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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!
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
Posted by Kristina Pino