BOW WOW!

Hello dear readers! Boy do I have a major treat for you today. Rather than a traditional B.O.W., I'd like to introduce you to the newest follower of The NovelTease: Waldo (as in Ralph)! Bow Wow is right!!!

Waldo's namesake, Mr. Emerson...do you see the resemblance?

In honor of Waldo, I thought I'd feature a helpful handbook that Vince and I have referenced a lot these last couple weeks as we got our house--and our heads--ready for the little guy: The Everything New Puppy Book, by Carlo De Vito. With surprising insights on everything from how many syllables your dog's name should have (two or three) to how to get through that infamous "big cry" on the first night (he suggests putting some rice in a tube sock and microwaving it; we did this and Waldo made it from 10:30pm to 5:00am without a single whimper!!), this straightforward guide has already proved to be a big help! My guess is that this is one B.O.W. that will stick around for a lot longer than just one week!

For my sign-off today, I'd like to leave you with a wonderful quote from Waldo the elder, words of wisdom that I can already tell are embodied by in our sweet little puppy:

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely..."

Great Gift Alert: Vessels of Verse

There are few things I love more than a great book, but a nice cup of tea and good design definitely put up a superb fight. So what would you say if I found one item that combined all three? How about incredible??? Well my loyal readers, prepare to be amazed! Take a look at these fantastic mugs from Pentegram, based on Justus Oehler's series of cover designs for Faber & Faber Poetry from 2001.

And here is an image of the book designs the mugs are based on:

For those of you who aren't familiar with Pentegram, it is "the world's largest independent design consultancy," with fingers in pretty much every design pie, including interiors, books, packaging, and mugs, too. If you are bored at work, I totally recommend spending a few minutes browsing their site--you might be surprised how many items your recognize!

BOM: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

Let's be honest, this BOW took a little longer than usual, clocking in at about one month from start to finish! While it took some time to get through (and in my defense, most of that was due to holidays and wedding planning drama), David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet was fantistic-o!

The first image is what my copy of the book looks like; the second is apparently in circulation somewhere and I totally wish it were mine!

Anyway, I don't know whether you have read any of Mitchell's other novels (including the acclaimed Number9Dream or, my favorite, Cloud Atlas), but he is a truly unique author, blending together crazy amounts of historical research with dazzling imagination in order to create complex stories that sink their teeth into the reader. Further, the stories always seem to push structural boundaries, testing the limits of narrative construction. Thousand Autumns is no exception, vividly set in 1799 Nagasaki Harbor--the farthest Dutch East Indies Company outpost and Japan's sole connection to the western world. Strangely--yet perhaps not so strangely if you're familiar with Mitchell--characters include a well-educated Japanese midwife, murderous monks, and of course De Zoet himself, an honorable Dutch clerk surrounded by cynics and thieves.

While I could go describing the book, I think Mitchell himself can do it better, and in fact has during a live blog chat with Toronto's National Post. Follow the link for a very clever and deft discussion of the novel that took place this past summer prior to the book's release.

In case you were wondering what book is keeping me company these days, its City of Veils, by Zoe Ferraris. My lovely aunt S. lent me this psychological drama, which takes place in conservative Islam and revolves around murder and mystery. It's shaping up to be quite the page-turner, and so I should have a true B.O.W. review next weekend!

Hello Again, Dear Friends!

Well, I pulled a classic amateur blogger move and completely vanished from the virtual world this past month! My sincerest apologies, lovely readers, for leaving you in the lurch during the month of December, but one of my new year's resolutions is to be a better blogger. Perhaps before moving ahead, I should clarify what I mean by this. Let's be honest: uber-frequent posting is no easy feat when planning a wedding and working full-time in a city over 50 miles away from home, especially when at least one post a week requires reading a whole novel...However, I am going to try my hardest to keep reading AND keep telling you about it, while also sharing other tidbits with you. That's right, there's a whole lotta world out there, so I'm going to adjust this self-imposed thematic focus to include a little more life.

For example, many of you know that I'm in the midst of planning a wedding to the love of my life. What you might not know (but probably could guess) is that I am also totally in love with all things stationery-related, and am having an absolute blast choosing the right printing method, paper, and design for our upcoming nuptials. After hours and hours of web-searching, blog-reading, and store-visiting, I think I've finally chosen the perfect vendor for the job: a nationally recognized but upstate New York based-press that is eco-friendly, open to customization, and has a sense of humor. Delightful!

While you'll have to a wait a few more months to see the invitation suite we choose, there's no need to hold your breath. Check out this smattering of letterpress lovelies right now: