Archive for the ‘General’ Category

DailyLit Honors Camus with “Stranger Thoughts” Challenge

In honor of Albert Camus’ (author of The Stranger) upcoming birthday (he would have been 98), DailyLit’s new creative challenge asks: “what do you picture when you imagine a stranger?”

You can enter your stranger here.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 47 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

Words that Make You Cringe

This summer I asked DailyLit readers which words make them cringe. I thought it might be fun to try them out:

So, it’s time to chillax. Stop being a snit and try to understand the dichotomy I’m facing on my journey. It’s an amazing matrix that speaks volumes.

Oh, you may think it’s mind candy but it was impacted on me. It is what it is.

Gotcha? Fugheddaboudit. Ain’t gonna happen. Time for a vaca. Whatever.

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For more words that make our readers cringe — or if there are other words you’d like to add — here’s the list.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 47 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds – First Book on Your Phone?

Today is H.G. Wells’ birthday. Here’s why I’m celebrating him today: his War of the Worlds was the very first book loaded onto DailyLit. That’s because my husband, Albert Wenger, always wanted to read War of the Worlds, and DailyLit’s email installments (read on his mobile phone) gave him that chance. In fact, since I believe DailyLit was the first to put books on mobile devices (that was before any apps or Kindles or iPads) War of the Worlds may have been the very first book that could be read on your phone.

So cheers, to H.G. Wells!

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

W.H. Auden’s Funeral Blues

As September 11th approaches, I thought I’d share this poem by W.H. Auden:

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead,
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

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You may remember John Hannah’s moving recital of this poem in the film, Four Weddings and a Funeral; here it is on Youtube.

Summer Farewell: the DailyLit Way

Since this long weekend typically marks the end of summer (with school beginning next week), I thought I’d feature two summer poems by Emily Dickinson. The first is called 122:

A something in a summer’s Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer’s noon —
A depth — an Azure — a perfume —
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer’s night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see —

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle — shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me —

The wizard fingers never rest —
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed —

Still rears the East her amber Flag —
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red —

So looking on — the night — the morn
Conclude the wonder gay —
And I meet, coming thro’ the dews
Another summer’s Day!

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And since it’s been raining so much this summer, I thought you might enjoy this other poem by Emily Dickinson (called Summer Shower):

A DROP fell on the apple tree,
Another on the roof;
A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
And made the gables laugh.

A few went out to help the brook,
That went to help the sea.
Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
What necklaces could be!

The dust replaced in hoisted roads,
The birds jocoser sung;
The sunshine threw his hat away,
The orchards spangles hung.

The breezes brought dejected lutes,
And bathed them in the glee;
The East put out a single flag,
And signed the fête away.

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If you’re interested in reading other poems by Emily Dickinson, you can find them here on DailyLit.

Happy long weekend!

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

Words that Make You Cringe

I got a some flack this week when I sent out the DailyLit newsletter that included the word “chillaxing” (as in a combination of chilling and relaxing). This word apparently makes some of you cringe. As I explained in the newsletter, I’d never heard this word until recently when my 11 year old son exclaimed, “You need to chillax, Mom!”. I thought it was a fun word, but clearly some readers disagree.

So I started to think of words (or made-up words) that are like nails on a chalkboard. I thought I’d create a forum where we can all put down words that make us cringe. And that way, for future reference, I’ll be forewarned.:)

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

Schools Out – Teachers Rock

I just picked up my kids from their last day of school which was just let out for the summer. Our 9 year old wistfully said: “I wish school were going on for three more weeks” (probably not a sentiment shared by most kids, but he loved his teacher and was sad to leave her). And our twins just “graduated” from elementary school (we went to a “Moving Up” ceremony earlier this week); you could see they were also sad to leave the school they’ve loved for the past 6 years.

In walking through the halls today of the same school I attended, well, shall we say many years ago, I still remember my 3rd grade teacher who taught me the stories of Odysseus, my music teacher who created wonderful musicals we performed, and my gym teacher who encouraged me to climb the rope in the gym all the way to the ceiling.

So given this last day of school, I wanted to thank teachers of the present, past and future for devoting your time and energies to inspiring and challenging kids everywhere.

This post was written by Susan Danziger, the founder and CEO of DailyLit.
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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

“Should Have but Haven’t Read” Books on DailyLit

Which books have you been meaning to read for ages but somehow never got around to them? For me, it’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles which I’ve wanted to read ever since high school. With the encouragement of DailyLit readers, I’ve decided to tackle it this summer. So here it is: my commitment to read Tess of the d’Urbervilles. There now, I’ve said it. I suppose there’s no going back. How about you? Any “Should Have But Haven’t Read” books on your list? You can shout them out here in DailyLit’s forum.

Oh, and in case you need some inspiration, this list of recommended summer reads for high school students might come in handy.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

DailyLit’s Weekly Question Altered to Avoid Spam Filters

DailyLit’s Question of the Week this week is: what’s the sexiest meal you’ve ever had? It was inspired by Fielding’s Tom Jones and suggested by DailyLit reader, dreamdust (thanks, dreamdust!)

But there was a problem. Since Questions of the Week are included in email installments that can easily be trapped by spam filters, the question needed to be altered so that “sex” was not part of it. To give you some sense of DailyLit’s spam challenges, an installment from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that read “The morning cock crew loud” has been blocked by spam filters.

So, to avoid these traps, the question in installments now reads: “what’s the most sensual meal you’ve ever had?” I’m hoping this does the trick.

OK now, what was your sexiest meal? Enter it here.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

Happy 1st (from DailyLit)!

Before I let the first of June go by, I wanted to wish you all a happy 1st of the month. In my family, we say, “rabbit, rabbit” first thing on the first day of any month, which brings good luck for the month (sorry, too late now for you — at least this month).

My office mate from England just mentioned that in England, they say “pinch, punch, first of the month,” accompanied by a pinch and a punch to the victim.

I prefer rabbit, rabbit.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

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