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fine lines
Little Women: The Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the feature in which we give a wrinkled look at the books we loved in our youth. This week, Lizzie Skurnick rereads 'Little Women', Louisa May Alcott's 1868 uber-girl guide to solace through sacrifice and scrubbing.
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booknotes
Classics
It makes a certain kind of aesthetic sense that Ruben Toledo should illustrate "Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions" of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and The Scarlet Letter. Now, if we can just get his wife to costume them...[Nylon] -
where's papa
First Wife's Club
Paula McLain has written a new novel about Ernest Hemingway's long-suffering first wife, Hadley Richardson, and their Movable Feast expat days in Paris. [GalleyCat] -
sexy time
What Women Want: Gay Male Sex
Who needs tired sheiks and virgins when you've got hot 18th century British sailor love? More » -
sexy time
Two Writers Make Sex After Forty Sound Pretty Good
Two new books — Kate Christensen's Trouble and Gloria Vanderbilt's Obsession: An Erotic Tale — handily refute claims that women can't write about sex, or that age is an impediment to eroticism. More » -
private lives
Beloved English Children's Book Author Was "Controlling, Difficult, Despised Many People."
Apparently an icon of coziness, Alison Uttley's diaries introduce us to a fabulously nasty character. Or, as we call it, sympathetic! More » -
futurama
The Joy Of Sex
The Ancient Book of Sex and Science is not, in fact, ancient - it was drawn by four Pixar animators - but the stylized, mid-century-style illustrations do indeed deal with sex, robots, aliens and math. [BoingBoing] -
strong words
Author On "Controversial" Book: "They Want To Burn It Like A Witch"
A few days ago, writer Francesca Lia Block found out that her book, Baby Be-Bop, might get burned. Today, she speaks with Salon, saying: More » -
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girl talk
No Tolerance For Paris Hilton
In her book, How To Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World, Jordan Christy urges us to embrace "real women with brains, beauty and self-respect" instead of Paris, Lindsay and their ilk. [Hachette Book Group, Page Six] -
drew who?
Nancy Drew, Sonia Sotomayor, & Feminism: Questions For Chelsea Cain
Sonia Sotomayor's revelation that she enjoyed Nancy Drew mysteries as a child has everyone speculating on how the books might have influenced her. We asked Chelsea Cain, author of Nancy Drew parody Confessions of a Teen Sleuth for her take.
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strong words
"Explicitly Vulgar, Racial, And Anti-Christian"
Robert C. Braun of the Christian Civil Liberties Union in Milwaukee seeks the right to burn his local library's copy of Baby Be-Bop by author Francesca Lia Block. The book explores a gay teen's struggles. More here: [American Library Association] -
mystery!
The Butler Hid It
Two previously unknown Hercule Poirot short stories have been found in one of Agatha Christie's homes. They will be included in the upcoming Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. [Guardian] -
fine lines
Down A Dark Hall: Getting The Spirit In The Dark
Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the feature in which we give a wrinkled look at the YA books we loved as youth. Today, Lizzie Skurnick rereads Down A Dark Hall, Lois Duncan's thriller about a residence where artists can really colonize.
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chick lit crit
Blogger Asks, What Is Women's Fiction?
Blogger Barbara Vey recently polled a variety of people on a potentially controversial question: "What is women's fiction?" More » -
bolters
'The Worse A Woman Behaves, The Better She Needs To Look.'
In 20th century England, women who "abandoned" their families were known as "Bolters." And in the golden age of Bolters, Lady Idina Sackville was the most famous and scandalous of them all. More » -
Entwined Destinies
Love Story
When late journalist Elsie Washington wrote 1980's Entwined Destinies under the name Rosalind Welles, it was a first: the story of a magazine writer's romance with a wealthy businessman, it featured "well-educated, well-traveled and worldly" contemporary African-American characters, and served an inspiration and a relief to other romance writers. [NPR] -
kids today
How To Talk To Girls Movie: Now More Agonizing Than Previously Anticipated
Everyone's favorite professionally precocious child-love-doctor, Alec Greven, and everyone's favorite self-serving, Emmy-winning comedy-writer are teaming up to share their combined life wisdom in a rom-com sure to involve man-children learning valuable life lessons from adorable smart-asses! Can we get an "oy vey?"
