Feeling Reckless?

Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart books, has a new kids’ novel coming out tomorrow!

Order your copy now from our website or by calling our Brentwood store (310.576.9960) and get two free tickets to Funke’s Get Reckless Tour, which will be stopping at the Brentwood Theater on September 18th at 6:30 p.m. This theatrical storytelling event promises to be a real thrill–and much safer than skydiving or base jumping, too.

The Eye of the Holder

This month at Diesel, we’re celebrating Beautiful Books. Books not just as things you can read, but as glorious objects—for example, ones that fit in the palm of your hand, a style John Evans pays tribute to:

I’ve always loved the intimacy of smaller format books, that fit in the hand, in the pocket, in the eye. Books are ultimately a subtle magic composed of ink, paper, and light. Whether reading Emerson’s essays in a used compact edition published by Collins–the original Collins, from Glasgow, Scotland–or the first reading of Whitman‘s Leaves of Grass in an equivalent American publisher’s seductive and handy edition, I’ve been hooked on this delicate crafting of books for the itinerant traveler.

Read the rest of his appreciation here, and check out the videos we’ll be adding throughout the month, such as Cheryl‘s exploration of texture:

Think of the Children!

Kids these days! Reading for 52,710,368 minutes and beating the previous record in Scholastic’s Summer Challenge! It warms the cockles of our poor, tired hearts.

Also putting a smile on our faces today: this video from the Melbourne Writers Festival—

3 Quick Questions With Mary McNamara

TV critic Mary McNamara‘s latest show biz-set mystery is The Starlet. Check out the star-studded cast in her answers to our quick questions!

Presenting Mary McNamara’s…

Favorite Book
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Favorite Movie
His Girl Friday

Favorite Music
Bruce Springsteen

And considering her profession, we had to ask:
Favorite TV Show
Doctor Who

And speaking of favorite things, watch Cheryl talk up her Small Press Pick, Seagull Press:

Space Oddities

How excited are we to be hosting this lady at our Brentwood store tomorrow?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Mary Roach
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Even more excited than we were when Jon Stewart shaved off that fugly beard! And we were pretty darn excited about that. So come join us to see Mary Roach sign and read from her new book, Packing For Mars, in Brentwood tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Speaking of things we love, see Thomas rave about New Directions as part of our Small Press Celebrations:

Hungry For the Wolf

We’re celebrating our favorite small presses this month–those unusual imprints that bring us unique titles, beautifully presented. Check out John Evans‘ introduction to Graywolf Press–and look for more videos later in the week!

Freak Out

The trailer for the upcoming Freakonomics movie, based on Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner‘s 2005 bestseller, looks, like its source material, to be hilarious and fascinating:

It makes us want to read the book again. And see the movie. But mostly read the book again. (We expect Levitt’s study on the relationship between film adaptations and frantic rereading to be forthcoming.)

Delightfully Fry’d

The third series of the ridiculously brilliant Stephen Fry’s BBC radio show, Fry’s English Delight, became available today for your listening pleasure. The show “explores the highways and byways of the English language,” and today tackles the topic of Qwerty keyboards, like the one we’re illogically typing this post out on.

Here’s an example of what you should not expect the show to go like:

Fry writes wonderful books, too. See what we mean? Ridiculous!

In Space No One Can Hear You Clean

Did you know? America’s astronauts are STINKY.

To learn more fascinating, hilarious, and repulsive facts, check out Mary Roach‘s new book about the space program, Packing for Mars. Roach will also be reading and signing at our Brentwood store August 26th at 7 p.m. So stop by to listen and enjoy a cool, refreshing glass of Tang. We promise to keep our hygiene at a level above NASA’s.

We Are Jane’s Bloodthirsty Excitement

Jane Austen, meet Chuck Palahniuk. Chuck, Jane. We think you two are going to be fast friends!

Or you’re going to kill each other.

Where’s the novelization, Quirk Books?