BEA, ABA, Harvard MBA, and...fun with Chaucer! A news round up

What a big week for Harvard Square and book folk everywhere! 

Today is Harvard's Commencement, with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's President, as the main speaker. Our book buyer keeps gazing out her office window watching all the be-gowned graduates and droves of families saying how much she loves graduation. It couldn't be a more perfect day to celebrate...the job hunt! CBS News has my favorite review of Amy Poehler's Class Day speech, but I haven't yet found a transcription of today's speeches.

This week is also a pretty big deal to booksellers and librarians - it was Book Expo America in New York! Not only a place to snag galleys of upcoming books, there are also discussion sessions on relevant topics from e-books and using social media to events and marketing. I didn't know this last bit but there is also an art auction - I can't wait to see the pictures and blog posts of attendees. Sadly, no staffers from our store went, but we have been following tweets! (Can you really believe the age we live in?)

And with Memorial Day this weekend, it's almost too much excitement for me to handle. Sunshine! Smiling college students!! Sales! (Psst, we're having an everything 20% off sale!) A board game based off The Canterbury Tales! ...Wait, what? The Guardian reviews  The Road to Canterbury, currently in development. Obviously, players get to be the Pardoner, convincing Pilgrims to purchase fake pardons. Who doesn't love being the bad guy...in the 14th century?

We're here! And we have books!

Yes, indeed, we are still open during the snow, and eager to help you find those books to cozy up with for the rest of the 10, 15, or 20 inches we may get this week!

If you can't get your car out of the driveway without at least an 8 point turn (I feel your pain!), or the bus comes every three hours, you can always order books from our store website or call us to ship something to you. We do ship anywhere in the world!

Our February 10th book club choice, Tender Morsels, is now available online as well. This beautiful, brutal book will definitely make for a good discussion. Sign up for our email list by emailing blog@curiousg.com or come by Thursday February 10th at 5pm for the next meeting.

There's something about Wednesdays

During my usual Monday morning news catch-up, I saw this amusing snowfall Shaq-o-meter from Boston.com. I keep having to remind myself that we do live in New England and it is winter, so snow is expected, but I just wish the walk to the bus stop was a little more manageable! This Tuesday through Wednesday we're expected to get anywhere from 12 to 20 inches! At least the folks from the Boston Globe have a good sense of humor about it, too. Compared to Shaq O'Neal's 7'11 height and the 1995-1996 record 102" of snow, we're doing OK, with only 60"! It's all about the perspective. And the Celtics, apparently.

In children's books and movies news, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is being adapted into a film: Harry Potter's Hermione actress Emma Watson and Percy Jackson's eponymous actor Logan Lerman are slated to star as Sam and Charlie respectively, with author Chobsky to direct.

Speaking of Harry Potter, there have been a few photos leaked from the Deathly Hallows part 2 set. Squee! I am so conflicted: I want it out sooner so I can see it, but I want the Potter thrill to last longer.

I'm a few days behind the announcement, but The Hunger Games movie has set a release date: March 23rd, 2012! The director is Gary Ross, but despite much blogging by fans, so far no cast has been announced.

I have said here a few times how much I adore the feminist pop culture magazine Bitch Magazine, and they have rocketed even further in my esteem with their latest "From the Library" segment: a list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader, from classics like Judy Blume's Forever and Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy to contemporary One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia and Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I love so many of the books on the list, and am ashamed I haven't read all of them! You can bet I will be selecting future reads from this list.

I never knew that one of my favorite science fiction/military thriller books, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, is in the works to become a movie! The website io9 announces the director will be Gavin Hood (of X-Men Origins: Wolverine) , with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who were behind Transformers, Star Trek, and Fringe. I hope for their success! I am really curious how this would play out on film - will Ender be as complicated, both likable and frightening, with film narration?

While on io9, I also found these jaw-dropping concept designs based on Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer's The Phantom Tollbooth from artist Lizzie Nichols. Of course, I had to follow the link back to her blog, where there are more incredible imaginings of the Doldrums, Digitopolis, Tock the Watchdog...and even some Lewis Carroll characters!

The weather may be frightful, but these books are delightful

We're getting another snow storm?! Me and my cold toes refuse to believe it! This is the snowingest winter I've seen in a long time. Fortunately, we have armloads of wintry themed books, varying from ideas on how to make snow monsters to delightful stories to curl up around.


Snow Play: How to Make Forts & Slides & Winter Campfires (Plus the coolest Loch Ness Monster) by Birgitta Ralston. Even if you don't have a yard big enough for this book, go to your nearest park or playground to try out these snow monsters with LED eyes, frozen marble runs, slides and other projects in the snow. Each activity is rated for difficulty, duration, and the type of snow needed.



The Secret Life of a Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht is an accessible non-fiction exploration of the making of a snowflake. Libbrecht is a scientist who takes photographs of snowflakes and tries to grow his own "ice flowers" in his laboratory. The science here goes beyond the changing states of water and cloud development to why snow looks white and why, if you're looking at a flake through a microscope, you will only ever see six-branched or hexagonal patterns. The facts are accompanied by gorgeous enlarged photographs of snowflakes and helpful diagrams.


