Posts Tagged ‘Free books’

Lisa Kogan, Writer at Large for O, the Oprah Magazine, Comes to DailyLit

We’re delighted to welcome Lisa Kogan, the Writer at Large for O, the Oprah Magazine, to the DailyLit library. We’re featuring several essays from her new book  Someone Will Be With You Shortly (compliments of our sponsor, HarperStudio), which you can read more about here.

Her writing has been described as a cross between George Plimpton and Gidget. In case that means as little to you as it did at first to me, here’s some context: George Plimpton was a journalist who pioneered the concept of participatory journalism. For him it was not enough to simply write about something; one should be a part of it–by, say, posing as a skinny quarterback and participating in a scrimmage with the Detroit Lions, or boxing with champ Archie Moore, or playing the gong for the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. As NPR put it, he carved his own artistic niche by making literature out of non-literary pursuits.

Gidget, on the other hand, is a fictional character, a “little girl with big ideas.” Her adventures in 1960s California surf culture have been immortalized on film and in a TV series (starring Sally Field). She’s the very definition of spunky.

So what do we have? A woman with big ideas who’s chronicling her own life the way Plimpton did–as NPR put it, by carving an artistic niche by making literature out of non-literary pursuits. Like perfect-tomato hunting.

Question of the Week #69: Books on Tumblr

We recently launched DailyLit books on Tumblr, a cool blogging platform. You can read (and share) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Art of War, or Emily Dickinson’s Poems on Tumblr.

Our question for you is this: what should we call these books on Tumblr? Normal Tumblr blogs are called Tumblogs. So, should we go with Tumblooks? Tumblebooks? Tumbooks? Or something different?

Share your suggestions in our Question of the Week forum.

Read Poem-A-Day Collection for Poetry Month

It may be April Fool’s Day, but it’s also the first day of Poetry Month, and we’ve got a great collection to celebrate. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Knopf to offer a Poem-a-Day Collection, which features popular authors like John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sapphire.

Each day in April you’ll receive a great poem from a contemporary writer–and it’s all for free. No foolin’. Get started here.

DailyLit Announces New Distribution Platform

We’re bringing DailyLit books to Tumblr. In case you aren’t familiar with it, Tumblr is an innovative blogging platform that allows you to follow friends’ blogs and easily share posts. Tumblr joins DailyLit’s other distribution platforms: email, RSS, and Viigo.

We’re kicking things off tomorrow–Tuesday, March 30–with our first three, what should we call them? Tumblebooks? Tumblogbooks? Tumblooks? Anyway, you can find them here:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Emily Dickinson’s Poems

The Art of War

We hope you’ll join us in this new way to read together!

DailyLit News: March 2010

Note from the CEO
How many of you are like me, running around like crazy each day, trying to fit in work, family, and (gasp) a little fun? I’m hoping our daily installments help provide that brief respite to make your life a little richer or at least a bit more fun. You can escape down the rabbit hole with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (this month’s Big Read). Or check out essays from single mother Lisa Kogan, the Writer at Large for O, The Oprah Magazine, who writes about ambivalent men, lunch meat, and scary superstores. And if you ever have time to enjoy a movie (or just want to be in the know), you can read daily reviews from Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen. Oh, and come join the countdown to Poetry Month with poems by John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Sapphire, and others.

As always, I’d love to hear any suggestions you have. You can write them in our forums or feel free to write directly to me. In the meantime, cheers—to enjoying life to its fullest!

Susan Danziger
Founder/CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger[at]dailylit[dot]com

Countdown to Poetry Month with Updike, Oates and Sapphire
To celebrate April as poetry month (just around the corner), we’ve teamed up with Knopf to launch a Poem-A-Day collection featuring such bestselling authors as John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sapphire. Sign up here and join the countdown now.

Essays by Lisa Kogan, Writer at Large for O, The Oprah Magazine
Someone Will Be With You Shortly: Author Lisa Kogan writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, and in her new book discusses everything from her life as a single mother in New York City to her quest for the perfect tomato. She’s nostalgic for that time when you had to walk across a room to change channels and for when there was no such thing as a spy satellite capable of spotting a pre-cancerous mole on your inner thigh. Check out her essays here, compliments of our sponsor, HarperStudio.

Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen
Discover hidden movie gems or throw around film trivia at your next dinner party. Here’s a taste from reviewer Leonard Maltin who dug up the best movies adapted from books: “The films I’ve chosen are ‘The Door in the Floor’ (from John Irving’s A Widow for One Year) starring Jeff Bridges; ‘Thumbsucker’ (from the novel by Walter Kirn, who also wrote Up in the Air); and ‘The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio’ (from the memoir by Terry Ryan).” You can read more about each of these films here. And get a daily series, compliments of HarperStudio, here.

Big Read: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
You may have heard of a little movie called “Alice in Wonderland” which was just released. Before you see it, read the original on DailyLit, which we’re making this month’s Big Read. Check out Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland here.

Reader challenge: Before I die…
Not to be grim or overly dramatic, but I thought this month we could focus on one of the more important questions in life—that is, what does each of us want to do before we die? Inspired by the same question I saw posted on 5th Avenue (related to the launch of an MTV show, “The Buried Life”—and no, it’s not a sponsor), I thought it was important enough to ask our readers. So, in no more than 10 words, tell us: what do you want to do before you die? Post your life wishes in our Reader Challenge Forum.

DailyLit on Tumblr
We’re excited to announce that we’re bringing DailyLit to Tumblr. In case you haven’t heard of it, Tumblr is an innovative blogging platform that allows readers to follow certain blogs (also called Tumblogs) and reblog posts to share with friends. We’re offering Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; The Art of War; Emily Dickinson’s Poems as our first, what should we call them? Tumblogbooks? Tumblooks? Well, anyway, the countdown begins now, and the books begin on Tuesday, March 30th.

New in our Book Channel
This month we’re welcoming a new guest curator to the Book Channel: Carl Lennertz. He’s a real star in the publishing industry, and I’ve been a big fan of his for years. We’ve also included The Help, featured on The Today Show’s list of “10 Must-Read Books for Spring;” a collection of new Sherlock Holmes adventures; a dazzling debut novel selected by DailyLit staffer Maggie; sensational novelist Joshua Ferris’s latest; and New York Times bestseller You Are Not a Gadget. To start receiving these recommendations sign up now for our Book Channel.

Have a Happy and Literary St. Patrick’s Day

Today’s the day we’re all a little bit Irish. So before you grab your Guinness, why not check out some of the Emerald Isle’s best literary works: James Joyce’s Ulysses, or maybe Dubliners, which is a little more accessible (helpful after the first Guinness of the day). There’s also Oscar Wilde, best known for The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Jonathan Swift, whose Modest Proposal is perhaps the best-known work of satire in literature. He also wrote Gulliver’s Travels, of course, in case you want to read something that has miniature people in it in honor of Leprechauns. And an Irishman in America, F. Scott Fitzgerald, would also be a good choice (try The Beautiful and the Damned or one of his short stories from Tales from the Jazz Age).

Sláinte! (Cheers!)

Final Original Detective Fiction from Laurel Dewey

We’re excited to announce the launch of the fifth–and final–piece of original detective fiction from author Laurel Dewey. As we’ve launched these stories over the past few months, we’ve heard how much you love Dewey’s singular heroine Detective Jane Perry. In “Promissory Payback” you’ll see Perry investigate the murder of a woman who herself was a criminal, bilking people out of money they couldn’t afford to lose–which means a lot of people wouldn’t mind seeing her dead. Check out this final piece from Dewey here (and get caught up with the other four here).

New on DailyLit: Berlitz Essential French and Berlitz Essential Spanish

We loved that so many of you jumped on our newly free Berlitz DailyLit Spanish Lessons–in fact, in response to their popularity we’ve worked with Berlitz again to make even more language learning books available on DailyLit. We’re delighted to offer Berlitz Essential Spanish and Berlitz Essential French, each of which offer key vocabulary words and tips for travelers–whether you’re planning a trip or just dreaming from your armchair. Enjoy!

Reader Challenge: Love Bites

Since it includes Valentine’s Day, February is the month of love. We heard about this love-themed challenge on Twitter and thought it would be perfect for this month’s challenge.

Tell a love story–your own or one you make up–in 140 characters or less: that is, the length of a single tweet or short sentence. We’ll select five winners, each of whom will receive a copy of Us: Americans Talk About Love (in more than 140 characters!). Post your love bites in our Reader Challenge Forum by 11:59pm on Sunday, March 7 to be included in the challenge. Good luck!

Question of the Week #63: Remakes

Masterpiece Theatre recently aired a brand-new adaptation of Emma and re-aired adaptations of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

Which book-film adaptations would you like to see remade? Which are perfect just the way they are?

Share your responses in our Question of the Week forum.

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