In honor of legendary author Doris Lessing, who died on November 17 at the age of 94, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a handful of my favorite literary bluestockings.

Photo of Doris Lessing by Elke Wetzig via Wikimedia Commons

I did say “bluestockings.”

Would Lessing be offended?

I think not.

While it almost sounds like a derogatory term (think: “blue hair”), bluestocking is actually an old English term that describes a “woman with considerable scholarly, literary, or intellectual ability or interest.”

The word appears to have originated in the 18th century, when “bluestocking” referred to worsted wool stockings worn as informal attire (in contrast to the black silk stockings that were fashionable at the time) by a specific group of intellectual women led by Elizabeth Montagu, a British social reformer, patron of the arts, literary critic, and writer.

Portrait of Elizabeth Montagu-née Robinson, artist unknown, via Wikipedia

Here are a few lovely literary bluestockings who preceded Doris Lessing.

Charlotte Brontë:

Portrait of Charlotte Brontë, 1873, by Evert A. Duyckinck (based on a drawing by George Richmond), via Wikimedia Commons

Virginia Woolf:

Portrait of Virginia Woolf, photographer unknown, via Wikimedia Commons

Beatrix Potter:

Photo of Beatrix Potter and her dog Kep, 1913, reportedly by father Rupert Potter, via Wikimedia Commons

Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Portrait of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Engraving September, 1859, by Macaire Havre, engraving by T. O. Barlow, via Wikimedia Commons

Baroness Karen Blixen (with her brother, engineer Thomas Dinesen):

Baroness Karen Blixen and her brother, engineer Thomas Dinesen, on the baroness’s African farm, 1920s, by Gottlieb Foto, via Wikimedia Commons

I’m not a huge television fan, but occasionally something so engaging comes across the screen that there’s nothing I’d rather do than snuggle up and let myself get swept away to another landscape, another time, another story.

Know what I mean?

For me, there’s no better time to get lost in a good movie than a chilly winter’s night over a holiday weekend.

So, let me share with you my recommendation for your next “me-time” movie night:

Sweet Land.

This is not a husband’s movie (read: action), or a kid’s movie (read: animation), although some of each would certainly enjoy it. At its heart, Sweet Land is a genuine woman’s movie, and a farmgirl’s movie at that.

Some of you may have seen this quiet, unsung gem (it was released in 2007 with plenty of critical acclaim, but not a lot of promotion). Those of you who haven’t are in for a treat. The story is simple, rooted in the American aftermath of World War II, but based on a short story by Will Weaver.

What counts most in this movie is its engaging cast of characters …

A gutsy German mail-order bride named Inge lands on the vast plains of Minnesota, where she is to marry Olaf, a young Norwegian immigrant farmer of few words. Forging a marriage under these conditions would have been challenging enough, but the task becomes even more complicated when the local minister forbids the marriage on the basis of Inge’s nationality (anti-German sentiment was still raging in the wake of the war), and the town banker is determined to foreclose on a neighboring friend’s farm.

I won’t say more, lest I give too much away, but I will tell you that friendship, happiness, laughter, and love are as plentiful as wheat in the fields. And the lovely Elizabeth Reaser’s portrayal of Inge adds sass and spice to a seemingly bleak northern town populated by tight-laced settlers.

Here’s the Sweet Land movie trailer for a sneak peek:

New York Times, October 26, 2013:

“The humble board book, with its cardboard-thick pages, gently rounded corners and simple concepts for babies, was once designed to be chewed as much as read. But today’s babies are treated to board books that are miniature works of literary art. Booksellers say that parents are flocking to these books.”

Classics like Sherlock Holmes, Anna Karenina,

and Pride & Prejudice

are the brainchild of non-other than my own editor, Suzanne Gibbs Taylor, creative director at Gibbs Smith, a small publisher in Salt Lake City. The Times (front page!!!!) story went on to bring us even better news! “While the publishing industry is still scraping through the digital revolution, children’s books have remained relatively untouched. Most parents are sticking to print for their young children even when there are e-book versions or apps available, and videos like the once ubiquitous “Baby Einstein,” founded in 1997 as a fast-track to infant genius, have fallen out of fashion.” I’d say Suzanne ranks the genius category. I couldn’t be happier for her!