You may recognize the sweet and expressive style in Olivier Dunrea's Old Bear and His Cub: this same author/illustrator gives us the booted ducklings of Gossie & Gertie board books. Gruff as Old Bear may be, he loves Little Cub; and as stubborn as Little Cub may be, he Loves Old Bear, too. This endearing book is perfect for dads and grandpas to read for bedtime.




One of my perennial winter favorites is the Caldecott Honor Snow by Uri Shulevitz. One, two, three tiny snowflakes fall and melt in this cozy town, provoking a small boy and his dog to gleefully dance about, "Snow!" even as the adults dismiss its possibility. With such joyous rhymes as "But snow doesn't listen to radio,/snowflakes don't watch television./All snowflakes know is snow, snow, snow," you, too, will be infected with joyous, child-like wonder at "Snow!".

Snowy day playtime

Yes, dear friends, cotton ball snowflakes and slushy roads can't keep us from selling you books! We are absolutely open today, even if it's the perfect kind of day for building blanket forts and watching marathons of movies (Harry Potter 1 through 6, anyone?). I've found all sorts of fun news to entertain you, whether you are in that blanket fort or your office...or the blanket fort in your office.

The most exciting tidbit of today: the 90 Second Newbery Film Festival! Word of this contest has spread like...Sweet cupcake frosting on a sweet cake...in kidlit blogland, and I am so extremely excited about it that I might have to 1) enlist my aspiring independent filmmaker friend to make one with me (we're sort of kids, right? At least, I do know kid actors), and 2) brave traveling to the Big City for the actual festival showing. The festival is being orchestrated by James Kennedy, author of The Order of Odd-Fish, in collaboration with the New York Public Library and blog Fuse #8. The rules seem a bit flexible, but the aim is for kids or teens to submit a 90 second film condensing the plot of a Newbery winner or honor book, or possibly a smashup of two books or pop culture references. I definitely would like to see Kennedy's suggestion of a Lego stop motion Good Masters, Sweet Ladies!

My roommates have been gleefully comparing notes on Baz Luhrmann's latest project, an adaptation of Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby: possibly shot in 3 D. The cast I've heard of so far include
Carey Mulligan as Daisy, Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as the narrator, Nick. Did anyone else watch Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet for English class, maybe right after Dead Poets Society? Mr. Hickey, wherever you are, you are an incredible teacher and have great taste in films. I don't see any talk of a release date yet, but you can bet I'll be seeing that in the theaters. Maybe our store's book club will consider rereading it and seeing it together?

That Gatsby article from the UK's Guardian mentions another exciting film on the (possibly 3 dimensional) horizon: Martin Scorcese adapting Brian Selznick's Caldecott winning Invention of Hugo Cabret. Over at /Film: First Look you can see actors Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield in costume as Isabelle and Hugo! Again, there is no set release date, but we'll be watching out for it.

If you have not yet declared your thoughts on the Hunger Games movie casting, there are various websites to make yourself heard. I am most amused by Reelz Channel's Cast-o-Rama, but some of the voter's lists make me feel out of the loop - I don't recognize a single possible Peeta actor. When I did get to be a grown-up? I was also intrigued by an article about director Gary Ross's decision to make the Hunger Games PG-13, rather than R rated. Certainly this would make it more accessible to or easier for younger teens to see it, but how exactly can one avoid the violence without losing the urgency and meaning of the Games? Excessive violence in movies, books, and games already stands the risk of desensitizing viewers to its injustice; predetermining the appropriate level of viewer age/violence sounds to me more like looking for a wider consumer range than an effort to be true to the art. Then again, it's not as if we put "parental advisory" stickers on books for teenagers (yet. But you can ask us what exactly happens in books). We'll just have to see how it pans out in theaters!

Speaking of appropriateness for teenagers, stills from the first part of Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn have been released, including a honeymoon bedroom scene! Risque. For a good laugh, watch this clip of MTV interviewing Robert Pattinson at the Golden Globes, in which he says posing for kissing scenes is a bit like "playing Twister." I can't decide if I'm more amused at the actual words Pattinson manages to get out, or his inability to stop giggling about it. (Note: This was my first time on TwilightGuide.com, I swear!). Breaking Dawn part one will be released this November, with the second part scheduled for November 2012.

How can I talk about children's books turned movies without mentioning Harry Potter?! I saw the first installment of the Deathly Hallows for the second time this weekend, and I must say it is even better after another viewing. The cinematography and soundtrack are beautiful, the pacing and mood are remarkably well done, considering that this part of the book is mostly setting up for the final battle at Hogwarts. This time, I managed to refrain from rereading the book to know what happens next, but I am already itching to see the conclusion this July. In the meantime, I will have to settle for entertaining myself with the motorbike escape game...

A rainy poem for a rainy kind of day

Happiness by A.A. Milne

John had
Great Big
Waterproof
Boots on;
John had a
Great Big
Waterproof
Hat;
John had a
Great Big
Waterproof
Mackintosh--
And that
(Said John)
Is
That.


- from When We Were Very Young

Here's hoping everyone braving the outdoors has at least one great, big waterproof item of clothing on today.