Case of the Terribles: Some Top Favorite Ways People Have Found This Blog

A long, long time ago, I started keeping a list of searches that led to people like you, reader, finding this website.  I think it's high time I shared it, in case I don't get you anything else for Christmas.  Enjoy.  I know I did!  

1. nkotbsb shirtless
   - Amen.  
2. i'm peeta and i know it
   - HOW? Please elaborate. 
3. why is macaroni and cheese so good
   - A question of universal import. 
4. macaroni and jesus recipe
   - Oh, is your macaroni holy?  Mine was (except not).     
5. marge simpson playing a instrument
   - ?
6. canada a land of adventure
   - It IS a land of adventure! 
7. men scared of the truth
   - I'm scared to ask, and I'm not a man. 
8. lebron james tidbits
   - Let's keep this clean, kids.  
9. what is green gobbles
   - It's a tropical parasite that enters through your...wait, I think we're talking about salad.
10. boy21 chapther 37 summery
    - Leths thum things up for thish ethasy for a book you didn't read, high sthoolers. 
11. oregon trail game dysentary
    - YES.  YES.  YES.  
12. dessert for raven bouys
    - But only if you anchor the boat first, Gansey.    
13. i am hungry
    - Always.  
14. mac+and+queso+cheese
    - I dare you to go to a Mexican restaurant and order cheese on your quesadilla.  
15. i ate 13 chicolate kisses
    - I love you.  Also: are you my childhood dog reincarnated? If so, call me?

Tidbits

A Quidditch documentary?  Welcome to my Netflix queue!

If David Levithan actually makes my dream of seeing Tiny Cooper's over the top musical live in more than just my imagination, I would vigorously high five him and then shimmy with joy.

Middle aged Harry Potter.

This compilation of beautiful photographs of places in Prague mentioned in Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series has me very excited that it is now getting cold enough for me to make goulash, which also means it is nearly time to read Dreams of Gods and Monsters!

This Game of Thrones gone 1980's mashup could not be more spot on.

Have you ever needed a cute way to ask a John Green book lover out? Here it is.

In fabulous news, the Vista Public Library of San Diego county sucessfully challenged their patrons to check out one million items.  If they did, some of the librarians would get mohawks.  I'm slightly alarmed by the challenge at one minute.  Cool it, buddy!  

Everyone's favorite goalie (except maybe Portugal) Tim Howard has a book deal for a memoir!

As does Bruce Springsteen, but wait for it...for a children's book about a bank-robbin' baby.  Sign me up!  

You know what I love?  Summer.  And mobile libraries.  So a floating mobile library? Had me at hello.
I didn't read of this list of 13 Books We Hated in High School until I was an adult, but I can safely say that I will always hate Wuthering Heights (read it as an adult), and probably Ethan Frome (read it as a kid).  Still have to read #'s 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 13.  Only actually want to read 8 though...

On a more serious note, the D.C. Public Library has added a social worker to their team to help the homeless population.  I give them huge accolades for taking this step; public librarians see a lot of poverty and homelessness (libraries are free, open to the public, warm, have bathrooms, things to do, and are safe), but they aren't social workers.  It's truly heartening to see that the D.C. Public Library is being  more than technologically progressive!  

Tidbits

• Totally dug this piece on Book Girls.  What are book girls? Probably you, if you are a woman and reading this, which probably means you're also a friend of mine, 6 readers.   Otherwise, read the article.  But I particularly liked this:
  "The Book Girls are only partly real; like most heavily marketed-to demographics, they only sort of exist. Every Book Girl is something else, too – a sportsy girl, a scientist, a nail-art aficionado, a poet, a prodigy, a patient. But the force they are exerting is real. They have created a market for what they love, and they insist upon it. ...They have allies in boyfriends and boy friends, in parents and other adults, in librarians and book critics. The world of their books is much more complicated than just them, and they are more complicated than just their books."
  This article makes me both proud of the passionate young and not so young female readers out there; the parallel between pop teen music fandom (well, the Beatles, but you know!) and the current YA fandom is not an imagined one.  It does make me wonder what, and how, we can create as literate and impassioned Book Boys!
  
• Many couples have creative weddings. Not many people get married by a guy who bears a striking resemblance to Snape, Snape, Severus Snape...
  
