bookshelves of doom

Let it be true!

Sadly, I have to head into work, so I can't look into this further.

More later, I hope.

Harry Potter Lexicon: still kicking.

From USA Today:

NEW YORK (AP) — A group of crusading intellectual property lawyers at Stanford Law School say they will help defend a small publishing house being sued by author J.K. Rowling over its plan to print an unauthorized companion guide to her Harry Potter series.

Haven't there been, like, a bazillion other unauthorized companion guides to HP and his world?  Did WB and JKR try to block any of those?  Wasn't the website created by a whole ton of people?  Will they all get a cut of the proceeds, or at least a free copy? 

Intellectual property and moolah questions aside, does the world really need another HP guide?  Will anyone buy it?  (I am totally suffering from HP burnout, man.  And it's a good thing The Golden Compass comes out tomorrow, because I'm headed in a similar direction there.)

Blogger sued for bad review.

Heh.

Oh, and in related news, erasing my identity to go on the run (due to my opinion of Eclipse) is beginning to look like a good idea.  (See Comment #27, which I suspect may be the first of many.)

(via Fuse)

CWA Daggers 2007.

Duncan Lawrie Dagger (Best Crime Novel of the Year):

Peter Temple, The Broken Shore

Duncan Lawrie International Dagger (Best Crime Novel Translated into English):

Fred Vargas, Wash this Blood Clean from my Hand, translated by Siân Reynolds

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (Best James Bond-y Adventure/Thriller):

Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects

New Blood Dagger (Best Book by a Previously Unpublished Author):

Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects

Something about the Vargas cover art gives me the wicked creeps.  I've been meaning to read the Flynn for quite a while now -- I'll have to bump it up a few spots. 

More here.

"The devil has it!" she said.

The lost manuscript of The Good Earth has been found:

"The manuscript has been missing since at least 1966 and is considered priceless," the FBI said in a news release yesterday. Buck, who died in 1973 in Vermont, lamented to an author about the disappearance of the original masterwork from her Bucks County home. "The devil has it!" she said.

I remember reading it way back in high school, but I never did read any of the sequels.  Anyone?  Worth it?

Bong Hits 4 Jesus.

The ruling has been made.

Whoa.

From the Northwest Herald:

CARY – A Cary-Grove High School senior was arrested Tuesday on a disorderly conduct charge after his English teacher notified police that an essay he wrote contained nonspecific references to violence.

Allen W. Lee, 18, of Cary was charged Tuesday morning after police determined that essay references to shootings were alarming. He posted $75 bond and is set to appear in court June 18.

While I'm not surprised that people are being cautious after Virginia Tech, this is...  Wow.  This kid got arrested.  For writing.  An essay.  I could even understand it if they'd pulled the kid in for counseling -- again, people are scared -- but arresting him?

From the Chicago Tribune:

Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing.

Disorderly conduct, which carries a penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is filed for pranks such as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911. But it can also apply when someone's writings can disturb an individual, Delelio said.

"It can also apply when someone's writings can disturb an individual".  That could apply to practically anything.  I find this whole article disturbing. 

Kurt Vonnegut.

I was planning on doing a round up of links, but there's no need.

Ed already did it.

Music Theatre International Courage in Theater Award.

The Advanced Theatre class at Wilton High School has been awarded the first ever Courage in Theatre Award.

ASIF! has the background.

The dangly bits are causing problems elsewhere.

From the Washington Post:

As the General Assembly debates global warming and the death penalty, Myers (R-Washington) has something else on his mind: the outsized plastic testicles that truckers dangle from the trailer hitches of their pickups.

To some truckers, they are manly expressions of rural chic. But Myers, who says his Western Maryland district is brimming with giant fakes on the roadways, calls them vulgar and immoral -- and filed legislation this week to outlaw them.

I'm still giggling. 

Cybils winners.

Just in case you missed it, the winners of the first annual Cybils awards were announced this Wednesday.

As a member of the YA judging panel, I'm obviously very happy about Nick and Norah's win.  It was an extremely strong shortlist and not a particularly easy decision. 

I didn't know about the other winners ahead of time, so I have to admit that I squealed when I saw what book won the award for Middle Grade Fiction:  A Drowned Maiden's Hair!  Hooray!  It was one of my favorite, favorite books last year.

See the other winners here, and while you're at it, take a look at the shortlists as well.  It was a whole lot of fun --I'm so glad I participated.  If you love children's/young adult books and do the book blog thing, I would definitely suggest a look into volunteering for the next round.

This brings geeking out to a Whole New Level.

Slow news day, apparently.  JKR graffitied a marble bust in the hotel she finished HPVII in and people are going bonkers.

From the Telegraph:

According to one report, the bust depicts Hadrian, the Roman emperor who built the eponymous wall to divide Roman Britain from the "barbarians" in the north.

