The A Series of Unfortunate Events author has pledged to match donations for 24 hours up to $100,000 to We Need Diverse Books , an organization that promotes diversity in children’s literature.
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Friday, November 21, 2014
34 Books By Indian Authors That Everyone Should Read
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
India is amongst the largest and most diverse countries in the world – here are a few authors who have made the most riveting attempts at impossible task of capturing it.
Not Only The Things That Have Happened by Mridula Koshy
Why you should read it: Not Only The Things That Have Happened tells the story of a mother who loses her son, and of how the boy becomes a man. The most engaging part of the novel is that it's told over a 36 hour period, in which time acts as a sort of narrator, taking us through decades and back.
Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar.
Why you should read it: Cuckold is a novel based in 16th century India, dealing with the lives of a very powerful ruling family. The novel stands out among others like it because of its raw representations of sex and scandal. Nagarkar constructs a story that is ostensibly about love, but allows the reader to explore the internal struggle of a man when faced with betrayal, loss, and war.
A House For Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Why you should read it: Its protagonist, Mohan Biswas, is a classic anti-hero, simultaneously despicable and compelling.
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh.
Why you should read it: Ghosh brilliantly intertwines the traditions, cultures and histories of people from across the world, and paints a picture of a combined consciousness.
These Portraits From Ed Sheeran's New Book Are Incredible
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
Stunning work by British artist Phillip Butah from Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey .
Ed Sheeran: An Illustrated Journey is a new book that gives fans a behind the scenes look at Sheeran's life and music, with original artwork by his friend, Phillip Butah.
Phillip says: "Coloured pastel on coloured paper. Ed is two years old; he has such innocence."
Phillip Butah / Cassel Illustrated
An established artist in his own right, Butah was awarded The Prince of Wales’s Young Artists’ Award at 16, and studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins.
Phillip says: "Coloured pastel on coloured paper. Ed's in a recording booth very early on here."
Philip Butah / Octopus
In 2008, Butah was included in "The Powerlist: Britain's 100 most influential black people" and in 2009, he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Prince Charles.
Phillip says: "Coloured wax pastel on coloured paper. This is at Ed’s house, Ed had just done a radio interview on No Hats, No Trainers and we were listening to hip hop together."
Philip Butah / Octopus
On working with Sheeran, Butah says: "I respect him so much. He has worked incredibly hard to get to where he is and he’s always remained so humble throughout."
Phillip says: "Watercolour pen on paper. We were just chilling out and jamming at mine."
Philip Butah / Octopus
Lemony Snicket Sparks Outrage With Offensive Comments
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
The A Series of Unfortunate Events author has come under fire for making racist jokes at the 2014 National Book Awards ceremony.
Robin Marchant / Getty Images
Brown Girl Dreaming
Nancy Paulsen Books
The 10 Most Popular Quotes From "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay"
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
17 Books For People Who Hate People
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
When you’re done reading, gift them to someone who could use the paper cuts.
"The fact that I killed this man. It's not going to change my life."
Tom Ripley grew up as an orphan and, bitter with his lack of a place in high society, kills a rich guy and steals his life. But the murders don't stop there, because two can only keep a secret if one of them is dead.
For: People who hate rich white boys in boat shoes.
"Revenge may be wicked, but it's natural."
Becky Sharp gives you The Lady Eve realness as she cons her way through high society by seducing other women's men and swindling them out of their money.
For: An aspiring actor in Los Angeles.
The Day I Stopped Believing In God
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
How learning about death changed everything.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
One day when I was 9 years old, I walked through my hometown wearing a white cotton T-shirt, handmade polyester pants meant to look like real jeans, and North Star runners. Everything felt good. I wasn't wearing socks or underwear. I couldn't feel any of my clothing. Nothing bothered me. I felt weightless, like I could walk forever, like I was a natural element, like wind, something that had always existed and always would. I didn't feel anything but the sunshine on my skin and pure joy, pure confidence in myself and in my world. I can't remember what happened that day before I started walking around town or why I felt so free. I just remember thinking everything was perfect, everything in life was perfect, and I fully belonged in the world, in that town, in those clothes, in my body.
By the end of the day I would stop believing in God but I didn't know it at the time.
