More wonderful links

Occasionally I think how nice it would be to post a few links every day, because there's so much great stuff out there. But then I think about everything else I'd like to do on a regular basis (more gym visits and not-already-read books in my future, really) and I just laugh.

One of Absolut's better ads (this takes me back to high school, when collecting Absolut ads was briefly the thing to do), courtesy of Mi Blog Es Tu Blog. It's missing a certain island, but no one's perfect.

The March Carnival of Children's Literature is up at The Reading Tub. I didn't manage to submit anything this month, but I'm working on a society for April.

I know I'm not being original here, but I'm going to join the chorus linking to Margaret Atwood's piece on Anne of Green Gables. I grew up on the CBC version (taped from PBS in the 80s; one of these days the VHS is going to wear out), and it took many viewings and frustrated romances of my own before I understood why Anne chose Gilbert over Morgan Harris. Now, of course, I always cry at the ending.

Jenny Davidson points to a tale of one proto-Internet, the Mundaneum. Kind of like Desk Set, but without all the beeping and whirring (and banter).

Via Bookslut, an interview with Lee Miller about her research on the lost colony at Roanoke. (Not like I need another topic to research myself, but I just turned up a site about the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony.)

Why, why, why do teachers insist on introducing their students to John Steinbeck through The Pearl and Of Mice and Men? When I was fourteen, all I knew about Steinbeck was that he was both boring and depressing. Happily, I finally gave in to paternal urgings to read Travels With Charley, which is now one of the many books I can quote from memory. Robert Gottlieb's article in the New York Review of Books at least assures me I'm not alone on this.

English teachers, you're missing an opportunity here. Try introducing your students to some of his non-fiction - just about any of it.

Really, my only complaint about Steinbeck's Ghost - read it as soon as you get your hands on a copy - is that when I was Travis' age, nothing could have motivated me to actually seek out Steinbeck's work.

(Now that I've seen the cover art, I admit I have issues with that too - Feiwel & Friends produced some gorgeous galleys, but the picture on the-site-that-shall-not-be-named looks like it could be the cover of an A to Z Mystery - it doesn't look like it will appeal to the right age group.)

Colleen, I'd hoped to read Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science this weekend - I was at the bookstore, found a copy, and set it aside to take home. And then I, um, accidentally put it in a customer's bag.

Luckily she's a regular, and brought the book back once she found it. But my reading will have to wait for another day.

[I'm going to indulge in a brief squee moment to close: Jessica added a link to Archimedes Forgets to her blogroll. I'm so honored - she's one of my litblogger/bookseller heroes!]