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Bedbugs, the latest novel from Ben H. Winters (New York Times best-selling author of Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters), came out this past Tuesday… and well, it wouldn't be a Quirk fiction release without a proper book trailer, right?

That being said, I'd like to welcome you all to 56 Cranberry Street.

For this trailer, we worked with Epic Image Entertainment, the same folks behind the hilarious Meowmorphosis and Night of the Living Trekkies trailers. As always, we were thrilled with the results. Enjoy the trailer, and be sure to share it with all your friends.

Sleep tight.

That's right. You heard me.

Last week, we issued a press release announcing the sequel to Ransom Riggs' best-selling young-adult novel, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

The sequel comes out in the Spring of 2013, and we're psyched to see Jacob's story continue. Ransom has already started pooling together photography. In fact, he's already collected more than a thousand images.

Thanks for making Miss Peregrine a New York Times Best-Seller (for nine weeks running!). Check out the full press release after the jump.

This past Sunday marked an important birthday for one of the most beloved characters in the history of children’s literature. Winnie the Pooh. And although he didn’t appear in print until 1926, the actual stuffed animal that inspired the Winnie the Pooh stories is 90 years old. People sent the real Winnie the Pooh a birthday card via the New York Public Library. I’ll be honest: I was a little disappointed that I was too old to send a card. I am firm in my belief that Winnie the Pooh is such a lasting character because he can’t be fully appreciated until you’ve grown up. Only then can you realize all the life lessons the silly old bear has given you.

1. Positive Thinking. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.” (The House at Pooh Corner, p. 11) Although Eeyore is generally known as the gloomy one, even he can look on the bright side occasionally.

2. Empathy. “What about me?” said Pooh sadly. “I suppose I shan’t be useful?” “Never mind, Pooh,” said Piglet comfortingly. “Another time, perhaps.” (Winnie the Pooh, p. 95) Piglet, being a Very Small Animal, acutely understands what it is like to feel useless.

3. Gratitude. But Eeyore wasn’t listening. He was taking the balloon out, and putting it back again, as happy as could be… (Winnie the Pooh, p. 89) It doesn’t matter to Eeyore that Piglet meant to give him an inflated balloon and Pooh meant to give him a pot of honey for his birthday and what he got was a popped balloon and an empty pot. He enjoys his gifts because his friends thought to give them to him.

4. Creative Problem Solving. In the very first story of the very first book we learn about Pooh’s Passion for Honey. (We also learn that capitalizing words in the middle of the sentence makes them serve two purposes; to stand out as a Very Important Idea and to define A. A. Milne’s Narrative Voice.) In Pooh’s quest for honey, the bees have become suspicious of him, and thus he needs a new plan that will allow him to fly under the radar and stealthily take the honey. He decides on attaching himself to a balloon. But a blue balloon or a green balloon?

He explains the benefit of each to Christopher Robin: “When you go after honey with a balloon, the great thing is not to let the bees know you’re coming. Now, if you have a green balloon, they might think you were only part of the tree and not notice you, and if you have a blue balloon, they might think you were only part of the sky and not notice you.” (Winnie The Pooh, p. 13)

Photo by Rob Boudon

These days, it seems everyone is looking to break into the unicorn farming industry. Be it the economy, the limited opportunities in the classifieds, or the undeniable allure of ‘80s nostalgia, new batches of unicorn farmers are sprouting up across the globe.

I have seen it myself at Unicornomics, the unicorn farm and research and development firm where I am Chief Unicornomicist, as our workshops on How to Raise Unicorns have experienced record attendance in inverse correlation with the Dow.

And, while unicorns are appreciative of this zeitgeist, they are also wary of the pitfalls that a surplus of unicorn farmers can bring. Thus, in the interest of unicorns’ wellbeing and preserving the future of this profession, I present to you the 5 Things You Need to Know Before Entering the Best Occupation Ever.

Over the past few days, review copies of Ben H. Winters’ latest novel, Bedbugs, have been steadily mailing out from the Quirk HQ to bloggers everywhere. As I stuffed books and posters into manila bubble mailers, I came across one particular… er… let’s say “special” copy of Bedbugs that I’d nearly forgotten about.

See, during BEA this year, Ben signed ARCs of Bedbugs for eager fans. Unfortunately, a few copies of Bedbugs didn’t quite make it to the Book Expo in one piece. Notable, this copy, which was completely smashed in, the pages crumbled up.

Ben, being the good-humored guy he is, picked up the copy of the book and signed it anyway, for a silly online giveaway.

Dear Internet,

Sorry what happened to your book!

Love,

Ben H. Winters

Want to get this one-of-a-kind copy of Bedbugs? Just leave a comment here or retweet this post to your followers (make sure to @quirkbooks!). I’ll select one of you at random sometime next week. You’ll receive the mangled signed copy, as well as a mint condition signed copy + poster.

Come on, you didn’t think I’d just send you a beat up book, did you? I'm not the monster here. The bedbugs are. Comment and tweet away! Good luck.

Book Heart by SilkEGB

According to Twitter and a number of misc. websites, today is National Book Lover’s Day. Hopefully some of you have taken Elizabeth’s advice and packed a picnic, or are at least planning to curl up after work with whatever it is you’re reading now.

Clearly we love books here at Quirk. In order to properly celebrate this day-of-book-loving, several of us from the Quirk HQ have written about the titles that made us fall in love with books in the first place. From forced high school reading to childrens’ books, forbidden horror anthologies to American literary classics, our picks are certainly varied.

Enjoy, and let us know what books made you fall in love in the comments. We’d love to hear about them.