The hotel says the identity of the bust is incorrect, but Potter geeks are already putting two and two together to point out that Emperor Septimius Severus restored the wall, which passes close to a village in Yorkshire called Snape.

Could the message mean that Prof Severus Snape is one of the two key characters to be killed off in the final book? 

And people say Maine is boring!

From the Portland Press Herald:

LYMAN - Roland Nadeau was digging out a gravel bank on his land last summer when he made a grisly discovery: Near the edge of an old cellar foundation, his backhoe had triggered a sudden explosion of mice and what looked like human remains.

"Somehow or another I wound up with a body. It was quite a shock," Nadeau said. He didn't know it, but he had stumbled across an old, unmarked family cemetery containing seven bodies, including the grave of Gibbens Kimball, a soldier from the War of 1812.

This shouldn't be funny.

But my insensitive side thought it was.  (via Tea Cozy)

Nekkid Bowling.

Yep.  That's my state.

Bowl on, guys.  Bowl on.

Kid gets to keep his sword.

Remember this story?

The Rhode Island Commissioner of Education ruled last Friday that Patrick Agin should be allowed to appear in his senior picture wearing his chainmail and carrying his sword.  Hooray!

His principal -- who probably would have had more of a leg to stand on if he hadn't offered to run Agin's picture in the yearbook FOR A FEE -- is not very happy about the decision:

"There is no way to cover every possibility of what a teenager might come up ... What if the student is a naturist and wants to appear nude, or what if it is a student of horrific crimes who wants to appear dressed up like" a Columbine killer. "You can take this in a lot of directions.

"It's challenging enough to run a high school and make these decisions," but an even greater challenge "when the commissioner's office doesn't support you."

Quick poll:  Who out there would even have THOUGHT of trying to get a nude senior picture in the yearbook?  Imagine the possibilities.  Yick.

Wowza.

The Secret Service hangs out at MySpace.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Octavian Nothing made the National Book Award Shortlist!

If it doesn't win, I will have to lodge a formal protest.

Yeah, yeah.  Some other books were nominated, too.

(via Fuse#8)

Savannah students banned from having the time of their life.

From the Savannah Morning News:

The proposed regulations are designed to clarify policy for student performances and to help principals and student activity coordinators make decisions about what is - or is not - appropriate for public performances.

The regulations specifically would say that band performances must be "wholesome."

"The Savannah-Chatham County Public School Board does not tolerate any routine that could be perceived as lewd or obscene," the policy revision states. "If there is any doubt as to whether or not a movement is acceptable, it should be eliminated from the routine."

I hope the ankle-length skirts won't get in the way of their high kicks. 

Couple o'shortlists.

Nestle Children's Book Prize -- list here.

Booktrust Teenage Prize -- list here.

"Conflicts of interest and willful mismanagement."

Gross.

(via LISNews)

Robert Frost poem discovered.

From the Guardian:

Robert Stilling, a graduate student at the University of Virginia, was browsing through correspondence relating to Frost in the university library when he came across a 1947 letter from another of the writer's close friends, Frederick Melcher. It referred to an "unpublished poem about the war" which Frost had written on an inside page of a book held by Melcher.

Philip Reeve wins his first literary prize.

It won't be the last.  He rules. 

From the Guardian (via Big A little a):

The Guardian children's book prize - once given to Philip Pullman for the first volume of his Dark Materials trilogy - today goes to another writer for the triumphant completion of an even more ambitious project, a quartet.

The recipient is to Philip Reeve for A Darkling Plain, fourth story of his Hungry Cities series. The £1,500 award is his first literary prize.

I loved Mortal Engines.  LOVED IT.  Which makes it especially strange that I still haven't read the rest of the series* yet. 

In other good news, we have a children's poet laureate.  (Via a few places, but then I forgot about it** and CC reminded me.  Thanks!)

*Terry Gilliam, you should make them into movies.  Please?

**This cold is miserable.  My head feels like it's stuffed with cotton.  In a bad way.

Well, I'm depressed.

From the Houston Chronicle (story via ASIF!):

FRISCO  — School board members have voted to not renew the contract of a veteran art teacher who was reprimanded after one of her fifth-grade students saw a nude sculpture during a school trip to a museum.

It sounds like there MAY HAVE been other issues that contributed to the firing -- biggish ones, like consistent lack of preparation -- but my issue is more with the parents who complained.* 

If you're so afraid that your child is going to see a naked body, why sign a permission slip that allows them to go to an art museum in the first place?  Heck, why even let them walk down the street?  There are Abercromie & Fitch bags that are more titillating than nudes in museums.  And I CERTAINLY hope you don't have a television in the house with, god forbid, cable.

