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On Friday, April 18th, Ben H. Winters took home the 2014 Philip K. Dick Award for Countdown City, the second book in The Last Policeman trilogy. The award honors a distinguished original science fiction paperback, and is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust. 

You can check out a full list of the nominees, as well as more details about the award, over on the Norwescon website. 

Congratulations, Ben! The entire Quirk Books office is currently doing this, for you. 

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When I tell people I’m in a book club, I’m almost always met with skeptical faces. It’s like I’m being challenged to prove that book clubs aren’t just for dorks.

I assure you, they aren’t, and while I’ve always thought thatreading is cool, here are a few tips to ensure your book clubs is a most awesome good time.

Reading a book is a wonderful feeling – but what happens when you have to stop? Do you throw in a piece of paper to mark your place: an envelope, a dollar bill, a tissue? Are you relying on the fold of a dust jacket? Do you dog-ear the page?*

Rest assured, there are better, more enjoyable, and far cuter ways to mark your place when you are inevitably forced to close your book. These are 10 DIY bookmarks you can whip up with some very basic craft supplies and a little creativity!

*We’re just kidding – we know no one here dog-ears pages!

The ‘Hot Cup of Tea’ Bookmark: Love to read with a cuppa tea? Save the bag tag from your favorite variety or make an entirely new one with this Quick Cup of Tea Bookmark DIY from Genuine Mudpie.

The ‘Cute as a Button’ Bookmark: Spare buttons tend to pile up, and what can you do with one button that doesn’t match the others? With this easy Button Bookmarks tutorial from I Heart Nap Time, you can transform those tiny treasures with a little glue, felt, and some paperclips!

The Luxurious Velvet and Jeweled Ribbon Bookmark: A perfect project for upcyclers and treasure hunters: turn old or damaged baubles into gorgeous heirloom DIY Ribbon Bookmarks! The folks at Intimate Weddings show you how to use a little ribbon and some pliers to create these beautiful pieces.

The ‘Monster at the Corner of This Book’ Bookmark: Ever want a reading companion to travel through a book with you? Make your own book-eating monster with these folded-paper Page Corner Bookmarks from Tally’s Treasury. You can make them for kids to enjoy, but be sure to keep some for yourself too!

The Tiny Crocheted Flower Bookmark: If you’re a crocheter with little scraps of yarn (and as a crocheter, I think that’s probably most of us) then these Crochet Flower Paper Clips  from Petals to Picots as an ideal way to use up scraps!

The Micro Pom Pom Bookmark: Knitters, crocheters and yarncrafters of all kinds tend to have yarn left overs – use them to make adorable Yarn Ball Bookmarks using this tutorial on DesignMom.

The ‘I Heard You Liked Reading, So I Put Some Reading in Your Reading’ Bookmark: Can’t get enough of the written word? Of course you can’t. These Paper Bead Bookmarks from The ReFab Diaries let you incorporate favorite passages and clippings into whatever you’re reading at the moment.

The Ruffled Ribbon and Elastic Bookmark: A perfect project for a journal or diary, Journal Wraps from the folks at Craft Snob make it easy to pick up where you left off. These bookmarks work particularly well for small, hard cover journals, and are a lovely way to use up pretty bits of ribbon.

The ‘Superheroes Love to Read Too’ Bookmark: Be ready for adventure with your favorite Avengers Bookmarks there in case of emergency! This project from Crafts by Amanda is great for kids and can be designed to look like any of your favorite heroes and heroines.

Do you use handmade bookmarks? What’s your favorite way to mark what page you’re on?

Look I get it, at some point someone had a horrible experience in a library, and as a result we librarians are doomed to be typecast as grey haired old biddies who wear horn-rimmed glasses while we shush everything in sight. Thankfully we have used this stereotype to our advantage over the years to hide our true purpose; a purpose I am about to reveal to you know.

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Bibliophiles all over the world spend their times pouring over the stacks of books at libraries and book stores, looking for that next classic book that will become an instant favorite. It can be hard sometimes to determine which books to read. There are so many options and they all have their pros and cons. How to choose is the question.

It occurred to me just the other day that a simple look at my playlist would point me in the right direction. I know it sounds a bit bizarre but by listening to some of my favorite rock songs, I have a perfect guide to some of the best novels ever written.

Plug in your earbuds and prepare for one hell of a read.