That's where all the fun books are.
In a not-particularly-shocking bit of news, Publishers Weekly just posted an article about a new study on so-called "Young Adult" books: according to Bowker Market Research, 55% of buyers of YA books are 18 or older...
Wonder Woman at last?
Well, NBC's attempt at a Wonder Woman TV series didn't work out, but that hasn't daunted the CW. According to Vulture, the CW (along with Warner Bros. and DC Comics) is working on a Wonder Woman origin story, currently called Amazon...
Still stupid
A trailer has been released for director Andrea Arnold's film adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and, while I have no desire to actually watch the movie, even I have to admit that this version looks beautiful...
Bits and pieces, manga edition
I have some manga-related odds and ends to cover, but none of 'em seem quite worthy of their own posts, so I'm settling for a quick and dirty list...
A brilliant notion
Okay, I love this transformation: when Wal-Mart ditched their original store in McAllen, Texas in favor of a larger property, the city transformed the abandoned space into a gorgeously colorful and beautifully designed 123,000-square-foot public library. Speaking as someone who lives in a city (Olympia, WA) that has needed a larger library for, oh, my entire lifetime...
Book-to-movie round up
The fine people at BuzzSugar have put together a helpful guide to the current crop of books being made into movies this fall...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Don't You Wish, by Roxanne St. Claire
Our current Weekly Book Giveaway selection is Roxanne St. Claire's Don't You Wish, which we reviewed here. Our review pretty much boils down to "...meh", but...
Anastasia Forever, by Joy Preble
I rarely participate in blog tours, because I'm so disorganized I break out in a cold sweat at the mere thought of having to meet a specific deadline. And Wordcandy typically only reviews series installments if we've already read all of the earlier books in the series, because we feel like we need to know the story's background in order to give the newest installment a fair shake...
Superheroes in cross-stitch
I'm always impressed by people with handicraft skills, as I was not blessed with A) hand-eye coordination, or B) patience. However, those of you who WERE blessed with the above should totally check out this free cross-stitch pattern from Kitschy Digitals inspired by The Avengers...
Cognitive skills vs. character
There's been a lot of online buzz recently about Paul Tough's new nonfiction book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. You can listen to a NPR interview here...
Hansel and Gretel: now with more leather corsets
The trailer is out for the upcoming Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters movie, and it looks truly, impressively terrible. I'm not sure if it will be terrible in a fun Underworld kind of way, or just straight-up terrible in an embarrassingly hokey Van Helsing kind of way, but let's face it: I'll probably see it regardless...
Best of luck, Ms. Blume
According to People magazine, author Judy Blume has (had?) breast cancer, but underwent a successful mastectomy on July 30th, and won't need chemotherapy. The article goes into some of Blume's health history as well...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Wolf Springs Chronicles: Unleashed, by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
This week's book giveaway pick is Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie's Wolf Springs Chronicles: Unleashed, which we reviewed here. Unleashed was blessed with a cover model who looks like Buffy Summers, and it has the distinction of being the only werewolf/King Lear mash-up we've yet to encounter...
Tasty and a conversation piece!
If you're looking for a new recipe to try this weekend, you should check out the free Healthy Lunchtime Challenge Cookbook, produced by Epicurious.com and sponsored by Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign and the Departments of Education and Agriculture...
Nothing says high fashion like zombies and aliens
Last summer, Threadless trotted out a reader-designed t-shirt based on The Day The Saucers Came, a story written by Neil Gaiman. Threadless is currently holding one of their frequent sales, so if you're in the market for this t-shirt it's available in a wide variety of guys' sizes for a mere $12.95...
Fifty sheds
I'm torn: is the twitter feed @FiftyShedsofGrey so wrong it's right, or just, you know, straight-up wrong? I'm torn, but leaning toward option B. These are painful (and they're just a tiny, tiny sampling of the available options)...
Don't You Wish, by Roxanne St. Claire
To mangle a phrase from Jane Austen, Roxanne St. Claire's novel Don't You Wish is one of the many YA books whose existence inspires no other emotion than surprise at there being sufficient reader demand to publish it. It's not that the novel is straight-up terrible (I'll even give it a solid “reasonably entertaining”), but it's been done before—and done better...
Book art in 3-D
Check these very cool three-dimensional book sculptures from Oklahoma-based artist Kelly Campbell Berry. Campbell Berry maintains an Etsy shop, which means you could easily buy a piece of her surprisingly affordable (read: under $200) work...
It's International Read Comics in Public Day! (No, really.)
Today, dear readers, is the third annual International Read Comics in Public Day. So we encourage you to stop by your local comic store and pick up something awesome, and then proudly exhibit your excellent taste at the closest coffee shop (or equivalent)...
Geriatric superhero romance
Well, it's finally happened: DC Comics has announced the official romantic pairing of Superman and Wonder Woman. I'd worry about the feelings of Lois Lane and... whoever that dude was that Wonder Woman has been stuck with for decades, but let's face it: I don't care...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Behold, Here's Poison, by Georgette Heyer
Hi, all. The newest Wordcandy Weekly Book Giveaway selection is one of my favorite Georgette Heyer mysteries: Behold, Here's Poison, which we reviewed here...
"Only the shallow know themselves."
Flavorwire recently posted an audio clip (via Open Culture) of Oscar Wilde reciting two verses of his 1897 poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol. It's initially tough to make out Wilde's voice, but if you listen carefully...
Close enough
Aw: the landing site for the Mars Curiosity (which just took its first test drive!) will be named after Ray Bradbury. The Curiosity landed on August 6th, but NASA waited to announce the site's name until August 22nd, which would have been Bradbury's 92nd birthday...
Oversized and inexpensive
Urban Outfitters is offering free shipping through tomorrow, which, if you're in the market for some literary wall-art, might make now an excellent time to check out their sale section...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Cross My Heart, by Sasha Gould
Our current Weekly Book Giveaway selection is Cross My Heart, by Sasha Gould, which we reviewed here. We complained about this sucker's cover art, but we really enjoyed the story...
Philip Marlowe drinks again
According to The Guardian, acclaimed novelist John Banville (using his mystery-writing pseudonym, Benjamin Black) has been hired to write a new novel featuring Raymond Chandler's legendary detective Philip Marlowe and his friend, Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls...
Joe Kubert: 1926-2012
Another obituary to post this week, sadly: Joe Kubert, one of comic books' most respected and prolific artists, died last Sunday at the age of 85. In addition to his long and successful career as an artist and writer, in 1976 Kubert and his wife co-founded the Kubert School, the only accredited trade school devoted entirely to cartooning...
Just what the world needs
Painful news: Gossip Cop informs me that author E. L. James has recently struck three North American licensing deals to sell official Fifty Shades of Grey underwear, shirts, stockings, bathrobes, garters, pajamas and other apparel...
The Boxcar Children, pre-Boxcar
Holy cats: seventy years after its debut, the Boxcar Children series is getting a prequel. Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah Plain and Tall has written The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm, due out September 1st...
Helen Gurley Brown: 1922-2012
Helen Gurley Brown, the longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, died yesterday at the age of 90. Brown was a polarizing figure, but she will be remembered as the author of the 1962 advice book Sex and the Single Girl...