Archive for the ‘Weekly Question’ Category

Gearing Up for the Oscars

DailyLit is gearing up for the Oscars.  Here are a few of the highlights:

-Get in the Oscar spirit by signing up for  DailyLit’s Wikipedia Tour: Best Picture Oscar Winners; you’ll get daily installments that feature the best of the best.

-”And the Oscar Goes To…”  Name a fictional character that should win an Oscar (and for which role/film)? Feel free to take fictional characters from books and make them into imaginary film stars. You can answer our Question of the Week here.

-Which book has a great movie adaptation?  You can answer it here. (Thanks to @Golem100 for this question).

Happy Oscars!

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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.

DailyLit News: Ch-ch-ch-chaaaanges

In case you missed the latest newsletter, here it is:

TITLE: DailyLit News: Ch-ch-ch-chaaaanges
<li><a href=”#link1″>Note from the Founder</a></li>
<li><a href=”#link2″>Creative Challenge: That One Pivotal Moment</a></li>
<li><a href=”#link3″>The Intellectual Devotional II</a></li>
<li><a href=”#link4″>Last Minute Love Notes</a></li>
<li><a href=”#link5″>Swooning Over Heathcliff</a></li>
<li><a href=”#link6″>Gives Me Goosebumps</li>
<a name=”link1″></a>
<h2 style=”font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; letter-spacing: .1em; margin-top: 26px;”>Note from the Founder</h2>
<p>Sometimes you have to go with your gut, hold your breath, and jump.  We just did that with our kids.  After 10 years in the suburbs, we took them out of school and all moved to New York City.  It’s been an awesome period of change. That’s why I’m celebrating pivotal moments in life with a <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/forums/other/qotw/2012/02/09/pivotal-moments-in-life?source=nl-12-11″>creative challenge</a> that asks for your key moments of change — and to mark Valentine’s Day, why not read a passage from one of the most romantic books I know.  The excerpt below highlights the pivotal moment in which two great loves of our lifetime (well, at least my lifetime) met —  author Antonia Fraser and Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter.
<br/>Cheers — to awesome moments of change!
<br/>-Susan
</p>
<p>Susan Danziger
<br/>Founder and CEO, <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com?source=nl-2-9″>DailyLit</a>
<br/><a href=”mailto:sdanziger@dailylit.com”>sdanziger@dailylit.com</a>
<br/>Twitter: <a href=”http://twitter.com/susandanziger?source=nl-2-9″>@susandanziger</a>, <a href=”http://twitter.com/dailylit?source=nl-2-9″>@dailylit</a></p>
<a name=”link2″></a>
<h2 style=”font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; letter-spacing: .1em; margin-top: 26px;”>Creative Challenge: That One Pivotal Moment</h2>
<p>Describe that one turning point — that one moment of major change — in your life.  Was there a moment when you went with your gut, held your breath and jumped? You can enter your moment of change <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/forums/other/qotw/2012/02/09/pivotal-moments-in-life
?source=nl-2-9″>here</a>.</p>
<a name=”link3″></a>
<h2 style=”font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; letter-spacing: .1em; margin-top: 26px;”>The Intellectual Devotional II</h2>
<p><a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/books/intellectual-devotional
?source=nl-2-9″>The Intellectual Devotional</a>  series on DailyLit, based on the bestselling Intellectual Devotional book series, proved to be one of DailyLit’s most popular series.  More importantly — at least to me :) — it’s a series I continue to enjoy every day.  In case you’re not familiar with this series, it’s a collection of daily lessons drawn from history, literature, philosophy, mathematics, science, religion, music and the visual arts. Given how much everyone seems to enjoy the series, I’ve decided to release <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/books/intellectual-devotional-ii
?source=nl-2-9″>The Intellectual Devotional II</a>.  If you signed up for the original Intellectual Devotional series, you needn’t do anything; you’ll automatically receive this sequel.  And if you’re new to this series, you’re in for a real treat!</p>
<a name=”link3″></a>
<h2 style=”font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; letter-spacing: .1em; margin-top: 26px;”>Swooning Over Heathcliff</h2>
<p>Which fictional character could be the love of your life? Proclaim your love <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/forums/other/qotw/2012/02/07/swooning-over-heathcliff?source=nl-2-9″>here</a>.</p>
<a name=”link4″></a>
<h2 style=”font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; letter-spacing: .1em; margin-top: 26px;”>Last Minute Love Notes</h2>
<p>Surprise your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day with love poems in his/her inbox.  Imagine receiving daily <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/books/sonnets-from-the-portuguese?source=nl-2-9″>love poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning</a> or <a href=”http://www.dailylit.com/books/sonnets?source=nl-2-9″>Shakespeare’s sonnets </a> with a personal, loving message.  Just click the “Gift this Book” tab when signing up for the poems and be sure to set the delivery date for February 14th.  Who says you’re not romantic!</p>
<a name=”link5″></a>
<h2 style=”font-family: Trebuchet MS; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; color: #000000; letter-spacing: .1em; margin-top: 26px;”>Gives Me Goosebumps</h2>
<p>Given that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I thought I’d feature a passage from one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. Reading it still gives me goosebumps. It’s from <i>Must You Go</i>, the diary of author Antonia Fraser who describes meeting the love of her life, Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter.</p>
<p><i>8 January 1975</i>
</br></br>A very enjoyable dinner party at Rachel and Kevin’s house in Addison Avenue: a long and convivial table.  I was slightly disappointed not to sit next to the playwright who looked full of energy, with black curly hair and pointed ears, like a satyr.  Gradually the guests filtered away.  My neighbors Richard and Viv King offered me a lift up the road.  ’Wait a minute,’ I said.  ’I must just say goodbye to Harold Pinter and tell him I enjoyed the play; I haven’t said hello all evening.’ They waited at the door.  I went over to where Harold was sitting, ‘Wonderful play, marvelous acting, now I’m off.’
</br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He looked at me with those amazing, extremely bright black eyes. ‘Must you go?’ he said.  I thought of home, my lift, taking the children to school the next morning, the exhausting past night in the sleeper from Scotland, my projected biography of King Charles II…’No, it’s not absolutely essential,’ I said.
</br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;About 2.30 in the morning, poor Rachel and Kevin were visibly exhausted and we were the last guests. In the end, it was Harold who gave me a lift home, in a white car with a driver (he never drove at night having once been found ‘weaving’ in Regent’s Park). I offered him coffee. I actually gave him champagne. He stayed until six o’clock in the morning with extraordinary recklessness, but of course the real recklessness was mine.
</br>__
</br><i>[N.B. They were together from that day on for 33 years until Harold Pinter's death]</i></p>
<p>Excerpted from MUST YOU GO? by Antonia Fraser. Copyright © 2010 by Antonia Fraser.  All rights reserved.  You can purchase a copy of this book at <a href=”http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307475572?source=nl-2-9″>an independent book store near you</a> or <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Must-You-Go-Harold-Pinter/dp/0385532504?source=nl-2-9″>here on Amazon</a>.</p>
<p>—-</p>
<p><i><a href=”http://www.dailylit.com?source=nl-10-11″>DailyLit</a> is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form.  Selected 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 wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, tablet or iPhone.</i></p>

