Flavor vs. Flavour: covering this transatlantic transformation

 OKAY I AM PISSED (maybe worked up/cross is a better description depending on which side of the pond you are on):

Look at this beautiful cover on the UK copy of Flavour:  

And look at the American version of Flavor: 

WHY. I mean, sure its a cool photo and all. But it's not really the same clean, understated aesthetic now, is it?  

Did we drop the u and lose the style too? WHY, PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE, WHY. 

Clearly I am perplexed enough about this pressing print issue to post for the first time in like a decade. And also clearly, some onions wore it better is all I'm saying. 

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Tidbits

• Lena Dunham is not a Dauntless.  She's so clearly Candor.  Get it right, EW!
• This is the best letter to an editor this year.  Excellent point, kid.  Kids SHOULD review kids books! 
• NPR Reports do have the best names. 
• 3 New Genres for YA. I can't wait for sexy teen American history.  (Come on already, Diana Gabaldon.)
• YA imprints are the new hot accessory for summer (if you are a publishing company).
• Gender bender!  Maureen Johnson explores how the gender of the author can affect cover design.  Here are some examples of famous covers made over as if the author happened to be the opposite gender.  My favorite?  Lord of the Flies.  Srsly?  That's way creepier than the actual story, faux designer.  Mostly, I think covers reflect the stereotyped audience they are being marketed to, but then again, there's a reason why Joanne Rowling went by JK Rowling...
• We have liftoff!  FINALLY, a trailer that proves Ender's Game is, in fact, happening, and that Han Solo is still out there, somewhere, in space.
• Hahahahollywood, you joker, you.  There is a one in five chance of knowing who these guys on the shortlist to be cast as Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars are (for me).  Am I just old?    

Tidbits: Nothing says in the mood like Titanic undergarments

• The Titanic is being rebuilt.  Nothing can possibly go wrong, right?!  "Everyone on board will however be provided with early-20th-century-style clothes and undergarments in their cabins to get them in the mood." What mood would that be, PR person responsible for this press release?  The mood to freeze to death in icy water? (Also...provided undergarments?  Let's let Jimmy Kimmel and Emma Stone tell you what I think about that.)
• Additionally, have I mentioned the Girl Scouts enough lately?  I didn't think so.  There are now badges for smart things like bookbinding (be still, library nerd hearts)!  Yay, Todd Pattinson, Harvard Guybrarian extraordinaire! This makes my badge for fashion design just seem shameful.  
• Here are 10 flower arrangements that curiously resemble the covers of some YA books.
• I didn't even know that The Maze Runner had been optioned...and now they already casting.  Whaaatt?
• Oh, hello there, Mr. Odair.  That's a very deep V you're rocking. I suppose we'll accept your rose.  There's like a billion more portraits for the Hunger Games up on the Internets now. 
• Even though it will probably be forever until I can hear the whole thing, what with living on the rebellious continent, I am still so, so excited about Neverwhere.  Benedict Cumberbatch?  James MacAvoy?  This could only be better if it were filmed.  Thank goodness for American Gods!
• HOW DID YOU KNOW?  #truergiffs

Big news tomorrow about an exciting book nerd reunion, race, and travel plans!

Tidbits

News team assemble! 

• Well, we all knew this had to happen someday, and it's honestly not bad.  But nothing trumps the original, stunning Harry Potter covers.  NOTHING!  
• From Fiction to Fashion get into my closet, now.
• Curiously, Morgan Freeman wasn't available to play death in a movie about 1930's Germany: the Book Thief is going to be a movie, and they've already cast it.
• Beautiful Creatures is in theaters, and I'm excited to see it next week.  Fingers crossed its not too Disney hokey, and just enough Southern Gothic to not ruin it!  I'm also kind of excited for Warm Bodies...which I've never read (confessions!).  
• Vicious cycle alert: In news that shocks nobody, Chick Lit isn't exactly great for feeling super awesome about your body image...which is maybe why some ladies are reading it in the first place.
• I'll see you in November, Bridget Jones.  
• The first chapter of Patrick Ness's new adult book is available to be previewed.  Squeeeee!  
• Places I want to go to include this gorgeous underground train station in NYC.  If I wasn't afraid of rats...or prison...
• Because I love you, I found the specialist Valentine I could for you guys.

Tidbits: I was not in the Netherlands on Tuesday...

• The real question in the art theft I did not commit in the Netherlands is Monet, Matisse, Gauguin...Picasso?  As our friends on Sesame would say, one of these things is not like the others!  (Also, I got $20 and a space on my wall for a Monet, art thieves...)

• The worlds largest floating bookstore (hint: not my bathtub). 

• One Direction fan fiction - face, meet palm.  

• Harry Potter textbook covers. 

• Things I want to eat: Totchos.  Exactly what they sound like.

• Author Crush Melina Marchetta's Quitana finally got a new dress:

 

And I like it.
Except I'm resoundingly convinced she wants to
shank me with that piece.

 

Tidbits: Chicken Soup for your visual art appreciation

Chicken Soup: 

• Do you have a heart?  Test it by readwatching this piece, written by a teenage boy about he loves to read.  It is aptly titled What's Wrong with Reading?  I just want to give him a hug in the form of a stack of books!

Design & Art:

• Design alert! Fahrenheit 451 needs a new dress.

• Finally, beautiful homes I can afford...the coolest doghouses I've ever seen.

• When Bad Things Happen to Good Paintings: the plot thickens.  Every time I think about the restoration, I can't help but laugh.  SO GOOD, lady. 

Food:  

• Beatrix Potter has awesome handwriting and recipes.

