Link Love (and I Need Your Opinions!)

TGIF, amirite? I feel like this week's been an exhausting one, and I know there's a lot more to be done before I get the chance to chill out at all. Here's to getting some good internet reading in before you start onto your novel for the weekend!

I love TED Talks, and I love Jane Austen, and I love the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Really, the question is why I didn't find this "What Jane Austen Can Tell Us About Our Internet Selves" talk immediately after it came out.

Speaking of TED Talks, why not have a list of book recommendations from TED Talk leaders and attendees?

And speaking of Jane Austen, who doesn't love a new riff on an old classic? Here's a flowchart of Austenian-inspired picks to beef up your beach reading bag.

I let out a shriek after I saw this Buzzfeed post come through my Facebook feed... I remember the gilded edges of the pages and the satin ribbons that could hold your place in each edition of the Royal Diaries series, and this selection of Books Every Royal Diaries Fan Needs to Read are all checking in to my TBR list.

Andrew DeGraff has been an illustrator I've followed on Tumblr for a while, but now, he's got a book! Plotted: A Literary Atlas, got a write-up from Buzzfeed earlier this week.

I've been thinking quite a bit about the characteristics of a good scifi read after finishing Ready Player One, and this article, reflecting the transformative effects of gay heroes in science fiction, and written by a gay SciFi author, gives me a lot of hope for the future.

And the OFFICIAL GOOSEBUMPS TRAILER IS HERE! It kind of makes me want to revisit a few favorites sometime this summer, you know?

Blog Birthday Shenanigans

So, my very creative and bookish friends, I need your help! My Fifth Blogversary is coming up on the 24th of this month, and I think a momentous occasion like that is just too big to NOT be celebrated!

I have a couple of ideas on how to ring it in - ranging every which way from breaking my 2015 Resolution at one of my favorite bookstores in Seattle, hosting a book swap party with friends, or splurging on a couple cute bookish presents on Etsy for myself - but I wanted to hear from y'all first: What do you think is the best bookish way to celebrate a blog's birthday?

Let me know, in the comments below... and have an awesome weekend!