bookshelves of doom

I wasn't aware of how many...

...blogs there are out there that mock crappy punctuation, etc.

My RSS feed just got a whole lot longer.

Surreal Bookshelves.

Definitely neat, but are they even remotely practical?

(via WORD for Teens)

Ag*.

Um.

Someone just sold a homemade (as in crafted, not as in spawned, THANK GOODNESS) newborn vampire baby on eBay.

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*I chose the title in honor of our beloved Ruby Oliver.  Partly because of the cringefest of a contest that's running right now, and partly because Roo is so very awesome.

Remember Ned Vizzini's fab It's Kind of a Funny Story?

Here's the trailer:

I think it's got the potential to be even more than decent.  And you know how I don't like to go out on a limb about these things.

Except about Piranha-3D, which I still maintain will be MADE OF AWESOME.

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Previously:

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Speaking of authors* who go the famewhore route...

...I'd like to enter this photo into the record:

 

Although, in this case, it's possible that I should have put the word 'author' in quotation marks.

(via the Fugs)

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*We weren't?  Well, technically, maybe not.  But, from now on, let's just always assume that the topic is on the table.

Loser/Queen.

JCPenney¹ Teen, Simon & Schuster and Jodi Lynn Anderson have teamed up to create an interactive YA serial novel.

The marketing angle of the whole thing does make me feel a bit squicky, but nevertheless, it's a fun idea.

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¹Is it wrong that I still think of Garanimals when I think of JCPenney?  That's probably not at all the image that they're going for, but, hey.  My brain will not be tamed.

My lurrrve for Pacey Witter will apparently never, ever fade.

Because, really?  All it takes is a simple, "Hi, I'm Joshua Jackson", and I get all giggly:

And then, by the end of the video, I had reached such heights of ridiculousness that I turned to Josh and said, "COME ON!  JOSHUA JACKSON IS TOTALLY DESERVING OF THE SAME SORT OF MANCRUSH THAT YOU HAVE ON VIN DIESEL!  SERIOUSLY!!"

That was about the time that he offered to make me a grilled cheese. 

I'm not dumb.  I know he did it to get out of the room so I'd stop blathering on about Pacey. 

But, hey.  I won't complain.  'Cause, you know.  Free grilled cheese.

In case you haven't heard...

...Anne Rice has "quit" Christianity.

Although, to me, it sounds less like she's quit being a Christian and more like she's embracing this guy's philosophy:

Which seems pretty Christian to me.  Or at least, the definition of being Christian that the lovely, lovely Jesus freaks from David Levithan's Wide Awake¹ adhere to.  I mean, as long as she doesn't go full circle and start hating on the people who don't agree with her opinions and beliefs.

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¹Which, yeah, I had some issues with, but I did love the Jesus freaks.

John Scalzi applies the Bechdel test to recent SF movies...

...with predictably depressing results.

So long, Artemis Fowl.

Phew.  It'll be over soon, and I can stop feeling guilty about the only person on the planet to not be a huge fan of the series.

From the Guardian (and some might find this spoiler-y, so skip it if you're worried):

"He will be faced with a choice where he can be kind to somebody and he won't gain anything, or he can be unkind and he will find a million dollars in a suitcase, and he will choose the nice way, and that will be the end," he explained. "That's how I'm going to finish it, on a very simple choice."

Goodbye, awful swotter! Hello, bookworm.

Yes, you guessed it.  Enid Blyton's Famous Five books are being updated.

As usual, I'm of two (or three or four) minds.  And before I even start in on that, it should be noted that Hodder will continue to publish the original versions as well.  So there's no danger of 'jolly japes' being lost to us forever.

So.  On the one hand, I understand the changes being made to make the books a bit less offensive.  On the other, I've always felt weird about the changes made to P.L. Travers' amazingly offensive 'Bad Tuesday' chapter in Mary Poppins. 

And on the other one hand, I understand changing the books to make them more palatable to a new generation of readers -- turning more children on to reading, hopefully raising literacy rates (and, for Hodder, selling more books) -- but on the other other hand, some of the proposed changes seem to be less about modern translation and more about simple dumbing down, like "it's all very peculiar" to "it's all very strange".

I've never been on the Blyton train anyway, so... eh.  It isn't one that I find myself getting worked up about.  If something similar was done with E. Nesbit's books, though, my head might explode.

This is why we all love him.

(via Gwenda)

Fashion for the Urban Fantasy Heroine.

Okay, technically, I'd say that it's fashion for the cover art model who is supposed to represent the Urban Fantasy Heroine, but it's still funny.

Ultimate Top 100 YA Novels.

Have you been following Adele's posts about the Ultimate Top 100 YA Novels at Persnickety Snark?

The first post explains the ranking, and all of the posts are tagged, so it'll be easy to catch up if you're behind.

Hee hee hee.

I had a patron donate a copy of Braveheart today because she "wanted to get Mel Gibson the hell out of her house."

It made me so happy that I immediately bopped off to inform Josh that there was someone out there just as offended by celebrity jackassery as me.

And now, hours later, it's still making me grin.