Blog Articles
Etymythologies are etymologies that are not factually true but remain popular nonetheless. "[They're] like family anecdotes," writes Ben MacIntyre for the Times. "They may not literally be true;… continue reading Etymythologies
By written by Communications Office November 16, 2007
This Saturday , November 17 , the Free Library's Print and Picture Collection, together with the Philadelphia Center for the Book , will present Book, Paper, Scissors , an artist's book fair. (If… continue reading Book, Paper, Scissors
By written by Communications Office November 14, 2007
According to Google , "Revision is a critical piece of the writing process." Indeed. "Now, Google Docs has partnered with Weekly Reader’s Writing for Teens magazine to help you teach it in a… continue reading Weekly Reader Facilitates the Googlification of America?
By written by Communications Office November 9, 2007 1
Thankless too for peace, (Peace long preserved by fleets and perilous seas) Secure from actual warfare, we have loved To swell the war-whoop, passionate for war! from "Fears in Solitude"… continue reading This Means War . . . Poetry
By written by Administrator November 7, 2007
In a recently published interview with Bookslut , Shalom Auslander is asked if writing has stopped being a catharsis for him--if the publication of his new memoir, Foreskin's Lament , signals an… continue reading Shalom Auslander Thought It Would Be More Cathartic
By written by Communications Office November 5, 2007
"... [There's] nothing quite like a book-about-a-blog-about-a-book ," writes Peter Stothard, former Times editor and current editor of the Times Literary Supplement , in his blog for Times Online .… continue reading Books About Blogs About Books About Blogs . . .
By written by Communications Office November 2, 2007
OK, they're not really spooky; but it's Halloween, and the Free Library is debuting its first podcast series , currently featuring recordings of some memorable author events at the Central Library… continue reading Free Library Presents Spooky Author Podcasts
By written by Communications Office October 31, 2007
AbeBooks, "the world's largest online marketplace for new, used, rare and out-of-print books" recently polled its users, asking them to name the "scariest character in literature." The most popular… continue reading Dracula Scary, Enigmatic Dictator Scarier
By written by Communications Office October 29, 2007
And it will most likely continue to rain through the better part of tomorrow, so why not curl up with a book? Edmund White has some suggestions--as does Cynthia Ozick , and John Updike , too. Or… continue reading It's Raining in Philadelphia
By written by Communications Office October 26, 2007
In his new book, The Conscience of a Liberal , Paul Krugman writes: “When [George W.] Bush moved into the White House, movement conservatism finally found itself in control of all the levers… continue reading To the Left, To the Left
By written by Communications Office October 24, 2007 1
This past Friday morning, at Carnegie Hall, J.K. Rowling announced to an audience of 1,600 students that she " always thought of Dumbledore as gay ," at which point those in attendance reportedly… continue reading Extra-Textual Outing of Fictional Character Makes International Headlines
By written by Communications Office October 22, 2007
This past Saturday the University of Pennsylvania's Arthur Ross Gallery opened its new show, Treasured Pages: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts from the Free Library of Philadelphia , which… continue reading Treasured Pages, Medieval Times
By written by Communications Office October 18, 2007
This morning Mayor John F. Street officially kicked off the 2008 One Book, One Philadelphia reading period with the announcement of this year’s One Book featured reading selection.… continue reading One Book, One Philadelphia Picks Dave Eggers' What Is the What for 2008
By written by Communications Office October 17, 2007
The hugely popular web-based, free content encyclopedia project Wikipedia currently features more than two million English-language articles. According to the site, “[Every] day hundreds of… continue reading Spinning Wikipedia
By written by Communications Office October 15, 2007 1
Yesterday Horace Engdahl, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy , announced that Doris Lessing is the recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. Ms. Lessing's reaction to the news was… continue reading Congratulations, Ms. Lessing
By written by Communications Office October 12, 2007
The phrase “ Heavens to Murgatroyd! ” predates this character and may have found its way to 1960s American television by way of Gilbert and Sullivan. Spend hours exploring the origins… continue reading Heavens to Murgatroyd!
By written by Communications Office October 11, 2007 1
Winner of the 1996 National Book Award for fiction for her story collection Ship Fever , Andrea Barrett will be appearing at the Central Library’s Montgomery Auditorium tomorrow, Thursday ,… continue reading Take Five with . . . Andrea Barrett
By written by Administrator October 10, 2007
A copy of the Magna Carta that dates from 1297--and which, incidentally, paid a lengthy visit to Philadelphia 20 years ago--will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in December. Purchased by… continue reading Magna Carta for Sale in December, Just in Time for the Holidays
By written by Communications Office October 5, 2007
All you need is a light source 10 billion times brighter than the sun . continue reading Hands-Free Dead Sea Scrolls
By written by Communications Office October 3, 2007
The Guardian periodically takes readers inside Writers’ rooms with pieces contributed by renowned authors about the spaces in which they write. From this series one may learn, among other… continue reading Mature Authors from the UK Eschew Computers
By written by Communications Office October 2, 2007