Friday Links: Judy Blume, Giraffe Butts and Game of Thrones

-Judy Blume did an AMA on Reddit. Best ever. (Reddit)

-I've been in a bit of a Game of Thrones Google binge since it ended this week. In my travels I came across this awesome Hitler reaction vid on the Red Wedding. Spoilers if you haven't read/watched it (YouTube). I also discovered Game of Kittehs, which is ridiculous but made me giggle (Tumblr). Then there's ah-mazing 80s-themed character posters (Society6), along with this 80s-style Jon Snow training sequence that totally needs to happen IRL (YouTube). Finally, a fan who is also a dwarf gives his perspective on the character of Tyrion, and it's brilliant (Reddit).

-The worst from the slush pile - or, what NOT to do in a query. (Tumblr)

-The actress of one of my all-time fave movies, Matilda, reveals her inside knowledge on why child actors go crazy so often. (Cracked)

-One child actor who didn't go too crazy (unless you count his obsession with skeletons and ghosts) is Ryan Gosling, who, speaking of skeletons and ghosts, had one of his earliest roles in the Goosebumps series. Watching it makes me all nostalgic. (Vulture)

-Mean Gurlz is the best Mean Girls parody I've seen in a long time. "You can't twerk with us!" (YouTube)

-I'm obsessed with this cinemagraph blog. Just stunning. (Tumblr)

-One photographer takes the 'Dear Photograph' concept to another level by going to the places old movies/TV shows were filmed and juxtaposing new photos with old shots. Awesome. (Tumblr)

-If you've been living under a rock and haven't yet watched The Greatest Event in Television History, you should probably go do that now. (YouTube)

-Here is a gallery of everything Ron Swanson has eaten on Parks and Recreation. It's a lot of meat. (Vulture)

-ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG new season of Skins is out soon and here is the trailer. Sad that Sid isn't in it while Cassie is, feel pretty meh about Effy, but interested to know what happened to Cook. (YouTube)

-A new show that I'm excited about is The White Queen, based on the series by Philippa Gregory. I haven't read the books but the trailer looks great, so I'll have to read then watch. Max Irons, hello! (YouTube)

-Pomeranians are probably are the key to world peace. Meanwhile, did you know giraffes use their BUTTS as pillows?! If that's not adorable/hilarious enough for you, these gifs should do you in. (BuzzFeed)

Bookish Buys: Roald Dahl Fun

I came across these Roald Dahl mugs the other day and immediately wanted to add them to my collection. Especially these ones:

The Witches

Matilda

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

It made me curious about what other Roald Dahl merch was out there. Look what I found...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory clock from Storytime Clocks

The Fantastic Mr Fox print from Castle Pop

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory magnets from Lilly Bug Boutique

Matilda pencil set from Bouncing Ball Creation

Matilda doll from The Forest Flaw

Notebook from Broken Winged Bird

"Secrets jotter" from Paper Taxi

 

Willy Wonka peg people from Randomly Generated

Print from Karasmle

Print from Owl You Need Is Love

Wonka necklace from Fickle Queen

Wonka bar wrapper and golden ticket from Serendipity Creative

Card from Paper Taxi

Print from The Pressing Pigeon

Top Ten Kick-Ass Heroines

If you haven't already, you need to watch the BAMF Girls Club

1. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy. If you looked up kick-ass in the dictionary, there'd be a picture of Katniss.

2. Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium trilogy. She may be socially inept, but she's intelligent, feisty and sure knows how to get revenge.

3. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Without Hermione, I'm pretty sure Voldemort would still be around... and Harry probably wouldn't be. The boys wouldn't have gotten anywhere without her.

4. Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables series. Oh, Anne-girl. I have a special place in my heart for the little ginger. She belongs on this list purely for the moment she broke her slate over Gilbert Blythe's head - although she's all other kinds of awesome, too.

5. Lizzie Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Lizzie doesn't have to be a zombie slayer to kick butt: she does it classic-style, with her sharp tongue and fine eyes.

6. Josie Alibrandi from Looking for Alibrandi. I love all of Melina Marchetta's heroines, but Josie is special to me because I grew up with her. Sure, she's kinda annoying at times, but I adore Josie for her passion and her ability to fight for what she believes in.

7. Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre. C'mon, the freaking book is named for her. How kick-ass is that? What's even more kick-ass is Jane's self respect: She demands to be treated as an equal, and won't compromise herself or her values for anyone (even the swoony Rochester).

8. Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is everything I wasn't as a kid: tomboyish, brave, unafraid to speak her mind... but I think she's amazeballs. She packs such a big punch (in more ways than one) for someone so small.

9. Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy series. I read this series straight after Twilight, and it's safe to say Rose is the antithesis to Bella Swan. Forget falling for vampires - she stakes them! And, uh, just falls in love with her teacher instead... moving on.

10. Matilda from Matilda. Look at that, another title-worthy character. Matilda is intelligent, brave, cheeky, strong-minded and magical - and her favourite thing in the world is books. What's not to love?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Note-worthy: When I'm Not Reading...

One of my favourite bloggers, Missie at The Unread Reader, invited me to write a guest post for her feature When I'm Not Reading... Check it out to find out some of my non-bookish interests (yes, I have one or two).