I'm *sure* there's already fanfic about this.
Huh. Apparently, long-running comic series Archie is about to introduce its first openly gay character. It's sweet that the Archie writers are trying to make their universe more diverse, but ge...
Taming the West
NPR has a great interview up with Stephen Fried, author of the recently-published book Appetite for America, a nonfiction account of the life of entrepreneur Fred Harvey. Harvey created the Harve...
Contest news...
Flat broke, but still in the market for a Mother's Day gift? Check out Bookreporter.com's Mother's Day Contest. In addition to a variety of Mom-inspired reading material, they're also giving awa...
Movie magic
Rumors are rampant that Robert Downey Jr. will be starring in a movie prequel to the Wizard of Oz series. I wonder if Johnny Depp is upset that Downey is now sufficiently clean and sober to provid...
Once more (with pants)
Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe is continuing his march towards Broadway fame. Unlike his role in Equus, we're assuming playing J. Pierrepont Finch in the 2011 production of How to Succeed in...
For serious?
Whoa: the Royal Shakespeare Company has arranged something called Such Tweet Sorrow, a five-week-long event that allows six actors (playing Romeo, Juliet, and four additional characters) to tweet ...
Fun with taxes...
In honor of Tax Day, allow us to point out that you can find copies of Jean Johnson and Scott Bittle's excellent Where Does the Money Go? for as little as $5.99 online.
Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Kate Brown
Amulet Books clearly worked hard on their Manga Shakespeare books. The series is edited by a “leading Shakespeare scholar” and evaluated by an educational editor and an advisory group of teachers...
Dark times
There was an interesting article in the Seattle Times (via the Tri-City Herald) a few days ago about a potential censorship case in the Richland School District. A 10th grade Honors language-arts...
The Scarlet T-Shirt
The L.A. Times recently posted an article about literary-themed t-shirts. I particularly liked the style of and idea behind these baseball-style shirts... but I wish they'd chosen better characte...
The Reckoning, by Kelley Armstrong
Kelley Armstrong is one of those authors whose work I rarely think about unless one of her books is right in front of me. I like her novels, but they just don't stick in my brain—at least, they h...
National Library Week
April 11th through the 17th is National Library Week, and public libraries nationwide will be celebrating with special events. This year's theme is "Communities Thrive @ Your Library", so if it's...
Let them read read Pat the Bunny.
After years of finding Gwyneth Paltrow unbearably full of herself, I'm learning to appreciate her. I still think she's insane, but insane in a fun way, you know? But while reading her GOOP newsl...
Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir, by Jennifer Mascia
When Jennifer Mascia was five years old, her father was taken away by the FBI. It was the first sign that there was something different about her family—a difference that Mascia only dimly unders...
Return of the Tiffany
AWESOME. There's a release date up for the next Tiffany Aching novel: I Shall Wear Midnight is coming out on September 28th. We will be there with bells on.We want Terry Pratchett to focus on hi...
Out and about
If any of our beloved readers are going to be within traveling distance of Olympia, WA on April 23rd and 24th, make sure to check out the Olympia Arts Walk. Not only is it a consistently awesome ...
They Never Came Back, by Caroline Cooney
Caroline Cooney has never quite achieved household-name status, but she's made a successful career out of writing suspense novels for young readers. Her latest effort is They Never Came Back, a f...
Poetry Speaks Who I Am, edited by Elise Paschen
Poetry Speaks Who I Am is the latest anthology to come from Sourcebooks' Poetry Speaks line, and the first—perhaps only?—poetry collection aimed specifically at middle-school-age readers. This ...
Iron Man 2 cometh
Click here if you're interested in seeing a 2-minute-long clip from the upcoming Iron Man 2 movie. (Personally, I find it funnier if you picture Bill Gates standing in for the Tony Stark characte...
Randomness
Huh. Apparently, there's an award given out each year for the oddest book title, and this year's winner is...Who knew? But now I kind of want to read it.
Get well soon, Ms. Jones
We are very sorry to hear that Wordcandy favorite (and Howl's Moving Castle author) Diana Wynne Jones is suffering from cancer, and is currently undergoing both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Fan...
Little grotesques
Whoa. Speaking of questionable cover art, how did I miss this? It came out in 2007!Normally I'm a huge fan of Penguin's Graphic Classics editions, but I don't know about this sucker. It's certa...
Reduce, re-use, etc.
Um. I'm all for recycling, but doesn't this C.S. Lewis cover (released in 2009) strike anyone else as kinda weird?Of course, HarperCollins was also responsible for these monstrosities, so maybe t...
Tell Me Lies and Crazy For You, by Jennifer Crusie
Even on her warmest, fuzziest day, Jennifer Crusie doesn't go for the hearts-and-flowers approach to romance writing. Her books are funny and sharp-tongued and sexy, and even her sweetest titles—...
Smell like a superhero
The fine people at BellaSugar inform me that Diesel is planning to launch a limited-edition, Ironman-inspired version of its "Only the Brave" fragrance. The scent will remain the same--a blend of...
Azumanga Daioh: Omnibus, by Kiyohiko Azuma
I have mixed feelings about the recent omnibus edition of Yotsuba&!'s Kiyohiko Azuma's Azumanga Daioh. I'm all for anything that exposes this wonderful series to a wider audience, but Yen Press's...
Sorry, Canada!
I ran across an interesting article about the difference between American and Canadian book prices. Canadians pay approximately 30% more per book, despite the fact that the Canadian and American ...