Readers

Do you have a literary tattoo? Take a photograph of your book-focused ink and enter the LitReactor Literary Tattoo Showdown.

Check it out: “In one week, we’re going to pick two winners–one male, one female. Tattoos will be judged on creativity, artistry, and general awesomeness … Create a LitReactor account if you don’t have one. Then, in the comments section, post a link to your tattoo, or upload a photo (you can’t directly upload a photo to the site; it needs to be hosted elsewhere, like Flickr). Show your face or don’t, that’s up to you. Explain the piece or don’t, also up to you.”

The two winners will receive a free mug, eBook and a six month LitReactor membership.

Encyclopaedia Britannica has decided to stop publishing its print edition after 244 years. The digital edition will continue, and the publisher is offering free access to the subscription service for the next week.

Saddened, surprised or not surprised, GalleyCat readers shared their favorite encyclopedia memories yesterday. What do you remember about reading those sturdy hardcover reference tools as a kid?

Christina Dudley ‏ fondly remembered the day she was “reading in a vintage World Book Encyclopedia that ‘no one knows if there is life on Mars.’” Joan Weiner Levin ‏ recalled: “Anyone remember the ‘frog’ entry in World Book Encyclopedia? Acetate overlays showed frog’s insides.”

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Wish you could tune out the world while reading your favorite book? The free “Go Away, I’m Reading” book covers will send a blunt message, customized for your book.

Erin Bowman, Sarah Enni and Traci Neithercott created the simple but inspiring dust jackets pictured above–what cover will you pick?

They have built “Climbing Mount Doom” for fans of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy,  “In Narnia BRB” for readers of C. S. Lewis‘ The Chronicles of Narnia, “At Hogwarts” for aficionados of J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series, “In Forks, Send Help” for fans of Stephenie Meyer‘s Twilight series and finally, “In the Arena, BRB” for readers of Suzanne Collins‘ Hunger Games series.

Here’s more about printing: “These covers will fit the traditionally-sized YA book. Take the PDFs to your local FedEx or Staples and get them printed on tabloid paper (11x17in). We suggest a matte cardstock (you could print on something glossy, but sometimes that causes light glares at certain angles and you want people to be able to read that Go Away message without incident). Choose a weight between 60-80lb for the paper. Anything lighter and the page will be too thin, anything heavier and folding it around your book will be difficult.”

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Writer and artist Brian Joseph Davis has launched The Composites, a Tumblr site with an ingenious premise: he posts computer-generated sketches of book characters.

Check it out: “Images created using law enforcement composite sketch software and descriptions of literary characters. All interesting suggestions considered.”

Above, we’ve embedded a computer-generated sketch of Tom Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. (Via Maud Newton)

Want to help give away one million books? On April 23rd, UK and US readers will join the second annual World Book Night–sharing one million free books with other people.

Follow this link to participate as a book giver. Booksellers and librarians can also join the evening of literary activism.

Check it out: World Book Night 2012 will be held on April 23 – in the US and the UK – and we’re looking for 50,000 volunteer book givers to hand out 20 copies each – for a total of 1 million free special World Book Night paperbacks! In order to be a book giver you must be: Aged 16 or over and a resident of the United States. Able to pick up 20 copies of your book from your local bookshop or library. Committed to giving your books away on World Book Night to non or light readers.” (Via Edward Champion)

Over at Reddit, one user asked an excellent Friday question: What’s the best book you’ve read in a single day? Add your favorite one day book in the comments section or share it on Twitter with the #1DayBook hashtag.

So far, the question has generated hundreds of responses. Below, we’ve collected some of our favorites. This GalleyCat editor will never forget reading South of the Border, West of the Sun in one heady day in college.

Check it out: “What’s the best/most unusual/longest/most enthralling book you’ve read in a day? DON’T SAY HARRY POTTER; we’ve all done that. Mine? The Third Policeman. I read it in a trance in the Dublin airport when a blizzard was keeping me from getting home. It’s a surrealist horror story.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald recently invited its readers to help write a “crowdsourced” novel, The Necklace.

As the story was unveiled online, readers could submit the next chapter of the book. The newspaper editors chose chapters to include in the book. Follow this link to read The Necklace in its entirety.

The final book contained nine chapters written by ten different authors.  The first section came out in December. Follow this link to watch a video with more details about the book.

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How many books will read this year?

Over at Goodreads, you can monitor your reading goals at the 2012 Reading Challenge. So far, more than 76,500 readers have pledged to read nearly five million books this year–recording their progress at Goodreads.

Follow this link to join the free 2012 Reading Challenge. Simply log in and answer the question: “I will read ____ books this year.”

Happy holidays! GalleyCat readers around the world have been building Book Christmas Trees all month.

After we shared a photo of a Book Christmas Tree, many of our readers started building their own. We’ve collected 21 trees in our holiday slideshow (embedded above)–a virtual Book Christmas Tree Farm.

Building a tree of books is a simple but powerful way to show your support for print books and bookstores in this digital age. If you build your own, be sure to email GalleyCat a photograph.

As the holiday season nears, one Reddit user posted this inspiring picture of a Book Christmas Tree. UPDATE: Explore our growing Book Christmas Tree Farm for inspiring photographs of other holiday book trees.

The Book Christmas Tree has already earned thousands of views. It is a simple but powerful way to show your support for print books and bookstores in this digital age. If you build your own, be sure to email GalleyCat a photograph.

We only have one question: What book will you put on top of your Book Christmas Tree?