boox

[lucilleverneuil]

His heart's beating so hard I can actually hear it. I wanted to scare him? I scared him. Now why should that scare me?

And yes, all of a sudden she was scared. It was like a yellow thread weaving in and out of the bright red overblanket of her rage.

Lisey's Story -- Stephen King

[lucilleverneuil]

In a way, listening to Dr Alberness had been like looking at those old memories hidden away in the study book-snake. She didn't know if Alberness's entire recollections constituted one of Scott's 'stations of the bool' - she suspected not - but she knew they raised a dry yet compelling hurt in her. Was that what remained of grief after two years? That hard and ashy sadness?

Lisey's Story -- Stephen King

[lucilleverneuil]

Ralph arrived home at quarter to eleven on that Saturday night. He hit the garage door opener, drove inside, then hit it again. The door rattled obediently back down on its tracks, at least one thing in the world that remained sane and normal. Push Button A and, assuming Battery Compartment B is loaded with relatively fresh Duracells, Garage Door C opens and closes.

The Outsider — Stephen King

[beeghosts]

Illustration by James Montgomery Flagg for Thank You, Jeeves!, serialised in Cosmopolitan, January 1934.

[brotheralyosha]

I am delighted to inform you all that yesterday I discovered that my local bookstore had a 1977 first edition copy of Sunset at Blandings, with a beautiful cover illustration and a map of Blandings Castle.

[traveltherightroad]

Too often, when a man of Monty Bodkin’s mental powers is plunged in thought, nothing happens at all. The machinery just whirs for a while, and that is the end of it. But on the present occasion this was not so. Love is the great driving force, and now it was as if Gertrude Butterwick had her dainty foot on the accelerator of his brain, whacking it up to unprecedented m.p.h. --P.G. Wodehouse, Heavy Weather

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Auntie Mame | Author: Patrick Dennis | Publisher: Broadway Books (2001)

[uwmspeccoll]

✨💞Fairytale Friday💞✨

The Long Road to Ever After

Fairy tales have always understood something we sometimes forget, that love is rarely simple, often inconvenient, occasionally bewildering, and most always worth crossing impossible distances for.

This week, we’re stepping into East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North, illustrated by Kay Nielsen and published by Garden City Publishing Company around 1932. The volume draws from the Norwegian folk tale collections of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885), whose work helped preserve and share Scandinavian storytelling traditions during the 19th century. Much like the Brothers Grimm in Germany, Asbjørnsen gathered stories passed down through generations, capturing tales filled with enchantment, peril, and devotion tested by distance.

The illustrations by Danish artist Kay Nielsen (1886-1957) elevate the story into something dreamlike and theatrical. Nielsen was one of the great illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration and later contributed concept art to Disney’s Fantasia. His work is known for its elongated figures, intricate decorative detail, and icy, luminous color palettes that feel perfectly suited to northern folklore. His imagery turns the tale into a visual tapestry of moonlit snowfields, shadowed forests, and castles that seem to hover somewhere between dream and memory. 

At the heart of the title tale is a romance shaped by resilience. The heroine’s journey is neither easy nor certain; she must trust, persevere, and find her way forward even when the path feels impossibly distant. It is a story that reminds us that love is not only about enchantment, but about bravery, renewal, and the remarkable ways the heart can find its way back to joy. 

This Valentine’s season, we’re celebrating a fairy tale that reminds us that love stories are rarely simple, but they can be extraordinary.

-Melissa (forever grateful for love stories that arrive exactly when they’re meant to, true fairytale timing), Distinctive Collections Library Assistant

-View more Fairytale Friday posts

-View more from our Historical Curriculum Collection

[the1920sinpictures]

1925 Mr. Louis Cohen outside his "Argosy Bookstore", located at 4th Avenue and Lafayette Street. It is the oldest independent bookstore in New York City, now located at 114 East 59th Street. From New York City History and Memories, FB.

[ourfriendsthejays]

Books for November: PG Wodehouse. I can also recommend The Wodehouse Society (US) at wodehouse.org and The PG Wodehouse Society (UK) at pgwodehousesociety.org.uk.

Content warning, particularly for "Thank You, Jeeves," for period-typical racism that was wrong then and is wrong now.

[thisgreatdamnednight]

1921 Tu Vas Trop Vite, Maman advertisement for Jeanne Lanvin tailored ensemble and child’s dress by Pierre Brissaud

[lucilleverneuil]

Mart Crowley -- The Boys in the Band (1968)

[lucilleverneuil]

Mart Crowley -- The Boys in the Band (premiered 1968)

[lucilleverneuil]

[DONALD looks up to see MICHAEL, raises a crab claw toward him]

DONALD: To your health.

MICHAEL: Up yours.

DONALD: Up my health?

Mart Crowley -- The Boys in the Band (premiered 1968)

[lucilleverneuil]

Mart Crowley -- The Boys in the Band (1968)

[lucilleverneuil]

MICHAEL: You had to remind me. If there's one thing I'm not ready for, it's five screaming queens singing Happy Birthday.

DONALD: Who's coming?

MICHAEL: They're really all Harold's friends. It's his birthday and I want everything to be just the way he'd want it. I don't want to have to listen to him kvetch[...] I think you know everybody anyway— they're the same old tired fairies you've seen around since the day one. Actually, there'll be seven, counting Harold and you and me.

DONALD: Are you calling me a screaming queen or a tired fairy?

MICHAEL: Oh, I beg your pardon-six tired screaming fairy queens and one anxious queer.

Mart Crowley -- The Boys in the Band (premiered 1968)

[lucilleverneuil]

MICHAEL: And, also for you... something called "Control." Notice nowhere is it called hair spray—just simply "Control." And the words "For Men" are written about thirty-seven times all over the goddamn can!

DONALD: It's called Butch Assurance.

MICHAEL: Well, it's still hair spray—no matter if they call it "Balls"!

Mart Crowley -- The Boys in the Band (premiered 1968)