THE BOOKLOVER’S ALAMANAC by Robert Brittain...

THE BOOKLOVER’S ALAMANAC by Robert Brittain (HarperPerennial: $14, illustrated). This affectionate anthology of quotations from British and American literature has an entry for each day of the year. Rudyard Kipling published “Mandalay” on June 21, 1890; The Privy Council of England ordered the arrest of Christopher Marlowe on charges of “blasphemy and damnable opinions” on May 18, 1593; and the ban on “Ulysses” was lifted in the United States on Dec. 6, 1933. On Oct. 13, 1786, Ann Seward wrote to the Rev. Mr. Warner to complain that William Cowper’s single-minded fixation on honoring the Deity amounted to a condemnation of the praise accorded human genius. (An accompanying quotation from Cowper’s “The Task” suggests her complaint was justified.) This agreeably silly book offers the reader the chance to tuck a bit of literary trivia into the morning coffee break: “Did you know that . . . “