And if that doesn’t impress you, Suzanne’s store in Layton, Utah just might:

“One chick’s clutter
is another chick’s cluck.”

Or Suzanne’s adorable red glamper:

With a tag line that reads: To Enrich and Inspire Mankind, Gibbs Smith Publishing is in fact, doing just that, starting with the teething set.

Picture a library without card catalogs, shelves, reading chairs, or …

books?

Photo by Matl, CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What’s left to be called a “library”?

Denizens of the digital age will assure you that it’s all still there, only now it’s electronic.

(Of course, you’ll just have to imagine the academic ambience.)

Photo by Dr. Marcus Gossler, GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The United States’ first futuristic facility of this kind recently opened to the public in Bexar County, Texas.

Photo by Xataka, CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It’s called the BiblioTech library, and it boasts about 10,000 free e-books, as well as audio books and e-readers. You can use your own reader, too, if you have the 3M Cloud Library app, which can be linked to your library card.

Yup, even a digital library still uses cards.

Lest you wonder if this is all just a figment of a cyber-savvy librarian’s fancy, the BiblioTech

(a play on “bibliothèque,” the French word for library)

actually does have a physical location, complete with 48 computer stations and meeting spaces (there are tables and chairs!).

Plus, patrons can still bring their kids for a real, live story time and take computer classes to catch up with the rapidly changing times.

Are you ready for a “virtual library” in your neck of the woods?

I received an e-mail from Karen Pennebaker this week. Turns out, we share an affinity for the letter ‘G’ that for Karen, goes back 60 years.

When Pig Latin was the “thing,” Karen and her childhood friend came up with their own secret language that only they knew—inspired by that wondrous little letter that we’ve all come to love.

Waldorf chalkboard drawing introducing the alphabet in 1st grade. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; Hgilbert

“When the other kids in school would start speaking Pig Latin, we would talk to each other in Gigickilan, and it drove them nuts because we could understand THEIR language and they didn’t have a clue as to what we were saying. Camping, to us, would have been “gamping” rather than “glamping” but I know how you got the “glamp” part … glamorous camping sounds like the best kind.”

“Gi gent go ge gail gox gand gound ga getter grom goo.” (I went to the mail box and found a letter from you.)

And here’s my splash page, an ode to ‘G.’

Thanks for sharing, Karen!! Gi gove git!

Oooh la la …

Art, literature, and some of my favorite female figures from cherished fiction?

Pinch me!

I must be dreaming.

I’ve just enjoyed a tantalizing glimpse into a new book that will be released on August 27.

Look …

http://www.samanthahahn.com/blog/2013/05/29/well-read-women-portraits-of-fictions-most-beloved-heroines-available-for-pre-order/

“A treasure of a gift for the well-read woman, this collection brings together 50 stirring portraits, in watercolor and in word, of literature’s most well-read female characters. Anna Karenina, Clarissa Dalloway, Daisy Buchanan …”

And, yes—Jane Eyre!

“Each seems to live on the page through celebrated artist Samantha Hahn’s evocative portraits and hand-lettered quotations, with the pairing of art and text capturing all the spirit of the character as she was originally written,” extols the book’s description.

Are you drooling?

Me. Too.

As if I wasn’t hooked already, I hear that the book will have a silkscreened cloth spine, debossed cover, and “pages that turn with the tactile satisfaction of watercolor paper.”

Pardon me while I swoon.

I’m a sucker for a book with tactile appeal, and I cannot wait to get my hands on this one.

Tell me—which characters are you hoping to see?

Holly Golightly; Photo courtesy of Samantha Hahn; http://www.flickr.com/photos/samanthahahn/8878981376/in/photostream/