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Come out and celebrate all of the bookish events happening in New York City this week. Grab your favorite literary tote bag and get ready for the final battle of Game of Totes at Housing Works. Yearning for some poetry? Check out our picks for Monday and Friday. Learn all the insider information about one of the most beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes at Brooklyn Public Library on Tuesday. Watch a new adaptation of Moby Dick performed at WORD or share your stories at Housing Works. Tweet at us and tell us where you went!

The con is mere days away now, and if you’re anything like me you’re feeling a little barfy from equal parts excitement and nerves. But don’t be like me and leave all your packing until the last minute! Here’s a list of things you need to be sure to remember to bring to C2E2 to have the absolute best time possible (because no one wants their fangirling interrupted by foot pain or a head cold!)

We are in the midst of National Poetry Month, and Philly is a city of poetry love. It's a fact! How do we know? Just look at this full list of events. It's hard to keep up! How have you been spending this poetry month? Writing a poem a day? Learning to speak in iambic pentameter? Wishing there was a National Fiction Month? Whatever you're doing, whatever you're into, here are a few events to light up the literary places in your brain.

image via flickr

Headed to a convention soon? Will there be cosplayers? 

Cosplay photography can be daunting. Are you holding cosplayers up? Will they say no? Will a crowd of oblivious attendees walk between your model and your camera? But the average cosplay photograph for the roaming photographer takes all of 10 seconds to shoot, and most cosplayers are eager to participate and be photographed. These three tips will simply take things up to the next level. After all, these cosplayers worked like hell to prepare their beautiful cosplay, so you, the photographer, should make a little effort to take the best photos you can. 

Host Bob Clayton at the game board in 1972 via Wikipedia.

First let’s play how old-we-are: raise your hand if you remember the Classic Concentration game hosted by Alex Trebek in the ‘80s…or maybe one of the hosts from the ‘50s, ‘60s or ’70s when it was just Concentration?

Part of the show had contestants solving a rebus puzzle which uses pictures, symbols and/or letters to create a word or phrase you have to guess. Naturally, I had to bookify the rebus puzzle, so below you have 14 book titles to solve. As a hint each puzzle will list the amount of words in the title, the author’s name scrambled, and the border colors might be from the book cover.

Ready?…Go!

In a galaxy far, far…erhm…in Anaheim this weekend storm troopers, droids, and Star Wars fans are descending upon Star Wars Celebration.

While Quirk is sad not to be joining in on the party, we’re excited that William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series author Ian Doescher will be their representing the Bard and glorious iambic pentameter!

On Saturday, 4/18 at 2pm you can find Ian Doescher at the ForceCast stage in Autograph Hall where he’ll be talking about the books and taking questions from the audience! Giveaway alert – you have a chance to win all 4 books in the series at this event!

And on Sunday, 4/19 at 11am he’ll be at the Digital Stage for William Shakespeare’s Star Wars On Stage. Join Ian and actors Marc Thompson, January LaVoy, and Jonathan Davis for an exclusive performance of select scenes from the series live on stage.

At 1pm, Ian and the actors will be signing copies of the William Shakespeare Star Wars series, including the recently released William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace, hosted by the fabulous Mysterious Galaxy (booth #960).

Also, be sure to say “hi” to our bookish friends:
501^st Legion: #1081
DK: Booth #1110
Mysterious Galaxy: Booth #960
Penguin Random House Audio – Del Rey: Booth #1211
ThinkGeek: Booth #910

Are you sad like us that you’re not at Celebration this weekend? Join us on Twitter! Tweet @quirkbooks your favorite line from the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series using #wssw for a chance to win an awesome William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Clone Army Attacketh poster.

May the verse be with you!