The Olive Reader

I recently finished Toby Barlow’s Sharp Teeth and would like to hop up on the soapbox briefly to extoll its furry, gritty, manic glory. An entire book written in prose poetry gave me a whole new appreciation for what’s at the core of a story.

On the topic of werewolves and all things shapeshifting, Francois Macre brings the glory of turning free time into something special with a solo acapella rendition of Thriller, the 64 voice parts of which he recorded ALL HIMSELF.

Check out the latest video from Jessica, our colleague at HarperCollins Canada in her awesome YouTube show, Jessica Off the Shelf.

Maybe this is wrong to say, but I’m a little disappointed that she didn’t say “aboot.” Too much Degrassi has ruined me.

Robert Pinsky plays and sings:

Have you ever wondered what witty bon mots grace our department’s dry-erase board? Want to be the first to know which viral videos are distracting us from work? Like all the cool kids, we’re now on Twitter. Follow us—you won’t be disappointed.

Go here to check out N. Frank Daniels’ Book Notes playlist over on Largehearted Boy for his debut novel, Futureproof. I’ve been a fan of Futureproof for a while, ever since we were working on our winter 2009 catalog more than a year ago. I read an excerpt and begged the editor, the esteemed MS, for the whole book, and I did not regret it.

Head on over to The Roaring 20s, where you can win a copy of The Drowned Life, a short story collection that’s “a mesmerizing blend of the familiar and the fantastic,” and one that I’ve been meaning to read since it came out.

The contest is being held to help everyone gear up for tomorrow, when Virginia Stanely, our director of library marketing, will interview Jeffrey Ford, the author. Tune in tomorrow!

Largehearted Boy is giving away a set of our first olive editions. All you need to do is comment on that entry with the name of the book you’re currently carrying around or the book you wish could fit in your pocket (like the olives.)

Check out the new trailer for I Love You, Beth Cooper, out this summer! You can even “personalize” it.

The most important question of the century is up over at People.com: Has Miss Piggy lost weight?

Personally, I think it’s just the lack of 80s hair.

**The best part of this post is that it is actually book-related: Miss Piggy has a new book out.

Awesome Sites That Have The Word Fuck In The Title:

Fuck Yeah Ryan Gosling

Fuck You, Penguin (subtitle for this one is “a blog where I tell cute animals what’s what)

“Are you happy for yourself, Koala? Is being famous in Australia not good enough for you? IT’S A GIANT FUCKING COUNTRY, KOALA. Were you planning on going abroad for your second year of school? You’re a koala, you’re not from anywhere else. But you have to be world fucking famous. You want it all, Koala, and apparently you don’t care who gets hurt.”

You can celebrate the release of Eugene Mirman’s The Will to Whatevs today by attending his book release party (featuring Kristen Schaal, John Oliver, and Sarah Vowell), or by watching the below video. The choice is yours.

Sebastian Horsley, author of Dandy in the Underworld, on what home means to him in the London Times:

Sebastian Horsley, author and dandy: “My bank called to tell me my flat is in negative equity, like my life. I’ve got the opposite of the Midas touch. I can turn gold to coal and glitter to litter faster than the speed of a bullet. Staying where you are, of course, saves money. I live alone with my gas fire, by choice. Neither of us goes out unattended. And I don’t believe in travel — I prefer to lie on a divan in my parlour and let the world come to me. I write and paint to fill the hours.”

Save the Words offers words for adoption. Words like misqueme (to displease), plegnic (striking like a hammer), and veteratorian (subtle). By adopting a word you promise to use it in conversation and to not let it die. Save the words!

Check out this GalleyCat video interview with Karan Mahajan, author of Family Planning:

Karan will be reading next week on Feb 11th at the Mercantile Library in NYC with fellow Harper Perennial author Diana Spechler, and I encourage you to attend. I saw him read at Word Books in Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago, and it immediately made me want to read the book. I’m almost done with it right now and it’s clever and fun. It will also leave you unable to get Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” out of your head.