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Pride & Prejudice & Zombies The Interactive eBook App: Free Through the 28th!
Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice turns 200 this Monday, and here at the Quirk HQ, we've been busy celebrating. Giveaways with bloggers, some fun guest posts, all kinds of good stuff.
And now, thanks to our friends at Padworx Studios, the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Interactive eBook App is available for FREE through Monday, January 28th.
The app is regularly priced at $8.99 and "features hundreds of illustrations, an original musical score, buckets of gory animation, and a pair of literary masterpieces: Hold your device right side up to enjoy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Turn it upside down to read Jane Austen’s original Pride and Prejudice. Turn the device 90 degrees to read both novels." You can check out the App in this video.
Give it a download, and enjoy!
The Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Interactive eBook App [iTunes]
Posted by Eric Smith
What Makes a Good YA Fantasy (And How to Spot It)
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Let’s start with the obvious: young adult (YA) is booming. It’s an unavoidable fact of book life. You find yourself waiting for weeks for a copy of The Hunger Games from your library, you get lost in the mass of books shoved onto the small shelves in bookstores, and publishers seem to only talk about YA in all its forms. YA is the “it” group, and for very good reason.
If you’re over 18 and reading this post, do not be ashamed to walk into the teen section of a bookstore or library. You’re in the midst of some great stories about self-discovery, overcoming adversity and discrimination, and all those things that every individual experiences at some point in life. The age of the protagonists in YA defines the genre, not the readership. Take a look at the Harry Potter craze! Children, teens, and adults were all reading about the boy wizard.
Speaking of wizards, another enticing and popular genre is fantasy. It’s a genre people love to love, or love to avoid. Surely there’s a story in each reader’s life when they first read fantasy, even if it was just to try it out. Depending on the book, the reader either became hooked or avoided the genre like the plague.
But fantasy can be intimidating; all those alternate worlds, creatures, pages to keep track of. It’s overwhelming!
And that’s where the beauty of YA simplicity waltzes in. YA is notorious for simpler writing with big plots. This is perfect for those extending feelers around the fantasy genre. No one wants page after page of description and back-story on a bush on the side of the path (think Lord of the Rings) for their very first. While those can be nice and interesting, it’s more suited for the established fantasy lover. Instead, YA fantasy is like a giant pool with tiny steps leading you ever so slowly deeper and deeper into the variety of magical possibilities.
So… what makes a good YA fantasy, you ask?
Posted by Laura Crockett
Celebrating Australia Day!
Australians love celebrating Australia Day for several reasons.
Not only is it a public holiday (and we all love those) but it’s a time to gather the crew together and celebrate what it means to be an Aussie. Think playing cricket in your togs with ice-cream running down your arm coz it’s 40 degrees outside.
Posted by Katie Preston Toepfer
Some of Our Favorite Literary T-Shirts
Book lovers like to talk about books. A lot. So much so that there usually isn’t time to list off all of our favorites and explain why we fell in love with The BFG so many years ago – or how Bella Swan is the perfect representation of our twenty-five-year-old-selves. That was a joke.
On those days when talking just doesn’t seem like enough, we luckily have clothes that can spread the message for us. Forget about wearing your heart on your sleeve – wear your favorite book on your torso.
Posted by Maria Vicente
Not Bad For A Trunk Novel: The Quick History of Pride & Prejudice
Image via Etsy
January 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. What you might not know is that Austen wrote the book, to which she first gave the apt but much less memorable title First Impressions, nearly two decades before it was published.
In other words, Pride and Prejudice, a seminal work of literature that has influenced nearly every romantic comedy ever published or filmed, was Jane Austen’s trunk novel. We authors could wish that our own literary trunks contain such a gem.
Cassandra Austen, Jane’s older sister and her literary executor, left a note with the dates of composition for each novel. She indicated that First Impressions was begun in October 1796 and finished in August 1797. In November 1797, Jane’s father wrote a letter to the London publisher Thomas Cadell, offering First Impressions for publication. It’s not the most compelling query letter ever written by any means, but no doubt Mr. Austen’s heart was in the right place. We do not know if he wrote the letter of his own volition or at the bidding of his daughter, as it was the usual practice for a male relative to act for a woman in business matters; nor do we know if any other publishers were approached. We only know that the offer was “declined by return of post,” as indicated on the letter.
Despite this early failure, First Impressions was extremely popular among Austen’s friends and family. In her letters, Austen mentions requests to read the manuscript from her sister Cassandra and her friend Martha Lloyd, and even teases Cassandra (knowing the teasing will be passed on to her friend) that Martha only wanted to read the novel again so that she might commit it to memory and publish it herself.
Posted by Margaret C. Sullivan
Five Movies Coming Out In 2013 That Are Based On Books
Lately it feels like there is a delicious abundance of adaptations in the theater, but sometimes the big, huge titles drown out the buzz for movies being adapted from “less popular” books.
This list isn’t about the likes of Ender’s Game, Hunger Games, Carrie, The Great Gatsby, The Host, and others. It’s about the “little guys.” Check out my quick list of five movies being adapted to film this year that you might want to read first.
Posted by Kristina Pino