Saturday Sharing (My Finds Are Yours)

August is fast drawing to a close and school's about to begin again. To help you through the final "dog days" of summer, today's edition of Saturday Sharing takes a peek at book voyeurism, writers' houses and literary destinations, a site all about The Poetry Business, a new book by artist and writer Jan Richardson, a Web-based mural locator, and Felix Meyer's "35 mm". Stay cool!

✭ Okay book shoppers. Get your e-carts ready. For those of us inclined to buy books, share books, and claim interest in the book-buying and reading habits of others, this new plug-in is apt to satisfy at least a bit of what's politely called book voyeurism. The creation of The Book Depository, an Amazon rival, this tool gives you a live shot of what people all over the world are reading at any one time. Ain't it grand what technology can do, no library card needed?

✭ Have you ever been on a literary pilgrimage, you know the kind, where you tramp to and through writers' houses? I have and now I can indulge the desire as often as I wish, thanks to A.N. Devers, who has created a site dedicated to Writers' Houses. The natural culmination of a childhood obsession with "books, travel, and making connections between a writer's work and place", the site aims to document all writers' houses open to the public anywhere in the world. Devers' more than 30 finds to date, which are grouped by author, state, city, and international locations, include the houses of such well-known writers as Dashiell Hammett, Jack London, O. Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, and Zora Neale Hurston. Noting that the task of identifying and documenting writers' houses "can't be done overnight or without help", Devers welcomes experienced writers and editors to contribute to her blog and field guide. Just remember, though: Writers' Houses is a labor of love. Devers' Contact Page. If you prefer, just follow on Twitter or FaceBook.

If, by chance, you don't find that author's house you're looking for, try Literary Destinations, which is all about "the places that inspire our reading."

✭ Coming October 1: Jan Richardson's new book In the Sanctuary of Women: A Companion for Reflection & Prayer. 

To be published by Upper Room Books and available for pre-order, the book, as described by Richardson, "draws from the often hidden wellsprings of women's experiences and history in the Judeo-Christian tradition." 

Richardson, about whom I last posted in December, writes at The Painted Prayerbook: Word & Image & Faith and The Advent Door. Her Websites are here and here.

✭ At The Poetry Business, you'll find a selection of books, pamphlets, and audio published under the Smith/Doorstop imprint; information about the literary magazine The North; an annual Book and Pamphlet Competition; residential courses in poetry writing; and monthly Writing Days. The site also offers articles, a Poem of the Day, Lunch Poems, and a Classic Poem of the Month. In the audio section are readings by Carol Ann Duffy, Ian McMillan, Simon Armitage, and others.

✭ Locate murals all over the world with this Web-based resource.

✭ Felix Meyer has created this short, "35mm", which is itself about cinema. Can you identify the 35 films he references? 

35mm from Felix Meyer on Vimeo.