At first I walked with my uncle Edward. He was very tall and had red hair. I had bumped into him by the feed mill. I was climbing down from the top of it and he was watching me with one hand on his hip and the other shielding his eyes from the sun because he was afraid I'd fall. A teenager had fallen from it, he said, and was paralyzed for life. He told me he was a "good man." He said it in German. That meant he'd been appointed by the church to help out a widow in town. He had to do good things for her, he said, fix things and help her budget her money.
I asked him what a widow was. I told him I'd never get married and he laughed.
"Do you want to bet?" he said.
I shook his hand and said yes, a million bucks.
I said good-bye to him and walked to Main Street. I waved at a lot of people and they all waved back because we all knew each other. I walked into the funeral home and saw old people gathered around a small coffin. I knew there was a little boy in there. I went to have a look and I touched his arm. His mother was my mother's friend. When they came to visit I'd run and hide because I didn't want to have to play with him. I pressed hard on his arm with my finger but he didn't flinch.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed
Sorry for running away when you came to my house with your mom.
I didn't say it out loud but I knew that he was an angel now and could hear everything. I looked at him until a woman gave me a popcorn ball from her purse and told me to eat it outside on the sidewalk.
I was on my way to the old folks home to sing for Grace. She was the reason why I was walking around town. My mother was trying to do housework and wanted me out of her hair. She told me to go sing for Grace, like usual. When I got to the old folks home, I had popcorn stuck in my hair because I had eaten it in the wind. I walked to Grace's room. I walked past very old people in chairs. A woman called me by my mother's name.
Do a cartwheel, she said.
I did three in a row in the long corridor and the woman shook her head and wiped her eyes.
Grace lay in her bed and looked dead. She didn't open her eyes the whole time I was singing. I sang "Children of the Heavenly Father." I got bored in the middle of a verse because she wasn't smiling or reacting at all so I stopped and flicked the light off and on in her room but she still didn't do anything. I left her room and thought about telling someone that Grace had died but I was suddenly afraid that I'd be blamed for it. I walked outside into the sunshine; I had been breathing through my mouth so I wouldn't have to smell things inside, and ran on the giant spools of electrical cable that were stored in the empty lot next to the old folks home. If I worked hard I could get them to move like giant logs, like a log-rolling competition, all over the lot.
A man drove up in his car and asked me to stop rolling the spools of cable. I was standing on one, high above him, and I smiled and said OK. I jumped down and kept walking. I walked to the farm on the edge of town and Frank Klassen was standing in the driveway talking to his friend, Harold. I asked them what was up and Frank said, "Stillborn calf this morning, not pretty." Harold put his engineer cap on my head. I picked up stones from the driveway and asked them why.
"It happens," said Frank.
I asked Harold if I could keep his hat and he said sure, why not? I kept walking.
Punk Icon Viv Albertine Shares Her Greatest Style Moments
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
The Slits guitarist’s new memoir, Clothes Clothes Clothes. Music Music Music. Boys Boys Boys., catalogs a life lived in style.
From 1978 to 1981, Viv Albertine was a part of the groundbreaking all-female punk band The Slits.
Which helped paved the way for later amazing all-girl bands, feminist-tinged pop, and Riot Grrl movements.
REX USA/Ray Stevenson
The Slits, along with bands like the X-Ray Spex, The Raincoats, and Blondie, added a vital female voice to the often male-dominated punk world.
Here's Viv (back row, center) with (clockwise from top left) Debbie Harry of Blondie, Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Pauline Black of The Selecter, Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex, and Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders.
Michael Putland / Getty Images
Fronted by 14-year-old dreadlocked spitfire Ari Up, The Slits released two albums in their short career: Cut and The Return of the Giant Slits.
David Corio / Getty Images
You might be familiar with their incredible cover of Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through the Grapevine."
Here Are The 2014 National Book Awards Winners
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 21, 2014
The winners were revealed at the 65th National Book Awards ceremony.
Redeployment
The Penguin Press
Phil Klay
Redeployment takes readers to the front lines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos.
Via nationalbook.org
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After Making Racist Joke, Lemony Snicket Donates $10K In Support Of Diverse Books