Literally Blogging

Do you know what The Harvard Classics are? If you don’t, you should. It isn’t just an arbitrary name assigned to books that some Harvard professors teach each year. It is an actual collection. And, I might add, it is a collection I am proud to own. It is also called “The Five Foot Shelf of Books,” and it’s true! It is that long – storage of these is always a problem but that’s another story.
The Harvard Classics are a set of books that were put together in this collection by Charles W. Eliot …read more

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Hello! My name is Adelle and I am so excited to be here as a part of “Literally Blogging.” I can think of few things I love and enjoy more than books. Classics, contemporary lit, science fiction (hey, we all have our weaknesses), non-fiction… my list of favorites goes on and on. I am really interested in hearing what your favorites are!
I have been writing professionally for about a decade now. In my “previous life,” I was a nurse but fortunately, I also studied journalism and have had an interest in literature, both American and European, …read more

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The latest lit news from around the Internet…learning is fun!
Literature degree recipient Jodie Foster fires up UPenn.
Narnia goes high-tech.
There’s no need to go to jail for teaching the Bible.
Finally: a good reason to get your kid an iPod!
Even stoopid peeple can understand Chaucer.
Hey, which Literature Classic are you? (I was Orlando by Virginia Woolf, if you must know. Hmmm.)

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We’ve all heard the jokes about ‘Chick Lit,’ perhaps endured the scornful looks of high-brow readers as we’ve furtively pored over an Oprah Book Club selection. Yes, Chick Lit is viewed as the stinking bottom of the literary heap.
To this I say puh-leze: have you ever read anything from the Men’s Lit market?
There are two choices, mostly from one primary author:
1. Boring jargon that reads like a submarine tech manual.
2. Ridiculous clichéd adventure novels.
It is the second which we shall lampoon today.
If you’re a guy, or if you know a guy, you are most likely familiar with the author who is the …read more

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Thank you all so much for your patience. I’ve been dealing with a myriad of personal crises and family matters, some of which required far-away traveling. But the literature lover is back!
Here are the answers to our last Lit Triv challenge. How did you do?
1. d.
2. h.
3. e.
4. b.
5. a.
6. j.
7. i.
8. f.
9. g.
10. c.

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What if your favorite book—or a book everyone has heard of—were called something else? A surprising number of famous tomes almost got stuck with a pretty bad title.
Test your lit triv skills now!
The numbered list contains the books’ current titles. The lettered list contains the books’ original titles. Can you match them up? Good luck!
The current titles:

1. Pride and Prejudice

2. Treasure Island

3. War and Peace

4. David Copperfield

5. The Great Gatsby

6. Lady Chatterley’s Lover

7. Gone With the Wind

8. Roots

9. Jaws

10. Of Mice and Men

And the originals:

a. The High-Bouncing Lover

b. The Copperfield Survey of the World As It Rolled

c. Something That Happened

d. …read more

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I HATE EVERYTHING ERNEST HEMINGWAY EVER WROTE.

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Big news in small bites:
Happiness really is relative. And inspiring.
It’s an avalanche of Da Vinci posers.
Lovers of children’s books place their bets.
Too tired to read? Listen to great literature for free.
Aw, literature is so cuuuute!
Lit nerds and computer geeks aren’t so different after all.
Finally! Armpit climbs out of the ‘Holes.’
Posh Spice sparks a literary debate.
Miss Snark will crush you. But you’ll like it.
Virgina Woolf’s earliest literary work discovered.
Narnia’s returning to the big screen.
Sharon Osbourne rocks the memoir.

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This entry is for the fabulous Heather, who likes weird things.
Did you know…

In the 1631 publication of the bible, a printer accidentally omitted the word “not” from the seventh commandment, encouraging readers to commit adultery.

Writer D.H. Lawrence, well known for erotic novels such as “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was a prude in real life and would only make love in the dark.

English poet Ben Johnson had his heel bone stolen by the Dean of Westminster when his grave was disturbed in 1849. It later turned up in a junkshop in 1938.

During the French Revolution the new French Constitution was bound …read more

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The lovely Karine brought up a great idea: we should confess what we’ve read on the ‘must read books in 2006’ list,
and tell what we thought about them.
Here is the original entry, with Karine’s list.
The list, with my responses:
1. War and Peace: Could there be a more cliché suggestion for a must-read list? Yes, I read it. I didn’t hate it, though as far as the Russian greats go, I enjoy Dostoevsky and Gogol more than Tolstoy.
2. The Grapes of Wrath: I liked this one. I read it in high school, and after being exposed to …read more

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