Afternoon Tea (11/20/18)

What a story: How the World’s Only Feudal Lord Outclassed the Nazis to Save Her People

I Found the Best Burger Place in America. And Then I Killed It.

Some Libraries Are Facing Backlash Against LGBT Programs — And Holding Their Ground

Relief efforts want money. So why do we insist on donating canned goods?

13 Dance Books to Read After Being Dazzled by ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’

Morning Coffee (10/19/18)

FRIDAY HAPPY LINKS YAY.

If you'd like to spend your morning gazing at pictures of Harry and Meghan's current royal tour, the Fug Girls have you covered.

Whoa: Astronomers find most massive structure in the early universe

Norton Signs Graphic Memoir by Olympic Protest Hero Tommie Smith

Oooh, potential Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret movie!

Look at the cover and excerpt from Sandhya Menon's new book!

Oh yay! V.E. Schwab's long out-of-print debut is getting a gorgeous new release

I was wondering about this: The Inside Poop On 'Spoopy'

Pretty excited about Netflix's Christmas movies, especially the Kat Graham one!

What Does Your Favorite Shakespeare Play Say About You? (Richard II, and yeah, it's right on.)

I want all of the Nutcracker nail polish.

Morning Coffee (8/10/18)

OKAY, time for some happy Friday links!

This is great! Rashida Tlaib, With Primary Win, Is Poised to Become First Muslim Woman in Congress

Starbucks stores are already receiving Pumpkin Spice Latte supplies, and people think they've figured out the PSL's return date

!! Natalie Dormer joins the Potterverse as A History of Magic narrator

Aah, new The Nutcracker and the Four Realms trailer!

In very different movie news, the Lizzie trailer also looks great.

Wisconsin Just Broke the Record for the World’s Largest Cheeseboard

'Cat Person' breakout writer is back with debut book: Read the first excerpt

Ooh, look at all the cute rainbow things!

Of course it does: So cheesy: Burlington airport has a 7-foot block of cheese and matching maple syrup

Announcing Three New Novels From Annalee Newitz

Morning Coffee (12/22/17)

Time for some pre-Christmas happy Friday links!

Harry and Meghan’s Engagement Portraits Are Here at Last!

Oooh, trailer for The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. So pretty.

I must have this Outrage Lipstick. ($5 from each one goes to the ACLU!)

Ha! Wil Wheaton wore a Star Trek uniform to a screening of Star Wars

Useful holiday information: These Are The Best Under $12 Bubblies, According To Experts

Go Fug Yourself rounded up a bunch of great party purses, which might also be useful to your holiday plans.

Let's ogle the Icehotel in Sweden.

Ooh, books about being snowbound. Most of them involve murder. As they should.

23 Rye Cocktails to Chase Away the Winter Blues

Harry Potter workout clothes!

Morning Coffee (12/11/17)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week.

How ISIS Produced Its Cruel Arsenal on an Industrial Scale

21 Rohingya women recount rape by Myanmar armed forces

18 crucial days: What did the president know and when did he know it?

Under Trump, E.P.A. Has Slowed Actions Against Polluters, and Put Limits on Enforcement Officers

A fake Bruce Willis story is being monetized by Google AdSense and prominently featured on YouTube

Lobsters, Fajitas, Sex Toys, And More: The Best And Weirdest Heists Of 2017

Lawsuit Over Mashup of 'Star Trek' and Dr. Seuss Gets Past Alpha Quadrant

This should be interesting, given his combination of jobs: Kal Penn Lands Book Deal With Houghton Mifflin Harcourt & Audible

Ooh, I forgot we're getting this next Christmas: Keira Knightley is a pink Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms first look

This is neat: Shonda Rhimes, Dana Walden, More Hollywood Moguls Pose With Their Daughters

Weekly Rec: Susan Adrian's Nutcracked (+ a Bonus Author Q&A!)

I love Christmas books, but I'm a little picky about them. And I love The Nutcracker, so I'm SO PLEASED to be able to report that Susan Adrian's new middle grade novel Nutcracked is a COMPLETE delight. (Just look at it! It's adorable inside too! There are little drawings for the chapter headings!) It's the story of a young ballerina named Georgie who gets cast as Clara in The Nutcracker . . . and then gets magically pulled into the Nutcracker's world. And she has to save him. As though that's not enough, Georgie is dealing with family troubles and evolving friendships and figuring out her own goals and dreams and who she wants to be in the world.

I'm theoretically recommending you buy this for kids on your list, especially those into dance and/or fantasy stories, but I bought it for myself and had a wonderful evening reading it while drinking cocoa and listening to The Nutcracker. So, you know, maybe both?

And something extra this week . . . Susan is a pal of mine and was kind enough to answer a few questions, because I ALWAYS want to talk about The Nutcracker!

The original Hoffman short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" is, let's face it, kind of weird and not particularly accessible, especially for kids. What do you think it is about the Nutcracker concept and its various forms that went on to capture the public imagination for two centuries? Does it capture the magic of Christmas in some unique way?

Susan Adrian: The story has certainly lasted through many incarnations. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the original Hoffman story...I hadn't read the entire original, in fact, until I started writing this book! My knowledge of the story came from various ballet productions and a Maurice Sendak book version. The ballet is actually based on an adaptation by Alexandre Dumas (author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, among others). He seems to have simplified it and taken out some of the odder bits of the Hoffman, and then the ballet simplified it further. From there came many, many different versions of the ballet. I think at its core, The Nutcracker has a few key elements that allow it to continue to captivate: Christmas, with the tree and the big family party; magic, with the grand growing of the tree/shrinking of Clara; and lots of fun, short, attractive dances. I've tried to include all of those elements in Nutcracked as well.

