This week's links. Enjoy.
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Kathryn Harrison reviews The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, by Les Standiford. This looks like perfect holiday reading.
Jan Tschichold: A Titan of Typography
An appreciation by Richard Hollis of the great Jan Tschihold, who is probably best known for his postwar refashioning of Penguin paperbacks, with their famous, horizontally banded covers – orange for fiction, green for crime, blue for biography. Via Andrew (thanks!)
Behind the Scenes at Madame Tussauds
Alan Feuer of the New York Times visits the (quite creepy) repair room of Madame Tussauds New York. Be sure to check out the nifty interactive photo.
Ten Amazing Things the Sky Can Do
Spectacular photographs from the book Kaleidoscope Sky by naturalist Tim Herd, who explains how nature creates such amazing effects. Via Discover Magazine.
Bart Prince
Bart Prince is an architect who designs stunning, organically formed modern homes. Amazing work. Via Cindy (thanks!)
Happy Holidays From CAP
CAP Creative put together a fun interactive holiday card/jukebox that features over 25 hours of music and 500 songs — with singing nutcrackers. Includes selections from Billy Idol's Happy Holidays (A Very Special Christmas Album). Via Communication Arts.
Fiction in Translation : The Year's Best
Jacket Copy talks to Chad Post, editor of the Three Percent blog, about Three Percent's picks of the best translated novels of 2008. Via Polymeme.
Christoph Niemann Loves Coffee
Illustrator extraordinaire Christoph Niemann draws with coffee to illustrate his love of coffee. Awesome. Via Creative Review.
Dining room photo via Purple Area.