two new movie posters I’m digging, fresh from SDCC:
If you weren’t happy with how Man of Steel ended, check out this video by HISHE (do I even need to tell you this thing is spoiler-ific?). I thought it was funny. Via.
Brian Phillips at Grantland opens his post The Constant Traveler with some fantastic insight and keeps that insight moving right along throughout—Cameron, I think you’ll find the piece of particular interest. Here’s that opening (via):
In the same way that the detective movie is a fantasy about city life, the spy movie is a fantasy about tourism. No one is more beautifully adapted to the urban environment than the detective—he knows its secrets, speaks its language, moves freely between its penthouses and dives—and no one is better than the spy at being a tourist.
Loved this video: Is BMO a third-wave feminist? from Idea Channel.