 The Talkies:

• Alice in Wonderland gets CW'd and McG'd...strong potential for big explosions, cleavage, not much else.

• Oh, hello terrible romance novel pretending to be a teen novel that I could not finish (which is saying something) that is now getting optioned for another CW contract.  Just give me my Selection already, punks!

• I'm reserving judgment until the whole series is done, but I may be kind of excited in an "Oh Captain, my captain" way that Raven Boys may one day be a movie

• Beautiful Creatures Trailer I'm not sure how I feel, guys!  I think I like it and the leads; I think I'm also nervous they took some Tim Burtonesque creative liberties in Harper Lee's backyard and it may go a little off the tracks.  I think I should also not watch things pre-coffee.  
•  No link, but are you as excited that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is nigh?  Yayyyy! Yayyyy! Yayyyy! 

Jealousy:

•  Not only does Australia always get Christmas first, now you Aussies can brag about reading Quitana first. Color me jealous. 

Tidbits: In which bad ideas outnumber good ones

 Hey you guuuuyssss.  Sorry it has been so long since my last tidbit explosion all over this page. I hope you are tid-tillating with the following:

•  Here is your feel good international library sory to get you through Thursday and Friday, and onto your weekend:  there are now 100 public mini-libraries in permanent kiosks in parks across Colombia, and if you live in the city of Bogota, you are extra lucky because there are 47.  The project began ten years ago in an effort to promote literacy in the country.  If you speak Spanish, you can watch the following news story on it.  If not, you can still watch it for the only on Spanish-language television interview positioning at the two minute mark. 
   
• In bygone days, I hinted at my deep reverence for the early 90's TV show, Carmen San Diego (in the context of burying it deep in a ramble about my #1 love, The Oregon Trail).  I still want to go on that game show and lose!  According to Vulture, Jenny from the Block has attached herself to a film remake of this most fabulous show.  Ugh.  Ughhh.  Ughhhhh.  So wrong. 
  
• Ally Carter's Heist Society 3: Perfect Scoundrels just got a new dress.  Except I'm going to be totally honest here, my first, second, and third reaction to it was: "Isn't that the same cover?" Yes, yes it more or less is.  And also, I'd like to draw your attention to the 35-year-old banker dude in the sunglass reflection. 
  
  
  Don't even try and tell me that is Hale; no teenage boys, no matter how ridiculously wealthy, have posture that good, or wear a suit that comfortably.  Nice try with your stock photo, book cover designer.   
  
• Things that just don't sound like a good idea to me: Hunger Games live action role playing.  Everyone gets straight up fight club murdered! And yet, it happens, and someone got really hurt.  I wish this young woman a speedy recovery.  Be safe out there, larpers. 
  
• So you want to smell like a vampire.  Or a witch.  Or BOTH.  Lucky for you, Viking press is launching a promo for Deborah Harkness' Shadow of Night, which includes...perfume.  Yeah, I don't know either.  But now you can find out what the undead smell like after they do vampire yoga.  Score!  I am more excited to actually read the sequel to A Discovery of Witches than I am to smell like it, but each to their own, right?

Case of the terribles: A Titantic cover hack job

A Thursday twofer to make up for totally slacking since oh...early December.  Tidbits, a recipe, and a review coming soon! 

• I don't deny being a cover judger.  BUT.  Can someone please explain to me why Tim Burton may have been responsible for this whack gothic Nook Book Pride and Prejudice cover? Did they think it was Mansfield Park?

• Additionally, this Titantic 100th anniversary historic recreation cruise (for the low, low cost of $10,000) is ridiculous.  And yet...I did see Titanic three times in the movie theatre, so there is no denying that if I were a Russian oligarch, I'd totally go, wear fabulous Downton inspired dresses, and pretend like I was the unsinkable Molly Brown.  (via Jezebel)

Tidbits - Book fashion

• So...a little book called The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?  Maybe you were one of the one billion people on the planet not to read it.  Rebel.  You're a little like Lisbeth Salander, except maybe not as edgy.  BUT YOU CAN BE.  Because H+M is coming out with a line of clothes based on the movie.  I would look more, but don't subscribe to Women's Daily Wear.  Based on the Jezebel pic, it looks moody.  Do you think sales of eyeliner will jump?  They should include temporary dragon tattoos in this line. Then and only then will I consider a pair of pleather pants.
• A book I am excited for got itself a dress!  Behold:
  
  
  
  
  I am reserving judgment based on material it is printed on.  If it's shiny, heck no.  The fault is in the reflection of sticky fingers on the cover.  If it's more matte, I'm in!  Also, does the cover indicate that someone is dark and stormy, someone is happy cloudy, and they cross paths and do something with chalk, perhaps involving Shakespeare?  Calling it.

Rain and foreign book covers

 Hello friends. Shockingly, after an overnight train followed by a day in Cairo followd by leaving for the airport to travel 18ish hours home, posting was not a priority. I will update fully later so you'll get to know allllll about my adventures.  But to tide you over enjoy these phone pics from my last day in Egypt.

This picture? Evidence that it does actually rain in Cairo.  I was shocked! It lasted approximately 2 minutes, but I still think it counts, no?

Mmmmachiato @ Pottery Cafe, Cairo's hipster cafe.  Yes, they DO have sheesha and skinny cigarettes to accompany your skinny jeans!

I like the American cover sooooo much better.  Doesn't Katniss look like a Hogwarts bad girl?  There is no magic in the Hunger Games, cover artist!

Wall o'teen fiction at a Zamalek bookstore (yes, these are all in English).