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Et tu, Brute?

The Ides of March. That notorious date when Julius Caesar was killed, stabbed 23 times in the Roman Senate by Roman senators. Amongst the traitors was one of his closest friends, Marcus Junius Brutus.

Today, we honor some of our favorite literary backstabbers, those who, much like Brutus, betrayed characters near and dear to them. While Brutus’ actions changed the world and course of history, the actions of these literary characters alter and ultimately drive their respective stories.

But we’ve barely even scratched the surface. Have some picks you’d like to include? Leave them in the comments.

WARNING: Lots of spoilers to follow for Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the Hunger Games, etc.

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Tover Je Eigen Ster, a Dutch bookshop in Spakenburg, Holland, recently put up a wonderful window display to promote Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Roughly translated, the bookshop's name means Perform Magic to Get Your Own Star.

You'll note the title on the Dutch bookcover, De Bijzondere Kinderen Van Mevrouw Peregrine. This roughly translates to The Special Children of Miss Peregrine.

We'd like to thank the bookshop's owner, Alice van Tamelen, for creating such a beautiful display. Check out the rest of the photos of her shop below.

We love it when people enjoy our books, but when people take our content and use it to inspire their own creativity… well, that's even cooler. 

Sam Cushion has not only created a fansite for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, he is also working on composing a soundtrack to the book! Cushion says he has always loved music and literature, but only recently did he start to put his two passions together. He has created music for other books, most notably the Hunger Games trilogy, and hopes to complete an entire album of music inspired by Miss Peregrine.

He has four songs recorded already, and my personal favorite is Flashlight Fish. You can listen to everything he's created so far over on his Bandcamp page.

Don’t forget to check out his fansite at PeculiarChildren.net.

Ah March! The month that rings in Spring, gives us all a reason to be Irish, and celebrates the lives of pigs. Say whaaa? Yes, that’s right. March 1st is National Pig Day, a holiday instituted in 1972 by two sisters to honor the pig for its intellect and greatness. Probably a bad day to eat bacon.

To do my share in honoring the pig I have gathered a list of the greatest porkers in literature. I lift my glass to all of them, but also slightly apologize for giving you more information on pig characters than you probably need to know.

1. Wilbur: Oh, Wilbur. The beloved children’s book Charlotte’s Web introduces Wilbur, a rambunctious pig who befriends the clever spider Charlotte when he learns he’s on the menu for Thanksgiving dinner.

Interestingly, E.B. White wrote Death of a Pig years prior, based on a true event of how he couldn’t save his sick pig. Some believe Charlotte’s Web was a way for White to retroactively save that pig. I think E.B. would have been all smiles on Pig Day.

2. Piglet: I almost turned a blind eye to Piglet because he has received enough attention throughout the years, but then I realized it would give me an opportunity to talk about “Pooh Sticks.”

For the uninitiated, Pooh Sticks is a game created by the Hundred Acre Wood clan whereby each player drops a stick over the side of a bridge to see whose stick first appears on the other side. There is even a World Poohsticks Championship, which takes place annually on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. Nerd alert!

3. Gub-Gub: Who, you say, is Gub-Gub? Gub-Gub was one of the first animals that Dr. Doolittle spoke to in the 1932 children’s book Gub-Gub’s Book, An Encyclopedia of Food by Hugh Lofting. The book is told from Gub-Gub’s point of view. Gub-Gub is a great lover of food. He is also the first animal to experience Dr. Doolittle’s onset schizophrenia.

4. Napoleon and Snowball: These two young pigs were born from the mind of George Orwell in Animal Farm, published in 1945.

The Stalin-inspired Napoleon starts off as a regular ol’ piggie but soon becomes dictator of the farm animals. Snowball, on the other hand, is busy trying to stir up other farm animals in a massive riot against humans. I think Snowball masks would have been way cuter than Guy Fawkes’ masks during Occupy. No?

In the Boston area? Want to meet one of our fabulous authors? Well next week, on February 7th, Theodora Goss will be reading from and signing copies of The Thorn and the Blossom at the Boston University Barnes and Noble in Kenmore Square.

After the reading, she'll host a Q&A and answer questions about the book, writing in general, etc.

She'll kick things off at 7pm and wrap up around 9pm. For more information (or to RSVP and let her know you're coming), Theodora's created a Facebook page. Go tell her you'll be there.

You Sweep Me Off My Feet (Right Click, Save As)

Happy February!

With Valentine's Day just two weeks away, we decided to whip up some cute (and slightly creepy) Valentine's Day cards using some of our favorite vintage photographs from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

The Valentines all measure 640×875, making them the perfect size for printing out for whatever Valentine you choo-choo-choose. Or go ahead and save them to your desktop (right click, save as). Post them on your Tumblr, Tweet them at your friends, paste one on that special someone's Facebook wall, or pin them all on your Pinterest board. Attach one in an email and send it off to your book loving friends. Whatever you need to do to let that special someone know you care.

Check out the rest of the Valentines below. Have fun!