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oldies but goodies
A Career Romance For Young Moderns: Peggy Parker, Girl Inventor
I was so excited when I found Peggy Parker: Girl Inventor at a rummage sale, but when I started reading, my happiness turned to ash. Despite taking a progressive view towards female inventors, the book is incredibly, how do I put this, racist. So, this time it's not a recommendation. More »
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Kick-Lit
Jezebooks: Sarah Waters
If you haven't read any Sarah Waters? Lady, are you in for a page-turning, spine-tingling, word-smithing, sexy treat! Four words: lesbian historical ghost stories. More » -
i thee dread
“A Roofless House, A Smoky Chimney, And A Quarrelsome Woman.â€
Written by an unknown author in the late fourteenth century, "Le Ménagier de Paris," is a guide for the medieval bride, written in the voice of an old man instructing his fifteen-year-old intended. A mix of recipes, housekeeping tips, and spiritual guidance, it's now available in its entirety. [New Yorker] -
fine lines
Nothing's Fair In Fifth Grade: Pleading The Fifth
Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the Friday feature in which we give a far more wrinkled look at the children's and YA books we loved in our youth. This week, Lizzie Skurnick rereads 'Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade', Barthe DeClements 1981 classic about weight loss, multiplication and mean, mean mamas.
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art's sake
Daddy's Girl
Tiny Art Director is one blog so cute we don't begrudge its book deal! Graphic artist Bill Zeman draws things according to his four-year-old daughter's exacting instructions (ie, "A dinosaur eating a R and an O and an S and a I and a E"), she critiques the result. [BoingBoing] -
go ask alice
Curiouser And Curiouser
Alice in Wonderland, on Twitter. Although what is the use of a tweet, without pictures or conversations? [BlackBook] -
dickens, meet darwin
Do Books Help Us Evolve? And Should We Care?
It's become fashionable lately to examine the evolutionary purpose of art. Salon's review of a book called On the Origin of Stories gives this practice a much-needed critique. More » -
literary lauren
Lauren Conrad's Heart of Darkness: A Peek Inside Her New Novel
In the fine tradition of Nicole Richie, reality star Lauren Conrad has "written" a "novel." More » -
shelf pleasuring
Kinflicks: Coming To Rest
It's time for another edition of 'Shelf Pleasuring', in which we revisit the sexiest books we stole off our parents' shelves. Today, Fine Lines proprietrix Lizzie Skurnick writes about 'Kinflicks', Lisa Alther's 1976 spine-teaser.
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love is in the air
Romance Novels For A Free Society!
Changing the face of the world, one pulsating manhood at a time. More » -
mum's the word
Mommie Dearest
Need last-minute gift ideas? BookFinder helpfully brings us a list of literature's worst moms! From Jocasta to Norma Bates, neglectful to psychotic, there's a Barnes and Noble's worth of neurosis and pathology! [BookFinder] -
bloodsuckers
Undead
To celebrate New Moon's premiere, Little, Brown, publishers of the Twilight series, are rolling out a "New Moon Collector's Edition," a Breaking Dawn hardcover, a concert DVD(?) and a set of journals. [PW] -
Package Deals
Four Vacation Packages We'd Like To Take!
An article about a holiday "On the Trail of Laura Ingalls Wilder" got us thinking: what book vaycays would we like to see? More » -
outsider art
S.E. Hinton Dishes On Porn, Gender, & Matt Dillon
The Outsiders writer and former tomboy S.E. Hinton says, "I didn't think like a girl, so it's always been easier to write from a male point of view." More » -
words of wisdom
A Glossary Of Terms Inspired By The Ladies Of Children's Literature
When I'm in crisis mode, I ask myself: "What would Matilda do?" While the answer (telekinesis) isn't always helpful, there are some phrases, inspired by children's lit characters, that one should always keep in mind. More » -
snap judgment
Keanu Reeves Takes Part In New Russian Revolution
[Los Angeles, April 30. Image via Flynet]
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fine lines
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret: How Have I Not Written About This Book Yet?
Welcome to 'Fine Lines', the feature where we give a sentimental look at the YA books we loved in our youth. This week, Lizzie Skurnick tackles Judy Blume's 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.'
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books
Girls Against Girls
A new book for teen girls explores the "mean girl" syndrome, and… hey, wait a minute: Is that big-eyed mascara-loving chick on the cover silently judging us?!?!? [BoingBoing] -
food for thought
New Book On Overeating: Should We Treat Mac & Cheese Like Cigarettes?
"I wanted to understand why it's so hard to control what we eat," explains David Kessler of his new book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. More » -
writing under the influence
Amy Sedaris Sells Rights To I Like You Sequel
Grand Central Publishing bought the rights to the sequel to Amy Sedaris' offbeat entertaining guide I Like You. The book is due out in fall 2010, but is still untitled. Any suggestions? [Publisher's Weekly] -
book it
Pretentious Readers Don't Want The Kindle To Take Their Right To Be An Obnoxious Showoff Away
In these times, it's important to focus on what really matters in the world. Like, for example, the horrible impact the Amazon Kindle will have upon those who enjoy letting everyone know what they're reading. More » -
bookends
We Are All 14-Year-Old Girls
Publishers Weekly says that grown women are, increasingly, reading YA fiction. Yeah, we know. (Hides 'Twilight' under mattress.) More »






































