Link Love: May 2016

Review of the Month

I’ve had Daniel Kehlmann’s Measuring the World on my radar for some time now, but three reviews in one week (from Lizzy’s Literary Life, My Book Strings and Consumed by Ink) have convinced me that I really should read it soon. It sounds like a brilliant fictional treatment of a fascinating period in history and science. Let me know if you have read or reviewed it as well.

This was the week of  Armchair BEA (Book Expo America), which I took part in for the third time. Next year, I have my eye on attending the real BEA if it comes back to New York, but in the meantime the virtual conference is a fun substitute! Among the many posts I enjoyed were: First Day Impressions (from Tif Sweeney), Breaking Down Book Covers (from Sarah’s Book Shelves), and Surviving Fictional Worlds (from Meaghan Walsh Gerard). What were your favorites?

Here are other links that caught my eye, starting with this month’s round-up of Reading New England posts (watch out, there are a lot of them):

Reading New England

• At Relevant Obscurity, The Country of the Pointed Firs left Laurie “longing to know more, not only of the characters, but of the author herself.”
• Daniela Ark’s blog offers a review of the “entertaining, action driven” fantasy Fury’s Kiss, the first in a series.
• Penni from Penni’s Perceptions found a fun comedy to read in the play Almost, Maine. And she came up with another winner in the historical novel A Hundred Summers, set in a Rhode Island seaside community. Not content to rest on her laurels, she read a third book, Midwives by Vermont author Chris Bohjalian, and gave it five stars.
• TJ of My Book Strings read several children’s books together with her kids. It’s always great to see some reactions from real kid readers.
• “I love a good apocalyptic dystopian,” says Kissin’ Blue Karen, and The Fireman provided her with just that.
• Lark of Lark Writes… was sorry she couldn’t count Nobody’s Secret as her Massachusetts book (because she already had one), but says it would a great choice for that category. Lark DID count a Connecticut book, The Inheritance, for the challenge, calling it “a pretty entertaining read.”
• Stephanie of Adventures of a Bibliophile was not bowled over by the classic play Our Town, but she might give it another chance someday.
• At Carstairs Considers, Carstairs was delighted with All Murders Final! – a Massachusetts-based entry in the “Garage Sale Mystery” series.

Year of Charlotte and William

• 38 fun facts, one for each of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, at Mental Floss.
• From The Millions, a pilgrimage to the House of Bronte.
• Ranging from the beautiful to the bizarre, images from Shakespeare’s plays in art are yours for the taking at The Public Domain Review.
• Musings about Charlotte Bronte and science at Nature magazine’s Books and Arts blog.
• From Off the Shelf, a list of books inspired by Shakespeare.
• At Girl with Her Head in a Book, Susie’s review of The Bronte Cabinet, just one of her many excellent Bronte posts.

Language Matters

• From Tor.com, a Dutch author decides to Americanize his book for English translation. A savvy marketing move, or artistic betrayal?
• The Oxford dictionary blog gives us some expressions for laughter, crying, and disgust in languages from around the world.
• Also from Oxford, for those fascinated by name origins, here are names that were invented or popularized by writers.
• By Singing Light suggests some beautifully crafted prose books for poetry fans.

Real and Fictional Real Estate

• From The Worm Hole, a wonderful tour of Gilbert White’s house. (Gilbert who? Read Charlie’s post and you’ll find out!)
• What would some classic Manhattan book locations cost today? The scoop on the homes of Harriet M. Welsch, Stuart Little, and more from Cityrealty.
• And if you’re pining for a more exotic getaway, check out these vintage-style space tourism posters from NASA.

Image of the Month

Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer