Nostalgia Reader

The REAL problems in America today are Little Free Libraries.

Last summer in Kansas, a 9-year-old was loving his Little Free Library until at least two residents proved that some people will complain about anything no matter how harmless and city officials pushed the boundaries of literal-mindedness:

 

"The Leawood City Council said it had received a couple of complaints about Spencer Collins' Little Free Library. They dubbed it an "illegal detached structure" and told the Collins' they would face a fine if they did not remove the Little Free Library from their yard by June 19."

[via io9]

Alexandra Hetmerová's master's project "Mythopolis"

This is adorable!!

(originally seen on io9)

I highly support his idea of turning this into a book! The illustrations are lovely, and the posts about each creature are great... I actually learned about a lot of creatures I'd never heard of before, or had never bothered to research further.

[First seen on io9]

Consider the possibilities...

I was going to try The Lost World, but there weren't that many really fun ones. So I decided on 20,000 Leagues under the Sea(s) instead. Like Lost World, it's is one of my favorite books of all time, but also happens to have ALL THE AWESOME COVERS. Surprisingly, the only version I have is in my Barnes & Noble leather-bound Verne collection. I need to invest in a singular copy.

The best advice I can give you is to write it in a  table, list all your parameters and tick off as you go. It reaches a stage where everything falls into place but it needs some concentration. Good luck :)

So perfect for the first day of Camp NaNo's July session.

This book was a delightful journey around the world with the lovely Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland. It was the first book in a very long time that retained its five-star rating almost from the very beginning. While it does have some flaws, I adored the storytelling style and history that was covered. This may have been because I was the perfect target audience for a book like this, but even if I hadn't been, I have a feeling I still would have had high praises for this.

I think the biggest compliment I can give the book is that it gives equal time to both Bly and Bisland--we get two biography chapters on each, then an alternating-chapter-focus on their travels. The wrap up does contain a bit more about

but the remaining biographical information is also fairly even. I was afraid that since Bly was the more famous of the two that she would get all the spotlight, and Bisland would take a backseat. Definitely not the case with this, though, which made me very happy.

The book goes incredibly in-depth into each journey, not just encompassing the places they went and the thoughts that they had, but going off on historical tangents about the countries they visited and the ships or trains they travelled on. There's also some interesting journalism history interspersed as well, both when Bly and Bisland are introduced as well as to keep the reader up to date with how people back in the States were eagerly following the race through the papers. Even parts of the journey where you would think nothing much would happen, Goodman covers it, but in an interesting, engaging style. I honestly was not bored for more than a paragraph here and there--I wanted to know every little detail. Goodman also quotes a lot from the women's journals and memoirs about the trips, which adds great characterization to it all--they aren't flat historical figures, they're real people.

Of course, the book isn't without some issues that would probably nag other readers who aren't as engaged in the story or topic. The "race" actually wasn't a race at all, but rather a publicity stunt that Bly came up with, and that Bisland's boss jumped on just after Bly set off. The two never met, and Bly never knew she had a competitor until about halfway through her trip. So "race" is probably is a bit misleading. The tangents that Goodman goes off on may not appeal to everyone either. They are all well written, but if you aren't interested (or willing to be) in ALL THE HISTORY!!!1!, then you'll probably end up skim reading some lengthier tangents. It might simply be too in-depth for some.

However, I was easily able to overlook these issues, and enjoy the entire ride, start to finish. It's one of the few books that I wish I had actually bought, instead of borrowed from the library, so I would be able to constantly reread it. I would honestly recommend this to anybody--there's something in here for pretty much everyone, and it gives an excellent picture of both women's incredible accomplishments.

I've posted this before, but I love it so much I have to do it again, LOL.