[A Holiday Shopping Spree for the Bookworm] Sixth Stop: Literature Lodge

I love bookish goodies almost as much as I love actual books, and reading. Being a bookworm is not a hobby: it is an all-enveloping, personality-defining lifestyle. The holiday season is just getting started, which means it is time to go shopping the literary way! Over the next two weeks, I will take you on a virtual bookish shopping spree to some of my favourite lit sites!

In 2013, we visited some wonderful literary museums. This year, I am delighted to showcase several amazing book-themed Etsy shops. Let’s get started!

LITERATURE LODGE

This shop makes two products: writer’s blocks and customizable author key chains. Sometimes, less is indeed more. They are wonderful, out-of-the-box gifts/stocking stuffers for your favourite classic book nerd.

TWO GREAT PIECES:

SHOP INFO:

  • LITERATURE LODGE: ETSY STORE
  • LOCATION: TAUNTON, MA
  • ARTIST: ROBERT SADLER
  • NOTE: THEY ARE ACCEPTING HOLIDAY ORDERS THROUGH FRIDAY, 12 DECEMBER

[A Holiday Shopping Spree for the Bookworm] Fifth Stop: Badly Drawn Authors

I love bookish goodies almost as much as I love actual books, and reading. Being a bookworm is not a hobby: it is an all-enveloping, personality-defining lifestyle. The holiday season is just getting started, which means it is time to go shopping the literary way! Over the next two weeks, I will take you on a virtual bookish shopping spree to some of my favourite lit sites!

In 2013, we visited some wonderful literary museums. This year, I am delighted to showcase several amazing book-themed Etsy shops. Let’s get started!

BADLY DRAWN AUTHORS

I have so much love for this shop. Maybe my inner hipster is showing, but I think it’s a genius idea. You can buy cards and posters of some awesome writers in a fun style that is anything but generic. The prices are also totally affordable for most budgets.

TWO OF MY (MANY) FAVOURITE PIECES:

SHOP INFO:

  • BADLY DRAWN AUTHORS: ETSY STORE
  • LOCATION: LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • ARTIST: SEAN RYAN
  • ARTIST INFO: HERE

[A Holiday Shopping Spree for the Bookworm] Third Stop: Uneek Doll Designs

I love bookish goodies almost as much as I love actual books, and reading. Being a bookworm is not a hobby: it is an all-enveloping, personality-defining lifestyle. The holiday season is just getting started, which means it is time to go shopping the literary way! Over the next two weeks, I will take you on a virtual bookish shopping spree to some of my favourite lit sites!

In 2013, we visited some wonderful literary museums. This year, I am delighted to showcase several amazing book-themed Etsy shops. Let’s get started!

UNEEK DOLL DESIGNS

I cannot say enough nice things about these miniature dolls. Are they extremely weird? Sure! Are they also the most awesome little keepsakes ever? Possibly! Artist Debbie Ritter manages to give her creations the personalities of her real-life subjects. There are 251 author dolls available in her shop, as well as those embodying literary characters, celebrities, musicians, artists, and historical figures.

THREE OF MY (MANY) FAVOURITE PIECES:

SHOP INFO:

  • UNEEK DOLL DESIGNS: ETSY STORE
  • LOCATION: ALABAMA
  • ARTIST: DEBBIE RITTER
  • ARTIST INFO: HERE

Shopping for the Bookworm: The Dead Writers Round-Up, Volume One

This shopping guide is a companion to the 10th-14th November The Dead Writers Round-Up. Enjoy!

