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How to be Awesome at Giving Book Recommendations In Four Simple Steps

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It can be really hard to get friends to want to read your favorite book. With these 4 steps, you’ll not only learn how to spin your favorite book, but also how to make genuine recommendations your friends will love!

Posted by Margaret Dunham

Some of Monty Python’s Best Literary Sketches

I remember one of my high school English teachers being horrified that only two of us had heard of John Cleese, and with the greatness known as Monty Python, who can blame her?

Known primarily for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and probably just for being funny and British in general, the legendary sketch troupe is responsible for popularizing many comedic styles and creating groundbreaking sketches, including several for the bookish, grammar-appreciating, literature enthusiasts among us.

And now, for something completely different, head to YouTube and sit back and enjoy five of Monty Python’s best literature- and English- related sketches.

1. Agatha Christie: You know this one will be good because Inspector Tiger (“Tiger?” “Where?!”) spends the first minute of the sketch trying to figure out the correct way to say that nobody can leave the room. The rest of the sketch unravels into police officers and inspectors with weird names trying to solve a murder that might not have even happened. There’s no specific mention of Agatha in the sketch, but the whodunit premise is definitely a tip of the hat to one of the queens of mystery.

2. Literary Football: Basically a football (the British version, so, soccer) postgame show that’s described with the most intricate language ever, this sketch features an interviewer who makes every move in a football game sound like it’s coming straight from a grad student’s thesis paper…to go along with the slightly less highbrow responses he receives from the player he’s talking to.

3. The Man Who Talks in Anagrams and The Man Who Speaks Only the Ends of Words: I listed these two together because they’re each less than two minutes, but they both show just how awesome the members of Monty Python are at wordplay, enunciation, and twisting language around to get a pretty hysterical result.

4. A Book at Bedtime: In a matter of two and a half minutes, several members of Monty Python show how even though it can be challenging at first, it’s ultimately really fun to spend some time reading before bed, especially if you’re reading with friends.

5. Romanes Eunt Domus: This one’s my personal favorite out of this list, and also one of my favorite Python bits in general. From Monty Python’s Life of Brian, this scene shows what happens when a centurion catches Brian defacing Pontius Pilate’s palace with an anti-Roman phrase. And without giving anything away, it’s probably the last thing someone would expect, but also the most excellent.

Posted by Allison Racicot

Worst-Case Wednesday: How to Play Out of a Water Trap

Many mishaps can occur on the golf course. Your golf cart breaks down. You hit the ball into a tree. Or sometimes, you get a little too into the game, maybe loosen your aim a little too much and you hit the ball square into a water trap. It happens to everyone, right? Right?

To fix it and still make your shot without just stepping in blindly, let The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Golf tell you how it’s done:

Posted by Marissa Stern

The Return of the Blog Tour: Where to find The Jedi Doth Return on the Internet This Month!

 
Hark! Hark! A new book approacheth! We're verily excited for Ian Doescher's The Jedi Doth Return, and to celebrate, we've lined up a whole host of guest posts on some truly excellent book blogs. Find out what and where Ian will be stopping by below the jump!
 

Posted by Blair Thornburgh

Quirk’s Trip to Wizard World Philadelphia [Photos & Video]

And we're back! 

We spent Thursday through Sunday at Wizard World Philadelphia, a convention that took place just a few blocks away from the ol' Quirk Books HQ. You might have seen us tweeting out photos all weekend. If not, you should be following us on Twitter. We're @QuirkBooks. I'll wait. Got it? Okay. Let's continue.

Posted by Eric Smith

How to Tuesday: The Many Tan Lines of Beach Reading and How to Avoid Them

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It's about that time to hit the beach, and is there anything better than sitting near the ocean, listening to the waves roll in and drinking something cold while you read under the warm sun? 
 
Alright, don't answer that. I realize many readers are the "read while listening to the rain with a warm cuppa" type, and that's alright. But we're not talking about rain clouds – it's summer! Bring on the sun! BBQ! Picnics! Sun burns! 
 
Readers face some unique and specific challenges when it comes to enjoying a book in the sun. It's a question of how to do it while avoiding the scenarios I'll describe below, all to which I've personally fallen victim to at least once. If you're headed to the beach with a book sometime this summer, be sure to change up your reading position often in order to avoid these sun burn patterns (a.k.a. Reader Tan Lines):

Posted by Kristina Pino