If you're that determined to keep your kid from discovering S-E-X -- which is what I'm guessing is going on here -- then you should probably just chuck 'em into the basement and lock the door.

Bah.

*Yes, they have the right to complain, but so do I AND it's early AND I'm cranky.

Sort-of-new Tolkien story to be published.

From the Guardian:

An unfinished tale abandoned by JRR Tolkien in 1918 has been completed by his son and will be published next spring, it was announced yesterday.

Christopher Tolkien has worked for 30 years on an edited version of The Children of Hurin, a story set in the legendary land of elves, hobbits and dwarves depicted by his father in the epic trilogy The Lord Of The Rings.

I realize that every situation is different, and obviously, I haven't read his completed version.  But.  For the most part, in these situations, I vote Don't Do This.  Example?  The Bellairs stories finished by Brad Strickland.  Pbbbbbtht.

Yes, James Frey is lame.

But SUING Random House/Frey for your money back?  Even lamer.

Still, the Big Babies are getting their way:

In June the cases were consolidated to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been accepted by 10 of the 12 plaintiffs who are part of the consolidated case, both Mr. Frey and Random House will pay out no more than a total of $2.35 million, which includes the cost of refunding customers, lawyers’ fees for both sides and a yet-to-be-specified donation to charity.

To claim a refund, readers who bought a copy of the book on or before Jan. 26 must submit proof of purchase. This will not be limited to a dated receipt however: hardcover buyers, who are entitled to a $23.95 refund, must submit page 163 (chosen at random, according to the source familiar with the negotiations); paperback buyers (entitled to $14.95) must send in the front cover of the book; those who bought the audio book ($34.95) will have to send in a piece of the packaging, and those who bought the e-book, at $9.95 apiece, must send in some proof of purchase.

People making a claim will also have to submit a sworn statement that they would not have bought the book if they knew that certain facts had been embroidered or changed.

(via Bookninja)

Old news for Potter fans.

"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil."

Oh, and also:  Hitler and ALL of the Nazis were possessed.  Stalin, too.

Glad to know there was such a simple explanation.

(via GalleyCat)

This novelist-to-comic-writer moonlighting gig is becoming a trend.

From the Times (via Bookglutton):

Rankin was introduced to DC bosses by Denise Mina, a fellow Scottish crime-writer who wrote the most recent Hellblazer issues.

“She broke the barrier,” he said. “This New York-based industry started looking outside its normal area for writers. I pitched the idea for a storyline, but I haven’t fleshed it out yet.”

He said that the discipline needed for writing comics was very different from conventional books. Some writers, such as Moore, can write pages of text for one panel. “You never know what will happen,” he said. “I may not be any good at it.”

Wow.  Someday, maybe the general public might even see comic books as a legitimate form of literature.

Okay, okay.  I must be in some sort of hallucinatory state due to my empty belly.

"Dedicated to sex."

From the San Luis Obispo Tribune:

The county’s library director has ordered librarians to remove the August edition of HopeDance magazine from library shelves because the issue is "dedicated to sex," features local artist Mark Bryan’s painting of a nude woman on its cover and has sexual graphics inside.

What?  And they don't pull every single issue of Cosmo?  Or all of the art history books?  And Our Bodies, Ourselves, any comic books with nudity, In the Night Kitchen and definitely, DEFINITELY Voyage of the Basset?

Might as well pull the anatomy books while you're at it -- or at LEAST glue the sexy pages together. 

Bah.

Yeesh.

Clement isn't the only one to lose a cigarette. 

Next up?  Tom and Jerry.

And maybe The Jetsons, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. 

(Was there ever any actual SMOKING in Scooby-Doo?  Cigarettes, I mean?)

Maybe this'll scare the tourists away!

'Hybrid mutant' found dead in Maine

(Thanks to Delia for the link.)

You're picturing that warehouse at the end of Raiders, right?

From CNN.com:

The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," a NASA spokesman said on Monday.

700 boxes are missing.  700.  They've been looking for OVER A YEAR and they haven't found them.  Conspiracy nuts are going to love this.

You'd think this article originated at The Onion...

...but it's for real.

Note the extremely clever headlines.

Fun with language.

Mitt uses the term 'tar baby'.  Maybe he should hang out with Randal.  (Watch out for the mega-profanity if you're at work.  Or, you know, underage.)

A new 'Jumped the Shark' -- over at Snarkfest (light of my life, apple of my eye, destroyer of my productivity...), I've noticed that people are now using the phrase 'Jumped the Couch' to describe those delightful moments when celebrities begin to self-destruct.  I hope someone will create a website.

Mad Max goes Victorian.

Mel Gibson now owns the movie rights to Libba Bray's soon-to-be-trilogy.