Continue reading

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 10th-14th November

  • Oliver Goldsmith was born on 11/10/1728. “You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.” (The Vicar of Wakefield; The Deserted Village; She Stoops to Conquer)
  • Friedrich Schiller was born on 11/10/1759. “Keep true to the dreams of thy youth.” (The Robbers; Intrigue and Love; Don Carlos; The Maid of Orleans; William Tell)
  • Arthur Rimbaud died on 11/10/1891. “I believe I am in Hell, therefore I am.” (Soleil et chair; Le bateau ivre; Illuminations)
  • Ken Kesey died on 11/10/2001. “You can’t really be strong until you can see a funny side to things.” (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Sometimes a Great Notion; Caverns; Sailor Song)
  • Norman Mailer died on 11/10/2007. “Writer’s block is only a failure of the ego.” (The Naked and the Dead; The Executioner’s Song; Ancient Evenings; The Gospel According to the Son)
  • Kurt Vonnegut was born on 11/11/1922. “And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.” (The Sirens of Titan; Mother Night; Cat’s Cradle; Slaughterhouse-Five; Jailbird; Timequake)
  • Carlos Fuentes was born on 11/11/1928. “I need, therefore I imagine.” (Aura; Terra Nostra; The Old Gringo; Diana: the Goddess Who Hunts Alone; The Years with Laura Diaz)
  • Elizabeth Gaskell died on 11/12/1865. “Those who are happy and successful themselves are too apt to make light of the misfortune of others.” (Cranford; North and South; Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story)
  • Robert Louis Stevenson was born on 11/13/1850. “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” (Treasure Island; Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; Kidnapped; The Master of Ballantrae)
  • Arthur Hugh Clough died on 11/13/1861. “My wind is turned to bitter north/That was so soft a south before.” (Tober-na-Vuolich; Mari Magno, or Tales on Board)
  • Saki (H.H. Munro) died on 11/13/1916. “The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened.” (The Westminster Alice; The Unbearable Bassington; When William Came)
  • Clementine Paddleford died on 11/13/1967. “Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be!” (A Dickens Christmas Dinner; How America Eats)
  • Astrid Lindgren was born on 11/14/1907. “But still, if it’s true, how can it be a lie?” (Pippi Longstocking series; Bill Bergson series)
  • Booker T. Washington died on 11/14/1915. “I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.” (Character Building; Up from Slavery; Working with the Hands)
  • Robert E. Sherwood died on 11/14/1955. “We all come from our own little planets. That’s why we’re all different. That’s what makes life interesting.” (Waterloo Bridge; Reunion in Vienna; The Petrified Forest; Idiot’s Delight; Abe Lincoln in Illinois; There Shall Be No Night)
  • Malcolm Muggeridge died on 11/14/1990. “Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream.” (Three flats: a play in three acts; Winter in Moscow; In a valley of this restless mind)

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My Favourite (Dead) Playwrights*

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950):

George Bernard Shaw, 1909

George Bernard Shaw. 1909.

Some plays: Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Arms and the Man; Candida; Major Barbara; The Doctor’s Dilemma; Pygmalion; Heartbreak House; Saint Joan; The Apple Cart; The Millionairess.

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906):

Henrik Ibsen  by Gustav Borgen, 1898 or earlier

Henrik Ibsen by Gustav Borgen. 1898 or earlier.

Some plays: Peer Gynt; Pillars of Society; A Doll’s House; Ghosts; An Enemy of the People; The Wild Duck; Hedda Gabler; The Master Builder.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904):

Anton Chekhov, 1900

Anton Chekhov. 1900.

Some Plays: The Bear; A Marriage Proposal; The Seagull; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; The Cherry Orchard.

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975):

Thornton Wilder, Yale Graduation Photo 1920

Thornton Wilder’s Yale graduation photo. 1920.

Some plays: The Long Christmas Dinner; Our Town; The Merchant of Yonkers; The Skin of Our Teeth; The Matchmaker. Continue reading

[Alternative Muses] Writerly Style: Dressing for the Four Seasons with Sylvia Plath

Reposting in honor of Sylvia’s birthday!

maedez's avatarA Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”-Orson Welles

Sylvia Plath is best remembered for the sharp-edged precision of her poetry: word-vessels that are hard, clear, and passionate examples of literature’s trickiest form. Her style, although of minor importance to both literary historians and laypersons, remains fresh and appealing fifty years after her death. The timeless quality of Sylvia’s wardrobe is easy to emulate, and personalize.

Four Seasons, Five Photographs, Forever Stylish:

Sylvia Plath: SpringSylvia Plath: Spring

 A crisp white tee, corset belt, and floaty high-waisted skirt is the perfect outfit for the windy days of spring. She finishes it off simply with lipstick and a hairpin. Typewriter: optional. [This is my favourite photograph of a writer caught in the act of writing. I’ve always envied the imagined comforts of working in a garden setting. Sun-on-skin; light, earth-tainted breeze; a lounge chair to sink…

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