Extra cheesy
Meg and I went to the bookstore last night and encountered this:According to Lynsay Sands's promotional blurb, this novel is an "absolute delight". I don't know about that, but Meg and I certainl...
Not gone after all
The Times has posted an article about the final typescript of the last four chapters of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. The chapters—which were mistakenly believed to have been burned in ...
Good Omens to hit British TV
Someone is adapting Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's novel Good Omens into a TV show? But how will they include all the footnotes? Those are my favorite parts!
Nostalgia with a dollop of gore
A new musical from singer John Mellencamp and horror writer Stephen King will make its world debut next year at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is described as ...
Truth in advertising
I don't know who Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thinks they're fooling: you can dress up a Catherine Jinks novel with all the scowling hot guys you want, but nobody who's read five pages of her writing...
Silver linings
While I'm still totally bummed over the death of Diana Wynne Jones, I was pleased to note that her publishers are sitting on two yet-to-be released books. According to the author's official websi...
Diana Wynne Jones: 1924 to 2011
I was deeply saddened to learn that Diana Wynne Jones, author of the Chrestomanci books, Howl's Moving Castle, and about a thousand other insanely awesome and profoundly weird children's and YA fa...
A thorough knowledge of drawing
AustenBlog is giving their readers a heads-up about another Jane Austen-related contest: there's going to be an art competition focused on Stoneleigh Abbey, an English estate that belonged to Aust...
Next up: Hercule Poirot, pre-mustache?
According to Deadline, Disney is planning a new film version of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. This (possibly modern-day?) update would star Jennifer Garner, so they're obviously going for a youn...
Sailor Moon returns!
On March 18th, Kodansha Comics sent out an e-mail announcing the return of Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon manga, which originated in Japan in 1992 and became the first successful shôjo manga in the ...
Getting my hopes up
I was all excited when I ran across this book in the clearance section of Barnes and Noble:I'm not a big fan of Charity Girl, but I like Lady of Quality, and the cover design is pretty. Plus, the...
Jessica and Elizabeth ride again
This in-depth look at Francine Pascal and her Sweet Valley High books is a fascinating read. (No joke.) My parents never let me read the Sweet Valley books when I was in middle school, and I hav...
Yes, I'm sure the 3-D special effects will make it extra special.
Wow, Matthew Macfadyen has really been working on developing that purring baritone:The voice is good. The look... not so much. At thirty-six, he's a little young to be letting himself go to this...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #2 brings the pain
At first I was surprised to hear that they'd made a sequel to last year's excruciating Diary of a Wimpy Kid adaptation, but then I read some reviews that tossed around phrases like "has 'straight ...
Read, burn calories, and shop, all at the same time!
I think this is so cool: Washington's King County Library System is offering a series of "Book Cover Walking Tours". The tours turn eight Seattle-adjacent communities into outdoor galleries for b...
RIP, Dune movie (for now, at least)
Aw... apparently the Dune film reboot is toast. While they dithered over the project for four years, Paramount has finally chosen to let their option expire. The film isn't totally dead (the prod...
Michael Buckley has gone AWOL
The last several times I've checked Amazon for news of the ninth and final Sisters Grimm book, the only thing that's turned up has been a book about Capital Tax Acts. I've managed to remain calm,...
Torment, by Lauren Kate

As I turned over the final page of Torment, the second book in Lauren Kate's best-selling Fallen series, my first thought was Aw, man... now I'm totally gonna need to read the third one. Not the ...
Odd Thomas on the big screen
BuzzSugar has posted their spring list of Books To Read Before They're Movies. Most of these film adaptations have already been extensively covered here and elsewhere, but I was excited to discov...
A would-be Jane Bond?
According to the Times, former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson has signed a book deal with Penguin to co-write (with mystery author Sarah Lovett) a series of "international suspense" novels. T...
Imagine a Japanese Nancy Drew paired with a demonic Sherlock Holmes
I was delighted to discover that the deeply weird horror/mystery/comedy anime Neuro has turned up on Hulu. I don't think the manga is available in English and it's not the kind of show that comes...
Skipper Barbie, with a bow, in a cage fight...
Well, Katniss Everdeen has been cast. And while Jennifer Lawrence is a lovely young woman and (from what I hear) a very talented actress, and I know Hollywood hair and makeup will go a long way t...
Sherlock Holmes (as portrayed by Justin Bieber)
Ever since I heard about this project, I've been keeping an eye out for the first book in a new series featuring Sherlock Holmes as a teenager. The Times liked Andrew Lane's Death Cloud, and it's...
Knit Your Own Royal Wedding
I don't care about knitting or England's royal family, but Fiona Goble's new how-to book Knit Your Own Royal Wedding is undeniably adorable:How's that for a wedding souvenir? She even got the pri...
RASL on the big screen?
According to The Beat, Jeff Smith's trippy sci-fi/noir series RASL is being developed into a feature film. Several things about this idea concern me: A) The film adaptation of Smith's infinitely ...
A stroke of genius
PopEater is reporting that Bradley Cooper hopes to play Tom Buchanan in the upcoming Baz Luhrmann adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Sadly, the article makes it clear that Luhrmann has never express...
Shout-outs via snail mail
According to The Mirror, the U.K.'s Royal Mail recently unveiled their 2011 "Best of British"-themed stamps. The designs include a collection called "Magical Realms", all of which pay tribute to ...
So very unnecessary
Remember how creeped out everyone was by that sorta-realistic-looking animation technique they used to film the The Polar Express? Well, they've made an equally disturbing adaptation of Berkeley ...
Earthquake and Tsunami relief
AnimeNewsNetwork is offering special coverage of the horrific earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday, including information on the status of artists and writers in Japan and suggestions a...
39 Clues on a budget
If you've never read the best-selling 39 Clues series, I noticed a "buy one, get the next for half price" deal at my local Barnes and Noble. I don't know if the deals will get better or worse as ...