Cat friendsAhh, friend cats reading about friend humans!
Ever wonder what your cat does while you are away?
At Bustle, Caitlin White explains and illustrates.
No matter how great your book club is, it does not compare to the newest book club, and that’s because it is not entirely composed of cats. Yes, cats have started their own book club. What else did you think they did while you were gone working all day?
Read the rest HERE
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BookstoreDo you always have a book with you, even at the movies? begins the About section of the blog – Books, the Universe and Everything.
In this blog post, Emily Wilson tells reports on her visits to a lot of spectacular libraries and bookshops. I spent last year traveling around the world and the US, and along the way I visited as many beautiful libraries and fantastic independent bookshops as I could fit in. Some of them were planned, places that were on my itinerary from the beginning. Some of them I stumbled upon serendipitously. All of them were treasures.
Read the rest HERE
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aw-poohImage credit: E.H. Shepard [poo]
January 18 marked not only the birthday of celebrated English author A.A. Milne, Kristy Puchko writes at Mental Floss, but also—by no coincidence—Winnie The Pooh Day, a holiday intended to celebrate the eponymous bear and his creator. To pay tribute to both Milne and his lovable bear, she has compiled a collection of incredible facts that even the most dedicated visitor to the Hundred Acre Wood might not know.
Real WinnieWikimedia Commons
1. The silly old bear was based on a real, young one.
During World War I, a Canadian soldier named Harry Colebourn made a pet of a black bear cub he bought from a hunter for $20. Named Winnipeg—or “Winnie” for short—the bear became his troop’s mascot and later a resident of the London Zoological Gardens. There, she was an adored attraction, especially to a little boy named Christopher Robin Milne, son of author A.A. Milne. In fact, the boy loved Winnie so much that he named his own teddy after her.
Read the rest HERE
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8 Books with Disappearing Protagonists
Why is it that the things just out of reach are the things we want the most? Off the Shelf  asks.
Here at Off the Shelf, we love a book with a good old fashioned disappearance. Perhaps you’ve heard of a  little book called Gone Girl? Or maybe you saw our reviews last month for Last Night in Montreal and Where’d You Go Bernadette? But we’re not just talking murder mysteries here. Here are 8 more excellent books in which the protagonists just…disappear.
100-year-old manThe Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
by Jonas Jonasson
Technically, this protagonist only disappears for everyone else, but it’s nonetheless a wonderful read. After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, sure that he’s in his final days. The only problem is that he’s still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn’t interested, so he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey. It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory. Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them, meeting figures like Chairman Mao and Charles De Gaulle. It’s a great story that will make anyone feel young again.
See the other books HERE
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THIS ‘n THAT
Robert Stone, 1937-2015: Robert Stone, who won the National Book Award for Dog Soldiers in 1975, died on January 10.
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What age did the greatest authors publish their most famous works? (e.g. Douglas Adams 28, Jack Kerouac 26…)
Explore the careers of some of the world’s most successful authors – by first published book, age at breakthrough book, and number of books published.
See the chart HERE
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TS Eliot 50 years on – quiz
How much do you know?
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Underwater Sculpture Among Coral Gardens
Reef artBali’s underwater sculpture of a mermaid is one among several “Living Sculptures in the Sea” created by local fishing communities in hopes to help restore local coral reefs
(Photo the Marine Foundation)
Read the rest HERE
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Quote of the Day
QUOTE Lewis~~~~~
Alma Alexander      My books      Email me 
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