Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Nancy Drew & Tom Sawyer | BOUND, the literary dating show

What if Nancy Drew and Tom Sawyer grew up and went on a reality dating show?

I am a bit obsessed with book covers. I actually own books by Chip Kidd filled with his designs.

Enjoy!

Author Cavan Scott (ALI-A ADVENTURES: GAME ON!) on Roger Moore, research, and Doctor Who | Author Shorts

ALI-A ADVENTURES: GAME ON!

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I loved SEVEN DAYS OF US! Check out Francesca Hornak and the World’s Worst Editor feat!

Wish I could go!

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Tickets are now on sale for this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival (6 – 15 October), where book lovers of all ages will descend for ten days of literary celebration, discussion and debate.

The festival programme includes a fantastic showcase of crime writing– from Ian Rankin celebrating 30 years of the indomitable Rebus to Minette Walters on ending her decade-long silence with The Last Hours, from Barry Forshaw talking gripping true crime with Emma Flint (Little Deaths) and Denise Mina (The Long Drop), to exploring exciting debut crime fiction from Joseph Knox (Sirens) and Ali Land (Good Me Bad Me). We’ll also be spotlighting partners in crime as the bestselling Nicci Gerrard and Sean French share the secrets behind their unique and successful co-writing partnership, and another duo will be returning to the stage: notorious crime writer’s Mark Billingham and Chris Brookmyre bring back their hilarious two man show to entertain into the evening.

Around 1,000 speakers will take part in more than 550 events, from literary heavyweights and emerging talent, to the very best poetry and celebration of classic literature, including Salman Rushdie, Alan Hollinghurst, Sarah Waters, Amit Chaudhuri, Roddy Doyle, Claire Tomalin, Paul Hawkins, Philippa Gregory, Michael Morpurgo, Ian Rankin, Joanne Harris and the 2017 Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors. The packed poetry programme includes Jackie Kay, John Burnside, Michael Symmons Roberts and Lemn Sissay as well as the stars of the next generation with Andrew McMillan, Luke Wright, Hollie McNish, Rob Auton, Inua Ellams andSabrina Mahfouz.

This year’s Festival theme Who Do We Think We Are? will ask key questions about British identity and celebrate Britain’s rich literary and cultural heritage, and Cheltenham will also welcome five Guest Curators bringing fresh perspectives and voices: Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor; Sarah Moss, novelist, travel writer and academic; Robin Niblett, Director of Chatham House; Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley; and Nikesh Shukla, author, editor and campaigner.

 Find the full line up of events at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/literature @CheltLitFest

I live in Palm Beach County, Florida and as you can see on this map, we are expecting to be hit by Hurricane Irma. This storm is not only fast – either hitting us as a 4 or 5 on the Saffir Simpson scale, but also enormous, I’ve never seen anything like it. According to the National Hurricane Center, it is the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded. It is twice the width of Florida! With any luck, the projections that it has moved slightly to the east is a good sign, the western side of a hurricane is the “better side.” Whatever that means. Oh, and right behind this bitch is Hurricane Jose – we are hoping he dies at sea.

I’ve lived through more hurricanes than I care to think about, starting with David in 1979, Andrew in 1992, Wilma in 2005 and many more in between all those. We took a direct hit from Wilma twelve years ago. Lost our roof, which landed on our cars – lots of damage, and the landscape of the community was forever changed. Lost our electricity for over a week. But we were safe.

Because of Hurricane Harvey, people here are in full blown panic mode. The store shelves have been emptied, the gas stations depleted. People who live in evacuation areas (flood zones) should be evacuating to shelters. Emergency operations officials are telling everyone else to shelter at home so people don’t get stranded on the road.

Palm Beach County has been under a Hurricane Watch since this morning, yet the library stayed open (although closed early today, at 3:00 pm.) Many of the library staff were ordered to “volunteer” at shelters so there was a skeleton crew left behind. Due to various health and family issues, I am not helping at a shelter, although I will be making phone calls after the storm and anything else that I can do as needed.

My husband has been working on making us safe for days. He’s putting up the hurricane shutters, clearing the yard furniture, etc. We have enough water and chemically laden food to last at least a week, and some comforting snacks, too. I have another load or two of laundry left and I need to dig out the French press so we can have coffee even if we lose power.

We are as ready as we can be. We are hoping for the best and that everyone stays safe.

Signature Views Mini-Doc – The restaurant Egg in Brooklyn holds a monthly event called Tables of Contents where authors give readings, and dishes based on passages from their books are served. Chef Evan Hanczor gives an inside look at the dinner series, featuring authors Adam Gopnik, Victor LaValle, and Sarah Gerard.

Not really, just a play on the Bonnie Tyler song. You can stream it through your library and Freegal!

Today is the Solar Eclipse and the librarian in me wants to share some information. While this is a very exciting event, if you don’t have the proper solar eclipse glasses, don’t look at it. That’s it, plain and simple.

So what happens if you just take a peek? According to scientists and ophthalmologists, all it takes is thirty seconds (30!) to cause permanent damage to the eye. Apparently, you may not feel it right away, but a day or two later you could have a permanent blind spot in one or both eyes or other permanent visual problems.

There is a story going around on Facebook and via email, etc. about a man who damaged his eyesight during the 1962 eclipse. This is not just a rumor, you can see it here:

To be safe, you can watch it outside with the correct glasses. The American Astronomical Society has a list of approved vendors and what to look for here. It is rather surprising that the manufacturers of these products did not produce enough supply to meet demand. I don’t understand how these companies missed the boat on this. They were making a product that had a guaranteed, short shelf life and they easily could have sold tons more, just based on the number of phone calls and requests that I have had at my library.

The safest way to watch it, and for me in south Florida, the only way to see the full eclipse, is to watch it on TV or stream it online.

NASA.GOV

NASA.gov/eclipselive will stream 10 live webcasts, each with a different angle. See the eclipse from the International Space Station. Watch ground footage from the point of greatest eclipse outside Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Catch the view from 11 international spacecraft. Or watch the eclipse from near-space: NASA Space Grant Consortium volunteers are launching 57 high-altitude balloons across the nation, each with its own Raspberry Pi camera.

NASA expects 100-500 million site hits, so as a backup, you can also catch the balloon webcast here: eclipse.stream.live

SOCIAL MEDIA

200 million Americans live within a day’s drive of totality, so the Great American Eclipse will be all over Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The official hashtag is #eclipse2017.

As soon as the event is over, Eclipse Megamovie will compile everyone’s smartphone footage into a continuous video showing the solar eclipse from start to finish. Watch their replay here: https://eclipsemega.movie

ASTRONOMY.COM

See what the eclipse looks like on the ground from Denver, Colorado.

http://www.astronomy.com/eclipsestream

Hope this helps and please stay safe!