CONTENTS

NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

Sometimes you have to go with your gut, hold your breath, and jump. We just did that with our kids. After 10 years in the suburbs, we took them out of school and all moved to New York City. It’s been an awesome period of change. That’s why I’m celebrating pivotal moments in life with a creative challenge that asks for your key moments of change — and to mark Valentine’s Day, why not read a passage from one of the most romantic books I know. The excerpt below highlights the pivotal moment in which two great loves of our lifetime (well, at least my lifetime) met — author Antonia Fraser and Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter.
Cheers — to awesome moments of change!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com
Twitter: @susandanziger@dailylit

CREATIVE CHALLENGE: THAT ONE PIVOTAL MOMENT

Describe that one turning point — that one moment of major change — in your life. Was there a moment when you went with your gut, held your breath and jumped? You can enter your moment of change here.

THE INTELLECTUAL DEVOTIONAL II

The Intellectual Devotional series on DailyLit, based on the bestselling Intellectual Devotional book series, proved to be one of DailyLit’s most popular series. More importantly — at least to me :) — it’s a series I continue to enjoy every day. In case you’re not familiar with this series, it’s a collection of daily lessons drawn from history, literature, philosophy, mathematics, science, religion, music and the visual arts. Given how much everyone seems to enjoy the series, I’ve decided to release The Intellectual Devotional II. If you signed up for the original Intellectual Devotional series, you needn’t do anything; you’ll automatically receive this sequel. And if you’re new to this series, you’re in for a real treat!