From Libba Bray's Livejournal:

Still, It doesn't quite seem real to me, somehow. I feel a little like Sissy Spacek getting ready for the prom while her crazy mom yells, "They're all gonna laugh at you!" in the background. Yeah, just waiting for that pig's blood to fall. (No, really, it makes sense in my head. Go with me.)

Ooooooo!

New cool superhero stamps!  (Via Bookslut)

Quote of the week.

From USA Today:

Todd says she has no problem believing McGowan's claim that she descends from a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. "Yes, I believe her. Her passion and her mission are so strong, how can she not be?"

Really.  I hadn't realized that "passion" is a factor of truth.  I'll have to inform all of the people that come into the library researching their family histories that they needn't bother.

Why aren't children's book events more like this?

From the New York Daily News:

He called his nemesis something unprintable. Dechert responded in kind. Then, according to the definitive account by Gawker.com correspondent Neel Shah, "Spiegelman proceeded to lightly bump Dechert, initiating some sort of violent lambada, but Dechert refused to shove back. … Not one to back down from a challenge, Marty McFly Spiegelman proceeded to shove Dechert with both hands."

I want to see a fight between Melvin Burgess and Anne Fine.  Or JKR and Harold Bloom.  Or Philip Pullman and anyone.

Fox and HarperCollins teaming up to produce awesomeness.

From the New York Times:

Fox Atomic, a division of Fox Filmed Entertainment, will team with HarperCollins to publish and distribute graphic novels, including stories based on the films "28 Days Later" and "The Hills Have Eyes."

They're also creating original Freddy and Jason stories.  Oh, bliss.

Errrrm.

From the First Amendment Center:

MORGAN CITY, La. — Residents of trailer parks set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house hurricane victims in Louisiana aren't allowed to talk to the press without an official escort, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate reported.

Errrm.  No comment, other than that's completely EFFED UP.

Mickey Spillane dies at 88.

From the New York Times:

Scorned by many critics for his artless plots, his reliance on unlikely coincidence and a simplistic understanding of the law, Mr. Spillane nevertheless achieved instant success with his first novel, “I, the Jury,” published in 1947.

...

Mr. Spillane referred to his own material as “the chewing gum of American literature” and laughed at the critics. “I’m not writing for the critics,” he said. “I’m writing for the public.” He described himself as a “money writer,” in that “I write when I need money.” 

“I have no fans,” he told one interviewer. “You know what I got? Customers. And customers are your friends.” 

(Ahem.)

Bulwer-Lytton Prize Announced.

And the winner is:

"Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean."

Yeah.  In case you didn't know, the Bulwer-Lytton Prize is awarded to the WORST opening sentence of a novel.  (An unpublished -- or imaginary -- novel.)

More here.

2005 Carnegie Medal announced.

Check them out here.  (Shortlist here.)

I've read a grand total of NONE.  I'm so proud.

This is just... weird.

Funny, though.  I love the idea of rabid Jodi Picoult fans -- and there are MANY, trust me -- descending on comic shops everywhere.

Hmmm.  Actually -- less funny, more terrifying.

New policies due to the Fayetteville challenge.

From NWAnews.com:

The review was ordered following a strenuous debate over the content of certain books in school libraries. Parent Laurie Taylor had asked that the district restrict student access to books with sexually explicit content by placing them on a restricted access shelf.

...

This provides the opportunity for parents to review and be aware of new books, Cromwell said. If a parent finds a book objectionable, they can ask the school librarian put them on a “do not allow list” that would prevent their child from checking it out.

Under the policy, parents can request that their children not be allowed to check out specific books. Also, they can request that the child not be allowed to check out books from other libraries using interlibrary loan without parental consent.

This -- this is just awesome.

From the Guardian:

One of the most passionate couples in American literary history were reunited yesterday when the wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, was laid to rest alongside him in New Hampshire after an extended British detour lasting nearly 150 years.

Read the whole article -- the real fun is in the details.  The nuns who interpreted a falling tree -- it was a hawthorn -- as a sign, the actual transport of the bodies, the joint journal that Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne kept...  It's all pretty darn romantic.

Sorry, Lauren.

I LOVE robots.

So... They couldn't have really needed the information all that much, right?

From the Boston Globe:

"First the government abandoned the gag order that would have silenced four librarians for the rest of their lives, and now they've abandoned their demand for library records entirely," said Ann Beeson, associate legal director of the ACLU. "While the government's real motives in this case have been questionable from the beginning, their decision to back down is a victory not just for librarians but for all Americans who value their privacy."

Granted, it's about Enid Blyton.

But it's still really interesting.

Oog.

From the Chicago Tribune (via Bookslut):

Chicago police are investigating a fire in a Chicago Public Library branch on the North Side that damaged about 100 books, most of them in the gay and lesbian collection.