Embroidered Classics

These Penguin Threads Deluxe Classics are so much fun. I have no doubt Jane Austen would most thoroughly approve of the cover design of Emma. I can just imagine Miss Woodhouse herself stitching up something similarly fetching for her dear old papa.

This cover of Black Beauty is just a wonder to behold, no? The detail involved is so intricately beautiful.

A look at the very talented artist Jillian Tamaki hard at work.

According to the artists's blog, the books can be

purchased later this year.

{Images via here}

A man after my own heart

Just when I thought I couldn't love Cary Grant more, I stumble upon this gem of a photo. I wonder what it is that they are discussing, don't you? Whatever it is looks terribly important and maybe even a little life-altering (ok, perhaps not, but it's fun to imagine).

{Image via Reading is Fashionable}

It may as well be spring

Today marks the first day of spring. Though you wouldn't know it by what's happening weather-wise here in southern California. It's been nothing but oppressive grey skies and torrential rain all day long, with the promise of thunderstorms to top it all off. But I suppose this is all par for the course. As 17th Century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho sagely knows:

Spring rain

leaking through the roof

dripping from the wasps' nest.

-Matsuo Basho, "Spring Rain"

{Image via here}

Japan

Like the world over, I am deeply shocked and devastated by the recent events in Japan. It's beyond all comprehension. What I am able to understand, though, is this inherent instinct to do something, to give back, to make a difference. If you too are feeling this spirit of generosity and happen to love books, why not make a donation of $25 or more to the American Red Cross via Writers for the Red Cross? Not only does it afford you the opportunity to help a fellow human in need, but you also receive a free book in the process. Win-win, I say. To make a donation, click here.

Magical Stamps

Reason #9994258 why it's cooler in the UK: the Royal Mail has unveiled a set of stamps inspired by magical literary characters from beloved stories such as Harry Potter and the tales of King Arthur. How rad (wonderfully creepy, is more like it, actually) would it be to receive a letter with Voldemort's visage staring back at you?

{Images via the here}

Book Quote

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." -Sir Francis Bacon in his essay, "Of Studies"

{Image via here}