SWOONING OVER HEATHCLIFF

Which fictional character could be the love of your life? Proclaim your love here.

LAST MINUTE LOVE NOTES

Surprise your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day with love poems in his/her inbox. Imagine receiving daily love poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning or Shakespeare’s sonnets with a personal, loving message. Just click the “Gift this Book” tab when signing up for the poems and be sure to set the delivery date for February 14th. Who says you’re not romantic!

GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS

Given that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I thought I’d feature a passage from one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. Reading it still gives me goosebumps. It’s from Must You Go, the diary of author Antonia Fraser who describes meeting the love of her life, Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter.

8 January 1975

A very enjoyable dinner party at Rachel and Kevin’s house in Addison Avenue: a long and convivial table. I was slightly disappointed not to sit next to the playwright who looked full of energy, with black curly hair and pointed ears, like a satyr. Gradually the guests filtered away. My neighbors Richard and Viv King offered me a lift up the road. ‘Wait a minute,’ I said. ‘I must just say goodbye to Harold Pinter and tell him I enjoyed the play; I haven’t said hello all evening.’ They waited at the door. I went over to where Harold was sitting, ‘Wonderful play, marvelous acting, now I’m off.’
He looked at me with those amazing, extremely bright black eyes. ‘Must you go?’ he said. I thought of home, my lift, taking the children to school the next morning, the exhausting past night in the sleeper from Scotland, my projected biography of King Charles II…’No, it’s not absolutely essential,’ I said.
About 2.30 in the morning, poor Rachel and Kevin were visibly exhausted and we were the last guests. In the end, it was Harold who gave me a lift home, in a white car with a driver (he never drove at night having once been found ‘weaving’ in Regent’s Park). I offered him coffee. I actually gave him champagne. He stayed until six o’clock in the morning with extraordinary recklessness, but of course the real recklessness was mine.
__
[N.B. They were together from that day on for 33 years until Harold Pinter's death]

Excerpted from MUST YOU GO? by Antonia Fraser. Copyright © 2010 by Antonia Fraser. All rights reserved. You can purchase a copy of this book at an independent book store near you or here on Amazon.

—-

DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected 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 wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, tablet or iPhone.

Any Favorite Literary Gifts?

I’m trying to get inspiration for the holidays (as I suppose are many of you) so this week’s question here at DailyLit is: what’s been your favorite literary gift? And while you’re at it, which books make great gifts?

You can share your suggestions here.

—-

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.

Naughty or Nice?

This is the time when Santa start to go through his book to figure out if you’ve been naughty or nice this year.

So now’s your chance to make your case: naughty or nice?

You can make your case here.

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.

Characters at Your Thanksgiving Table

Our question this week here at DailyLit is: “Which fictional character would you like to invite to your Thanksgiving dinner?”

I realize we all have characters coming for dinner — but this time, think of fictional ones. You can enter your character here.

And if don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, any formal dinner will do.

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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.

Polls are Open: Dumbledore vs. Atticus Finch

In honor of Election Day, we asked readers which fictional candidate they’d vote for; here are their nominations:

The favored candidate turns out to be Atticus Finch (from To Kill a Mockingbird) followed by Albus Dumbledore (from Harry Potter) and Zaphod Beeblebrox (from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). Reader ashleykidwell noted: “I would say it’s a tie between Atticus and Dumbledore, but Dumbledore stated plainly that he didn’t trust himself with power. So Finch is clearly the better man for the job.”

And then there were nominations for female characters: Hester Prynne (from The Scarlet Letter); Dagny Taggart (from Atlas Shrugged), and Glinda the good witch (from The Wizard of Oz).

Whom would you vote for? Endorse one of these candidates, find others (including one nomination for Forest Gump!) or add your own here.

Now I need to go vote (I mean really vote).

—-

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.

Your Worst Nightmare (Fictional) Candidate

In honor of Election Day, this week’s question on DailyLit is: which fictional character would you LEAST want voted into public office? I realize there are lots of non-fictional characters out there running for office, but at least for this question, let’s focus on fictional characters.

So who’s your nightmare fictional candidate? You can enter him/her here.

—-

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.

