Iconography

I wanted to point out that Heavenly Windows has posted a new icon to this blog. Face Made Without Hands is my favorite. Scroll through all of the beautiful artwork here and enjoy!

On-line books

I always love hearing about a new way of looking at books. This website was recommended to me by another bluestocking, and I hope you enjoy it too! Abe Books specializes in new and used books and seems to offer a lot of good reviews.

Grammar Girl

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy this podcast? I believe I've posted links to Grammar Girl's show before, but it's always gratifying to listen to someone clarify misconceptions for those people you would never correct personally. I suppose she's preaching to the choir, and I imagine her listeners are all fans of Lynne Truss and Strunk & White. Sometimes it's just nice to know there are other persnickety, grammar-obsessed people out there.

Freddy and Fredericka

Spring Break is over, but I'm still enjoying the newest book by Mark Helprin: Freddy and Fredericka. described as an allegory, a picaresque saga, and fable-cum-romance, I've been laughing out loud over his portrayal of how Brits see the States. It's a great look at class and culture, silly and funny, but not stupid. It's very transparently based on Prince Charles and Princess Di's marriage. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch their wedding, and many scenes from Helprin's novel will be recognizable; others, not so much, but still entertaining.

Top Ten Book Stores

Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver is definitely one of my favorite bookstores in the country, but I'd be hard pressed to say what bookstore is my favorite. I suppose it's whichever one I'm in at the moment. Here is my top ten list, in wildly varying order depending on the day:

1. Tattered Cover, Denver
2. Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle
3. Epilogue Book Company, Steamboat Springs
4. Book People, Austin
5. Taschen, New York
6. Micawber, Princeton (unfortunately closed in 2006)
7. Octavia, New Orleans
8. Powell's, Portland
9. Well's Books, Victoria
10. Reader's Cove, Fort Collins
    

Neil Gaiman

I had read Neil Gaiman's American Gods not too long ago and enjoyed his modern-adaptation of myth, which is soon to be made available on-line. I've just learned about the wide variety of genres he's engaged in and am doubly impressed now by his versatility. In addition to novels, he's written children's literature, graphic novels, and screenplays... I may see about adding some of his other works to my stack of books. Not sure when I'll get around to reading them, but I like to store up treasure. Gaiman's website includes a number of essays about writing and literature, and I was particularly interested in his idea that all books are gendered. Some interesting comments in this essay related to the craft of writing.

Teaching, bluestockings, and blogs

I thought I'd quickly clarify how this blog, these posts, and how my shared items below right relate to teaching. The National Council for Teachers of English have established Standards for the Language Arts which detail all the reasons why teaching English is important and how this teaching should be accomplished. In my opinion, underlying all of it though, is a joy in written and spoken communication. A love of books. A love of language. A love of art in whatever form it takes. Sometimes this love takes the form of being prickly about "improper" use of language (is there really such a thing?), as the Grammar Girl feeds indicate. Other times it will take the guise of sharing a book review or a previously unknown author, as my previous post did. Sometimes it shares news about new forms of communication such as wikis and blogs. More than anything, this blog and the feeds are meant to convey the avid and widespread interests a bluestocking or a lover of language should possess.