Tonight is World Book Night, an international event wherein devoted volunteers pick a favorite out of 30 books, selected by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers, and hand copies out in their communities, encouraging those who don’t normally read or have access to books to experience something new. In case you missed the boat on volunteering, but are inspired to gift a book to someone who doesn’t read very often, we’ve put together a list of foolproof gift books that (almost) everyone will love. Some of these have been selected as World Book Night books in the past, and some have not, but we think they all will encourage a brand new or rediscovered reading habit — and your reputation as an excellent gift-giver. Check out our list after the jump, and add to it at will in the comments. … Read More
Donna Tartt
33 Wonderful Fan-Designed Covers for Famous Novels
Here at Flavorwire, we’re suckers for a great book cover — even if that book cover never actually made it into production. After all, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that sometimes the best book covers come from those designing without the constraints of publicity departments or authorial preferences. To that end, after the jump you will find a collection of unofficial book covers for famous works — created by students, career designers, or mysterious people on the Internet — that we totally love. Publishing houses, take note: we would buy these if ever we saw them in the pulpy flesh. Did we miss your favorite (or your own)? Link us to more literary design goodness in the comments. … Read More
10 Great Contemporary Campus Novels: Proof the Genre Is Still Kicking
This week, we read an article over at the Guardian calling for the “retirement” of the campus novel, citing its apparent rite-of-passage status and prevalence, but sniffing, “the standard of the campus club’s productions, however, increasingly makes you wonder why they bother.” Well, we disagree. We love campus novels, and though the classics – Lucky Jim, Pnin — hold extra-special places in the bookshelf of our heart, we think contemporary versions are continuing the tradition in fine form. To prove our point, we’ve selected ten of our favorites, written in the last 20-odd years (our cutoff is 1990), that prove the genre is still relevant. Page through our picks after the jump, and let us know what you think of the modern campus novel in the comments. … Read More
Diagnosing Your Romantic Issues Based on Your Favorite Literary Couple
Happy Valentine’s Day, literary lovers! Or literary loners, as the case may very well be. If you’ve been going through a rough patch this year, maybe your reading habits are to blame — or maybe they’re just clues to the source of your strife. After all, we can’t help but be influenced by our favorite love stories. After the jump, you’ll find our cheeky analysis of your romantic issues based on your favorite literary couple — whether you’re modeling yourself after them or just can’t get enough of their particular brand of crazy. See if you can find your favorite literary lovebirds below, and let us know if we’ve got you pegged in the comments. … Read More
Adorable Pictures of Famous Writers and Their Pets
A dog may be man’s best friend, but some men make better friends than others. To us, it’s always seemed as though pets attach themselves to artists (and vice versa, of course) in greater numbers than to regular folks — or at least that almost every artist we know needs a furry friend to talk to. Maybe it’s the pull of a constant, silent listener to bounce ideas against, maybe it’s because of the boundless soul of the writer, maybe it’s a coincidence. Either way, we think pictures of famous authors and their pets are pretty adorable, so we’ve collected a few of them here. See some of our favorite writers with their dogs and cats (and peacocks, guess who) after the jump, and if we missed your favorite literary pair of man and beast, add them in the comments. … Read More
The 10 Most Twisted Couples in Literature
Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of Edward Albee’s now-iconic play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which went on to win a Tony for Best Play and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award. It also brought us the incomparable George and Martha, a bickering, bitter couple whose frustrated, drunken antics have turned them into modern archetypes. Inspired by the anniversary of this wonderful play, we’ve put together a list of the most twisted couples in literature — with George and Martha leading the pack, of course. Read through our choices after the jump, and if we missed your deliciously self-destructive or unfailingly dysfunctional favorites, add to our list in the comments. … Read More
10 Great Books That Should Be Movies
Hollywood has always looked to literature for inspiration and adaptation fodder, but these days, it seems more likely than not that any given new film will be based on a book (or be a sequel or a superhero movie, but let’s set that aside). Not that that’s a bad thing — we’re looking forward to Cloud Atlas, On the Road, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower as much as the next guy. Still, we’re baffled at some of the books that, for whatever reason, haven’t yet been snapped up by the Hollywood machine. After the jump, we’ve put together a list of novels that we’d love to see hit the big screen — click through to check out our picks and add your own wish list in the comments! … Read More
11 Thrilling Books For People Who Don’t Read Thrillers
Though as readers we try our best to keep an open mind, we have a confession. We admit it, it’s a dirty word to us: genre fiction. That said, when we were breathlessly devouring Tana French’s newly-released Broken Harbor, we were struck by something: the power of a well-written, perfectly plotted, tightly-wound literary thriller. While the “t” word might throw off some high-minded snobs (admittedly, us), there’s absolutely nothing wrong in delighting in a great book that is, well, thrilling. As an entry point, we’ve gathered some of our favorite recent literary thrillers here, for your perusal. Note that we set the guideline of “recent” (so, please, no “where’s Agatha Christie?”), we chose not to focus on true crime (though we did have to make one exception), and that we highly recommend all of these. Also note that we don’t recommend starting any of them before bedtime. … Read More
10 Fictional Schools That We’d Love to Attend
We’re huge fans of the campus novel, and this morning we’re adding another great one to our collection: Don Lee’s The Collective, which hits shelves today. The novel, which follows a group of young artists during and after college, got us thinking about all the wonderful houses of learning from books that we wish we could have attended — from grade schools to high schools to college. Though The Collective is set at a real-life school, Macalester College, we’ve narrowed our choices to fictional schools (though some of them may bear more than a passing resemblance to extant houses of learning) to make it a little more fun. Click through to read about ten literary schools where we’d love to study, and let us know where you’d go if you had the chance in the comments. … Read More
Our 10 Favorite Manic Pixie Dream Girls in Literature
Oh, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She just won’t go away, will she? The romantic dramedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens in theaters tomorrow, and it seems to be only the newest incarnation of an age-old cinematic trend of young, whimsical women redeeming somewhat depressed and uncertain men with their quirky wiles. But though you know her as Zooey Deschanel, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is also a literary figure, identified by her charming left-of-center personality, her pronounced (and sometimes left-of-center) beauty, and her function as a usually rather flat character who serves to lead the male protagonist into self-discovery before disappearing (or dying). Click through to read about a few of our favorites, and then look at this Manic Pixie Dream Squirrel for extra credit. … Read More
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