Your Favorite Words

I recently asked DailyLit readers to identify their favorite words. Here are a few I thought you’d enjoy:

-Epiphany. Whoever thought to put a “piff!” in a divine manifestation was a genius. (by nordtomme)

-Flabbergasted or juxtaposition. I love them both (by Oskar3)

-Serendipity (by BlueVelvet)

-Gigglepuss (by PamelaBart)

-Bookkeeping (2 o’s, 2 k’s, and 2 e’s…all in a row).
Gobsmacked (Completely dumbfounded, shocked. From the Irish word “gob” meaning “mouth”) (by moengey)

-Sesquipedalian – Having many syllables (literally means “a foot and a half long”) (by sonata58)

-Serenity: Lifetime goal, haven’t achieved it yet. (by nomad)

-Whimsy. it’s a delight to say! (by hfeldman)

-Persnickety (by artofambivalence)

-Frolic (by dreamdust)

-Egotistical. Or disingenuous. They’re both words with a good kick-in-the-pants vibe. (by Untzboy)

-Frack (by Golem100)

-Sprezzatura. (sprezzatura is the art of doing a difficult thing with grace, thereby making it look easy). (by moengey

-Shenanigans! (by lynnie600)

-Awkward – what my 7 year old son called the Orchid when he gave it to me for Mother’s Day. We now always refer to it as Mum’s awkward! (by nmetz)

-Stone (by Jonn)

-Stone… ditto that! and smooth; soothe– the smooth stone is soothing to feel (by DayLily)

-Tattoo: the word is onomatopoeic for the way they were originally administered.
Expelliarmus and Jiggery-Pokery from Harry Potter, and from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon: Hocus-Kadabera, and Abraca-Pocus. (by Xena1)

Other favorite words can be found here. You can also add your own favorites here as well.

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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.

Which Book Title Best Describes You?

DailyLit’s question this week is: which book title best describes you? And as a corollary, describe yourself using only book titles. Enter your titles here.

Thanks to DailyLit reader “vanhaz” for the idea.
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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 News: Time to Chillax

In case you miss the latest arriving in inboxes today, here it is:

NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

I think we have it all wrong. We should all be taking off the month of August. There is absolutely no reason we should be sitting at our desks, pretending to work when we could be out by the water “chillaxing” (that is, chilling and relaxing). So I thought I’d highlight the next best thing: a few short stories to transport ourselves to other lands and various creative challenges to keep our minds off work.
So cheers, to chillaxing!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

SHORTS AND TAILS
Here are some short stories and tails (well, OK, tales) for some light summer reading:
-Margaret Atwood’s White Horse (meeting her was one of the high points of the year; what an amazing woman!)
-Jhumpa Lahiri’s Hell-Heaven (one of my favorite authors)
-Classic Shorts (featuring stories by Fitzgerald, Chekhov, and Poe; selected by editors of Poets & Writers literary magazine)
-Grimm’s Fairy Tales (I still can’t remember the difference between Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin; can you?)
-Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (I’ve been meaning to re-read this novella — or do I just think I’ve read it?)
-E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View (always transports me to Florence!)

VOTRE PASSEPORT, SI’L VOUS PLAÎT

Even if you can’t swing a trip to France or Spain this summer, you can armchair travel with Berlitz Essential French Phrases or Berlitz Essential Spanish Phrases.

HIGHLIGHT: CREATIVE CHALLENGES

At least look as though you’re getting serious work done by tackling one of these past creative challenges (or just check out other readers’ contributions):
- 50 Word Challenge (write an extremely short story with a beginning, middle and end)
-10 Word Summer Memories (quick, before you forget!)
-Summer Love in One Sentence (who can resist?)
-What’s Your Favorite Word? (Mine is “chillax” — introduced to me by my 11 year old son as in, “You need to chillax, Mom.”)
-And then for a couple of aspirational, thought-provoking challenges: What’s Your Sentence? (need to think of a sentence that describes your life) and Before I die… (enough said).
-Your Perfect Day (our latest challenge: “What does your perfect day look like?” Mine would start in a cafe in Paris reading The International Herald Tribune, eating a freshly-baked croissant and sipping cafe au lait; I’d then hang out at Shakespeare & Company bookshop followed by a stroll through the gardens of the Picasso Museum.) And yours? What’s your perfect day?

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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.