You were a ballerina yourself, and I know that absolutely informed Nutcracked. Is there anything fun/weird/interesting from your Nutcracker experiences or your ballet years in general that you couldn't work into the book but would like to tell us about?

I was quite a serious dancer from ages 8 through 16, and over the years I danced nine different parts, including Clara. So much of the dance parts and studio parts are adapted from whole memory! I managed to fit in a lot of the quirky things I remember, like sneaking sugar cubes from the coffee/tea tray and warming up backstage. I didn't include some of the minor disasters we had: when the girl who was dancing Arabian decided to take a bath in Nair hair remover right before the show, and an understudy had to go on because she had a rash and was in so much pain, or when Mother Marshmallow, the man-in-drag character, fell over coming onstage, giant skirt with children underneath and all...good times. :)

You're now working on another middle grade fantasy novel inspired by a classic - Forever Neverland, about kids who discover they're descendants of the Darlings from Peter Pan. (Can't wait to read it!) What is it that attracts you to this genre?

I am having SO MUCH FUN with these books. I realized, once I started writing middle grade, that my favorite books of all time are in this age range: A Wrinkle in Time, Ballet Shoes, The Dark is Rising, and many others. Those books are when I fell in love with reading, with the magic that other worlds could bring to my life. I want to carry that magic on to other kids as well, and I adore being able to tie in classic stories in whole new adventures. I have some ideas for other ones too...

I've enjoyed many versions of The Nutcracker but the one I have on DVD (and previously VHS) and watch over and over is the 1977 TV version with Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov. That's the REAL Nutcracker to me. Do you have a favorite?

That one, and the one I danced in at the Sacramento Ballet, are both very vivid to me, though I prefer the Nutcrackers where Clara is a child, 12 or 13, instead of a young woman like in the Baryshnikov. As far as choreography, Balanchine all the way. I just saw the Pacific Northwest Ballet Nutcracker this weekend, and they did a very classic Balanchine production that was beautiful.

Nutcracked is available now and would make a perfect stocking stuffer OR holiday treat for yourself!

Morning Coffee (12/16/16)

Time for some happy Friday links!

My friend Beck reviews Oprah's gift guide every year and I look forward to it SO MUCH.

I have Rainbow Rowell's Carry On in hardcover but LOOK AT THE PAPERBACK. I may need that too.

This is COMPLETELY DELIGHTFUL: Michael Caine Loves The Muppet Christmas Carol as Much as You Do

Attention: WORLD'S LARGEST GINGERBREAD VILLAGE

Playbill made a Broadway baking playlist! Perfect for all your cookie baking this time of year.

Aw: Mom Didn’t Sell Any Knitted Goods At A Fair, So Twitter Bought It All

Oh fun: New York City's Holiday Vintage Subway Trains Are Back

Why Hershey's Kisses Have Been Part of the Cultural Fabric of the Holidays Since 1907

Bookish snowmen!

Happy 200th Birthday, The Nutcracker!

Holiday Ornaments for Book Lovers

The 15 Most Beautiful College Libraries in America

Morning Coffee (8/26/15)

Heh: Christie Says "Pushy" Granite Staters Don't Like to Wait for Answers He thinks New Hampshire is pushy? HE'S FROM NEW JERSEY.

Reporter: Do you write all your tweets?
Trump: People are shocked at how smart I am.
Reporter: Do you type your own tweets?
Trump: Thank you.

Eee! My friend Susan Adrian's new book Nutcracked has been officially announced. It's about Christmas AND ballet AND magic, and I read an earlier draft and loved it. Don't worry, I'll remind you when it comes out.

I am so curious to see how Colbert's new show shapes up.

Interesting: Connecticut to Require All 11th Graders to Take the SAT It's not mentioned much in the story, but I'd hope this would make it more likely for some underprivileged students to consider college, since the SAT will now be free and something all students take, rather than a separate thing that must be sought out and purchased.

Hear, hear: Can Walton Goggins Just Be in Everything, Please?

UM: "At one point, the Beatles asked Stanley Kubrick to direct them in “The Lord of the Rings.” John, Paul, George and Ringo would respectively play Gollum, Frodo, Galdalf [sic] and Sam."

Great House Therapy: Marilla and Matthew’s God-Fearing Avonlea Orphan Sanctuary

Morning Coffee (12/11/14)

Make sure you check out today's Annie Jump Cannon Google doodle.

Enlisted is coming to DVD!!

Shocker: That DNA Evidence Identifying Jack the Ripper Was Wrong After All

"There is no need for the child playing princess to imagine herself as Henry Potter's secret twin sister Henrietta to make herself the hero: the princess is already the hero."

The Elf on the Shelf is the greatest fraud ever pulled on children

I just read and loved Claire Legrand's Nutcracker retelling Winterspell, and she's doing an awesome giveaway.

The Fictional Spinster Classification Index

Hee: Millions Of Holiday Travelers Return From Parents’ Homes All Caught Up On ‘The Mentalist’ (Full disclosure: I watch The Mentalist and my parents do not.)