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Quirk’s American Literary Road Trip: Route 1

It's a dream for many to take a road trip across America. Unfortunately, there are many reasons not to take a roadtrip this time of year.

1. It's freezing on the East Coast.

2. Gas isn't cheap.

3. Your personal hygiene will suffer.

4. Who the hell has time for a road trip anyway? We're not all Kerouac.

Instead, we've come up with a way for you to travel the country and remain comfy in your reading nook at home or the coffee shop down the street.

To begin, we'll be traveling from Washington to Utah – and through time. The following books cover the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

WASHINGTON
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (2012)
Compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

OREGON
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (1963)
Mordant, wickedly subversive parable set in a mental ward.

CALIFORNIA
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)
Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder.

NEVADA
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)
The best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page.

UTAH
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1887)
Potent mix of serial murder, suspense, cryptic clues, red herrings and revenge.
 

 

Maria Vicente is a literary agent intern living in Ottawa, Canada. She likes coffee, books, snail mail, and magic. You can find her on Twitter (@MsMariaVicente) or check out her website (mariavicente.com)

Posted by Maria Vicente

Ten Literary Characters Choose the Newest Monopoly Piece

Are you fed up with the current selection of Monopoly tokens? Have you tossed the board and its tiny hotels in frustration at the monotony of game play? Do you find yourself longing for a more fully diversified portfolio of silver movers?

Then your time has come.
 
Hasbro, maker of Monopoly, has announced it will be permanently removing a game piece in favor of a new token. To decide which piece will receive its last rights, they are taking to the internet for a popular vote.
 
To refresh the memories of those of us who haven’t really thought about Monopoly before this news broke, the current pieces in the classic version of the game are the wheelbarrow, dog, thimble, top hat, boot, racecar, battleship, and flatiron. Interestingly, several tokens have been dismissed much more quietly over time, including this blogger’s favorite, the horse and rider.
 
In place of the retired piece – which is being “locked away forever” – a new piece will be introduced into circulation. The current contenders, which you can vote for on Monopoly’s Facebook page until February 5, are a robot, diamond ring, helicopter, cat, and guitar.
 
Many opinions are already zapping around online regarding who should stay and who should go. PETA has requested the Scotty dog be set free, and Wired’s Jonathan H. Liu speculates the cat will win because the vote is taking place on Facebook, a popular forum for sharing feline antics.
 
We decided to ask 10 of our favorite literary characters what their opinions are on this critical event in boardgame history. Below are their answers: Which current piece they would sack, and their suggestions for a new token.

Posted by Jessica S. Marquis

Valentine’s Day: Don’t Buy Her Something, Write Her Something!

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Oh no. It’s almost here! Valentine’s Day. It’s the Hallmark holiday that encourages you to spread romantic cheer throughout the land. Are you ready to shower your lover with romance? Having trouble figuring out what to get your significant other?
Fear not! Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be like Mission Impossible. In fact, it can be quite simple. There is no need to overthink or grandiose this holiday any more. Still, everyone loves to be a little romantic every now and then, and Valentine’s Day is the best day for that.
What better way to put in some genuine romantic effort than writing your partner something? If you’re a writer, use your talent to give your significant other something very special this year. Being the skilled wordsmith that you are– you could easily construct something that will make your partner swoon. Sure, you could buy them a teddy bear or a mediocre box of chocolates—but you can do better than that!
Here are a few fun options for you.

Posted by Jo Pincushion

Visiting Punxsutawney: Five Things I Learned On Groundhog Day

I’ve seen the movie Groundhog Day about five times (which, given the repetitive nature of the storylines, feels more like fifty), but until this weekend, I’d never seen the real Groundhog Day. Now, after experiencing all the impatient waiting, sub-freezing temperatures, and rodent-related reveling of one of the weirdest traditions our country has to offer, I’ve discovered that—surprise!—movies aren’t like real life.

Here’s the lowdown on the facts and fictions of G-Day.

1. THAT’S NOT GOBBLERS KNOB: The ground-hog zero for all things Phil isn’t the cute little park in the middle of town that the movie would have you believe. Take the very name Gobbler’s Knob: In Pennsylvania parlance, a “knob” can refer to anything from a mountain peak to a slight upward swell, and “Gobbler’s” comes from the (thankfully extinct) tradition of, well, gobbling up little woodland creatures as part of the day’s festivities.
For reasons known only to location scouts (the real Punxsutawney was prohibitively expensive?), the movie was actually filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, an area not exactly known for its hilly terrain. The real Gobbler’s Knob is a big ol’ stretch of rural field on the slope of a mountain about six times as big and six times as crowded: over 20,000 people have been known to show up for a glimpse of the groundhog.
Luckily, the area provides shuttle buses to and from town for a modest fee. Feel like making the trek on foot? Then put your little hand in mine, there ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t cliiiiimb…
2. 5:59? NOPE. Hate to break it to you, but by the time Phil Connors’ alarm clock makes its iconic flip to signal the dawn of a not-exactly-new day, it’s too late. People get to Gobbler’s Knob starting at 3 AM to get the best view of the stage—show up at 7:00 and, newscaster or no, you’ll be fortunate to find enough space to stand. Lodging is, naturally, hard to come by for the big weekend, but the Community Center helpfully offers a “crash pad” in their gymnasisum (BYO pillow) for a nominal fee. And once you’re there, Punxsutawney puts on quite a show for the freezing friends of Phil, with everything from dancers and t-shirt cannons to fiddle players and fireworks displays to keep you entertained and distracted from losing feeling in your feet.

Posted by Blair Thornburgh

Celebrating Library Lovers’ Month: Five Amazing Libraries in the US

The Library of Congress’ Great Hall

February is Library Lover’s Month, a month intended to recognize the value of libraries country-wide. How better to celebrate this month than to spotlight several of the top libraries that exist around the country?

Posted by Jenn Lawrence

Worst-Case Wednesday: How to Fend Off Competitors for Your Date

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Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching- a cheerless, depressing holiday with no other way to make it through except to drink copious amounts of alcohol and have a pillow handy for crying or screaming purposes.

Just kidding!

Well, kind of.

For some, any date is better than no date on February 14th, and the despairing moments days before this holiday can lead to impetuous attempts to find a date… any date. If you are so lucky to find a date at the last minute, be aware! Dates are in such high demand during this holiday that sometimes you have to take extra care to KEEP your date – at any moment, some desperate fool may try to swoop in and nab your date out from under your nose. Valentine’s Day can be brutal, to say the least.

Never fear! Shake off those feelings of dread, because the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Dating and Sex has the answer to this problem.

Posted by Jennifer Murphy