Last night right before midnight we received the last entry for Pimp My Bookcart 2008. We've got 95 amazing entries, plus a couple of folks who were having trouble submitting the form (we know who you are and we'll take care of you). If you didn't make it in by the deadline, hold on to your photos - I have a feeling this isn't the last time we'll do this.

Now we enter the judging phase. We want to take our time going through the entries this year so we're giving ourselves a few weeks - expect an announcement in mid-November. Meanwhile you can peruse the entries here and decide which ones you think should win!

Huh. Something went really weird with Sunday's strip, not sure what. Investigating now. Please check again in a few hours, at which point it should be up.

Update: Just some weirdness with copying files between computers. Long, boring story. Anyway, it's up.

Our thanks to last week's sponsor, BookExpo America. May 2009 may seem like a long ways off, but if you've got to arrange funding and/or time off work now is the time to start planning.

Hey, go check out Random House, Inc.'s Movie Tie-Ins page. There's a great display of movie trailers side-by-side with the books that inspired them.

I can't help but endorse the notion of putting ukuleles into circulation at a library (thanks @Xandara).

P.S. In case you're wondering how it's going with my ukulele - I'm having a blast and practicing every day. I now know dozens of chords, and if I don't play them perfectly, at least I play them with gusto.

P.P.S. My new UkeTube obsession is the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, who have both mad skillz and a wonderful sense of humor. Here they are playing Orange Blossom Special and some bonus songs.

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of Orson Scott Card and specifically Ender's Game. He recently teamed up with Marvel to produce a comic version, and both Gene and I were really very impressed with the first issue. Now you can read it for free online, courtesy of Tor books Check it out!

Yes we did.

Karen Cutter of the Nesbit School Library created this cool zine (in the shape of an old checkout card inside its pocket) for a workshop last summer and used some of our comics (with permission) inside. One of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Thanks Karen!

We've added a lot of new readers lately, so I'd like to take this chance to tell and/or remind you about some Unshelved features:

• My favorite way to read comics and blogs is by RSS feed, specifically via Google Reader. It means going to one website instead of dozens. Follow this link and follow the directions to get started with Unshelved's RSS feed.
• If you already get our main RSS feed, you may not know that we have a second feed for Drop-In Titles, our service for finding out about books that were released too late to get into catalogs.
• If you can't get enough of my blatherings, you can always follow my Twitter feed, a stream-of-conciousness dump of my brain, combined with witty back-and-forth with fellow Twitterers. It's a good time. Warning: I censor myself substantially less on Twitter.
• And, in case it isn't manifestly obvious, we have a store. Our books and merchandise are not only awesome, they are the way our readers help support us. Have a look around and see if anything appeals.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled comic strip.

Today we feature Whitney Winn, the last of the folks who won an appearance in Unshelved at BEA 2008. And I continue to prove that I'm no caricaturist.

Our thanks to this week's sponsor, Random House, Inc. They've got a Movie Tie-Ins page with a great display of movie trailers side-by-side with the books that inspired them.

One of my cartooning heroes is Art Spiegelman. He's best known for the Pulitzer prize-winning Maus, but he does lighter fare too. Recently he and his wife Françoise Mouly started up Toon Books, which makes comic books for kids. Their newest book is his newest book: Jack and the Box. Have a look-see (requires Adobe Reader).

Gene and I are partway through our last roadtrip of the year. This morning we're working at the new Indianapolis airport, with unlimited access to power, wifi, and Starbucks. So I thought I'd check in.

• Madision's State St. reminded me of Northampton, MA. Are all college towns essentially the same?
• We went to Second City in Chicago and saw their new show, still under construction. Amazing how similar their process is to that Gene and I have been going through with our new talk: improv around a funny idea until you've got it right or let it die.
• Indianapolis' new library is spectacular, an entirely successful fusion of old and new, both beautiful and functional.
• Their new airport isn't bad either.

A big old party is brewing down Florida-way. The Miami Book Fair has been growing by leaps and bounds every year, but this year there's something new: Comix Galaxy, a whole street devoted just to comics, manga, and graphic novels. And along with it, special programming and panels involving such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Brad Meltzer, and Scott McCloud.

And, of course, we'll be there, in our last conference appearance of the year. Gene and I will be signing books, and we'll have a selection of merchandise from our store, at great conference-only prices. We hope you'll come join the party!

Do you live in Miami? Can you help us ship some of our goods back to Seattle? We need help getting some boxes out of the book fair on Sunday. Please email me.

Update: Volunteer found, thanks!

Our thanks to this week's sponsor, Toon Books' Jack and the Box by Art Spiegelman (requires Adobe Reader). Gene had a chance to see Art, a living legend, speak here in Miami and it was a real treat!

Unshelved is brought to you this week by World of Quest, Volume 2. When I brought home the first volume of World of Quest my son Theo grabbed it from me and never returned it. He still reads it through at least once a month. It was made into an animated TV show which I've never seen, but which reportedly strayed a little bit from the original comic. Well author Jason T. Kruse has come up with a sequel which comes out next month, and Theo and I are both looking forward to it!