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Welcome back to part two of our Northanger Abbey recap. Last week we were introduced to Catherine, our daring heroine, and were given a taste of big city living in Bath. Will the smitten Mr. Tilney make a reappearance? Will there be a challenger for Catherine’s affections? All this and more, right now!

Perfect image via the BBC

In Emma, Jane Austen writes, “I condition for nothing else; but without music, life would be a blank to me.” A musician herself, Austen was known to play anything from romantic ballads to nursery rhymes to entertain herself and her family.

But Austen’s musical influence isn’t limited to her family’s parlor. Musicians today have taken characters and themes from her novels to write book report-style raps, scat jazz-influenced love letters, and compose beautiful instrumental ballads. These musicians are naming their bands and their songs after her characters. And one’s even named their band after her.

So grab a pair of headphones and give these Austen-influenced musicians a listen. I’m sure Jane would be nodding to the beat along with you. 

Veteran's Day holds a special place in my heart. My Dad's a veteran and my fiancee is a veteran who spends her days trying to help other veterans as a social worker. They are both amazing. 

Over the years, several of my closest hometown friends served overseas. I loved, LOVED sending them care packages whenever I could, and these boxes were always full of books.

Today is Veteran's Day, and while I don't know anyone serving abroad this year, there are many veterans in my life. And chances are, in yours too. I've rounded up some simple ways you can donate books today. Some of these are for sending books to soldiers far away, others might send books to a veteran at your local VA.

One even lets you send books to children of military members, through Reach Out and Read. Check them out. 

Projects from Hello Kitty Crochet

Hello Kitty is the probably one of the most famous kitties and the most ubiquitous kitty in our lives, appearing in various forms from pots to instant ramen. Yet, how ingrained is she in your personal life? Do you have anything Hello Kitty related? I mean, we do, what with our Hello Kitty Baking Book and Crochet book that came out last month. If not, here’s our guide to Hello Kitty-fy your own daily routine.

Breakfast: There’s no better way to start off your day with a serving of pancakes so why not make Hello Kitty pancakes? You can either draw your Hello Kitty pancakes using a squeeze bottle filled with pancake batter or use a metal Hello Kitty cookie cutter as a mold to shape your pancakes.

​November 10-14 is National Young Readers Week, an annual event to encourage children to read! It was co-founded by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Pizza Hut! I think there is no greater incentive for anything than pizza, but the program also gets celebrities, both national and local, to read to children in order to reinforce the positive example of reading.

But back to pizza! Here are some events you can hold during National Young Readers Week to encourage young readers everywhere!

Update: Horrorstor has been added in the semi-final round! Thanks for voting it in, everyone! 

Ah, the Goodreads Choice Awards. I don't know about you guys, but I get pretty psyched for them every single year. I knew they would be opening up this morning, and I had a hard time sleeping, waking up and checking Twitter to see if they had gone live.

This year, Quirk has three FOUR titles nominated in the Goodreads Choice Awards, and we are absolutely thrilled. 

HORRORSTOR by Grady Hendrix is nominated in Best Horror of 2014.

WORLD OF TROUBLE by Ben H. Winters is nominated in Best Science Fiction of 2014.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE EMPIRE STRIKETH BACK by Ian Doescher is nominated in Best Humor of 2014. 

HOLLOW CITY by Ransom Riggs is nominated in Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction of 2014.

Go cast your votes! And congrats to Ben, Ransom, Grady, and Ian!