December 19, 2013
Have you heard of these groups who promote reading directly or as a means to encourage giving to causes? World Book Night is fairly well-known, but there are other approaches to touting literacy and love of reading. I especially thought LIT (working with incarcerated teens in NY) was worthwhile, as well as 826 National, a tutoring program […]
December 18, 2013
A sequel to Stieg Larsson’s popular Millennium series (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) is due to be published in August 2015. Larsson died in 2004 and was working on the fourth volume, but because of a dispute between his partner […]
December 17, 2013
A new art museum just opened in Miami with its windows overlooking the bay. Named for the real estate tycoon Jorge Perez, the museum is focused on modern art from the 20th and 21st centuries. Perez stated in an NPR interview that he is the first Hispanic to have a major institution named in his […]
December 17, 2013
A discussion on “What Shakespeare Ate” is typical of the offerings at the International Antiquarian Book Fair. The gathering of dozens of dealers and present and future collectors provides a chance to pore over wares, shmooze, and learn about the basics of antique book collecting. Beginners can have up to 3 books appraised for free, among […]
December 17, 2013
There are so many things to celebrate in December: Hanukkah (usually), Christmas, Kwanzaa, the Solstice, Beethoven’s birthday (yesterday, Dec. 16th), and this year, the 100th anniversary of the crossword puzzle. Edward Wynne, an Englishman by birth, was asked to create a word puzzle game for the New York World newspaper comics page. He did so […]
December 17, 2013
Hollywood lost two legendary stars over the weekend: Peter O’Toole died Saturday in London at the age of 81; Joan Fontaine was 96 when she died at her Carmel, California home on Sunday. Peter O’Toole is probably best know for his Oscar nominated performance in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. His striking good looks […]
December 13, 2013
A recent Pew phone survey found that the majority of Americans support their public libraries and that 95 percent “agree that the materials and resources available at public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed.” Yet only about 54 percent actually used a public library in the past year. While […]
December 13, 2013
Manvee Vaid is a Chicagoland artist and the curator of the newest exhibit in our ongoing Local Art @ EPL series. Comprised of over three dozen stunning samples of contemporary Indian folk art, her exhibit features works from the Madhubani, Gond, Warli, and Bengal regions of India done in acrylics, ink, vegetable colors, red mud, […]
December 12, 2013
New Paradigm is debuting a twist on an old favorite. Take Sherlock Homes, change the setting to NYC ‘s Harlem area, make the main detective Watson and the assistant a dreadlock-wearing Holmes. Now you’ve switched the characters, the place, the time, and, the publishers hope, the audience. By offering updated mysteries in a new digital format with […]
December 11, 2013
A watercolor portrait of Jane Austen commissioned by her nephew in 1869 sold for $270,000 at Sotheby’s on Tuesday. The anonymous private collector who purchased it called the portrait “the most important likeness of Jane Austen ever to appear on the open market.” The painting by James Andrews was taken from a pencil portrait by […]
