Online Magnetic Poetry

Today we have another great recommendation from our long-time reader and occasional west-coast correspondent, Kate F.

This is one of those things that falls under the category simple but addictive (we should probably have a tag for that huh?). Magnetic poetry is awesome, so why not do it online. And you're not the only one moving things around: you don't have your own individual page, so any changes any one else in the world makes will show up on your page too. So maybe you'll start a poem and someone in Korea will finish it. Pretty cool.

Write a Letter to Your Future Self

Sometimes there are moments in life where you feel you've learned an important lesson and you don't want to forget it. Or maybe you just want to remember forever how and who you were at a certain point.

FutureMe.org let's you write an email to yourself and decide when you'd like it delivered. You can set delivery for anytime between tomorrow and the year 2035. Just make sure you still have the same email address in 27 years.

If you choose to make your letter public, a version of it will be posted on the site for anyone to see. It will include your name but not your email address. Be sure to cruise other people's public letters which range from hilarious to sad and touching. Here's a favorite of mine from the former category:

Hello, futureCraig
Dear FutureMe,

It has always been my fantasy to go back in time and kick my own ass. When you do, please, be gentle and nothing below the belt. I'm sure by now you've learned Karate or something and will easily be able to defeat me. Or will you...

PS. I hope you are continuing to kick a significant amount off ass. Please do not suck.

--PastCraig
(written Thu Nov 20, 2003, sent Sun Nov 20, 2005)

Read at Work Without Your Boss Finding Out

Reading? Why no sir, I'm hard at work on this Power Point, as you can see.

Read at Work let's you do just that, while appearing to be actually doing your job.                                                  

Update: Seems there's a little confusion on how this works. You just have to let it load (takes a couple minutes. It'll look like there's just a broken image link but give it a second) and then click on NZ Book Council Guest user icon. Then double click any of the folders on the left to find reading material. There are some fun goodies hiding in other places as well...

Don't Be Such a Wimp!

Read about one instead.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the sweet, and at times very funny, fictional journal of (the also fictional) Gregory Hefley, a 7th grader. The diary was created by Jeff Kinney and is now being published by Scholastic as a 3-part series. Complete with doodles and cartoons, this online journal is so long Web Diversions hasn't gotten to the end yet (so no spoilers in the comments!). Enjoy!

Jog your book memory

What was that book with that woman, I think maybe in China? And she like kills a guy or something? Maybe there are some shoes involved?

Now that you've gotten appropriately addicted to goodreads.com, you've probably come across that annoying problem: what the hell was the title of that book you read 4 years ago about that kid who lives with that badger for awhile and like, learns to speak badger or something, but not in a Disney way, and maybe it was a true story?

Well fret no more, dear reader. Help is here in the form of the aptly named WhatsThatBook. This site allows you to submit extremely vague descriptions to their apparently psychic admins, who in turn will tell you what the title is and who wrote it. 

To give you some example of their genius, let me show you an inquiry I sent them recently: 

Looking for a book about a guy living and working in some sort of complex with a lot of other people, as a sort of indentured servant to a crazy rich guy who is ill and constantly on drugs. Maybe the people in the complex are also on drugs or brainwashed and don't know why they work for the rich fat man? any ideas?"

And from that sorry description I got a title (Louse) author (David Grand), a publishing date, Amazon link, and a synopsis 4 times as long as this Web Diversions post. It's like magic!

Thems Good Readins!

Move over Myspace: there's a new networking site in town and the nerds are finally taking over.

Goodreads.com is deceptively addictive. You can use it to keep track of all the books you've read, rate books, and write reviews.  Then you can s

ee what your friends are reading, their top rated books, and their reviews. It's a great way to get reading ideas as well as be reminded of that weird novel you read 3 years ago and really liked. 

You can also customize your "shelves", which is how your book lists are maintained. It starts you off with the standard shelves of "read", "currently reading", and "to read". You can add as many custom shelves as you want, like "graphic novels", "books I read in 1999", or "books that remind me of Sally" (because I know you still think about her).

You can also browse strangers and, even better,  find people in your area who actually read, which is perfect for starting that book club you've been dreaming about. 

From their press release: Goodreads' founder, Otis Chandler, says, "Somehow, reading books seems to have gotten a bad rap. People are working too hard to read and watching TV instead. But every once in awhile you run into a friend who tells you about this 'great new book I'm reading.' And suddenly you're very excited to try it. That's the kind of excitement that Goodreads is all about.

Also, something to be charmed by, when you send Goodreads a gushy email telling them how much you love the site, Otis himself actually writes you back. That's like calling up Apple customer service and getting Steve Jobs on the line. Thanks Otis!

Spend the Day With Salinger

If you're feeling tired of all those lousy phonies, maybe you should take a little time out with J. D. Salinger. 

We've all heard the speculation that the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye has stacks and stacks of short stories and novels stashed away in some vault, and maybe when he dies we'll finally get to see them. And though you feel bad, wanting the old kook to die, you can't help but be a little impatient. 

Because Salinger is one of those authors that you can get rabid about: after Catcher you devour Nine Stories and then all the Glass family stories, and then you find yourself thinking "is that it?" He's sort of the literary equivalent of Neutral Milk Hotel in that way. "What do you mean there aren't anymore albums?"

Well now, just like the hours you've spent on Limewire, downloading every scratchy, 45 second live track anyone ever got on their mini disc recorder at a Neutral Milk Hotel show, you actually can get your hands on just a little more Salinger without wishing death on the poor guy. 

The uncollected writings of J.D. can now be read on freeweb. It includes what it calls the "under-published" stories, magazine publications from 1940 - 1948. It also has the illusive Hapworth 16, 1924, a continuation of the Glass family stories in the form of a letter home from the young Seymour Glass while he's away at summer camp. You may remember in 2000, when Salinger was planning to publish it. You could even sign up in advance to buy a copy on Amazon. But Salinger backed out at the last minute. 

Make sure to check out "Slight Rebellion off Madison", which is an early short story that later became one of the middle chapters of Catcher in the Rye, "I'm Crazy", which was later to become the beginning of Catcher . And in "The Last Day of the Last Furlough", Holden's brother D.B. (at this point named Vincent) reveals some interesting information about Holden after the time period of Catcher. 

So put on your hunting caps, grab your swiss cheese sandwiches, and turn off That's a Wise Child, and get reading!