• Dabs, how am I not shocked that one of your favorite childhood books is called The Man Eater?  
  
• This is a new series that would be after my Indian in the Cupboard lovin' heart.
  
• Well, behold, the creepiest (yet coolest) cake I've wanted to eat.
  
• Thank you for doing this highly scientific analysis of the best way to sit while reading a book, BookRiot.  I see you left off a big one though: leg thrown over side of armchair, glass of wine in hand. 90% of the time, this is how I want to be 100% of the time.

Tidbits

Misc/Travel:

• In causes near and dear to my heart, the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca is expanding, and you, me, and all of us can help.  In my humble opinion, the SJDSB is the best library south of mine.  You can read about my experiences there here.   
• Stairways to heavenly art (having visited, I can assure you that Valparaiso, Chile's street and stair art is really all that).  
• I LOVE LEGOS. 
• Umm...Trader Joes, you have my heart, but more importantly, you have my stomach.
• The Fug Girls did some awesome coverage of the NFL Draft.  Basically all you need to know is this: "Ha Ha Clinton-Dix's name is not so funny when he's playing against your team and they JUST KEEP CALLING IT, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, because he is juicing your entire team and smearing the pulp on the field. Does that collar look crazy enormous, though? Like he's wearing a toilet seat?"  Serious question: how do they get the jerseys they hold up ready in time?! 

Books: 

• Kids who read good learn good.  Moral of the story: if you want good kids, read to them and then make sure they keep reading when they can read to you!  
• The miniature book of majors. 
• Well played at creating literate sailors, US Navy!  
• I love Jaclyn Moriarty's books.  Ergo, I enjoyed this interview with her.  
• Like to play, cold?  This is definitely the coolest scavenger hunt I've heard of.  Well played on getting people into libraries, Coldplay!
• Looking to kill some time?  Here is a list of 25 Tumblrs for readers.  
• I love books. I love wine. I love it when they harmoniously unite to blow my mind. I'm looking at you, Battery Park Exchange in Asheville, NC!  More book stores need to ride this wave, and soon!  
• I don't really see being addicted to YA as much of a struggle so much as a badge of honor, but hey.  Why not?  
• Behold: the most brilliant picture book in all the lands. 
• The name says it all:  Novel-teas.  (See also: great gifts for librarians or other book nerds, ahemhem)

Movies:

• I was unaware there was going to be a Goosebumps the movie.  But I'm in, because Jack Black is. 
• I too now suspect that Divergent is actually about cross fit.  Speaking of, no need to see the movie OR read the book.  These four (FOUR) kids break it down, middle school style.  
• Old but news? Eleanor and Park gets optioned. 
• Here are some trailers for you:  
• I'm aMazed by this Maze Runner trailer, because it might be better than what I thought - maybe even better than the book.  Thoughts?
  
  
• And oh yes...you thought you'd get by with no Outlander references?  You thought DEAD wrong.  Behold the newest trailer, which features the highest ratio of shirtless Jamie YET.  (PS.  Save the date, premiere is August 9th!  My place or yours?)

Tidbits

Hey guys.  Guess what?  It is still winter.  I'm starting to think that perhaps the Game of Thrones books are a little less fiction, a little more alarmingly nonfiction, about the winter coming...sigh.  Here is a big dump of stuff, because I feel a little too lazy to sort it out, and you never mind, right? RIGHT. 

• "Alright, listen up playboy.  This book be an allegorical effort to take on all the effed up shit in society and find its origin in human nature. By watching these little white boys loose their minds, we are reminded of humanities capacity for evil and how man made moral systems be straight-up superficial." Whhhhhattt? Thug Notes on Lord of the Flies, everyone! 
  
   (That said, I have mixed leaning towards positive feelings about Thug Notes. But I do appreciate stick figure artwork, good natured humor, encouraging reading, and sound analysis, so...I suspect Thug Notes wins?)
• A Monster Calls gets a movie director: I am...I guess I found this book sufficiently devastating in its power; not sure I need to see it to believe it, but do like that it could be beautiful and get a wider audience? Aka: fence.  I am on it.  
• If you haven't heard about Hoopla yet and work in libraries, you should.  It's like Netflix for us.  And I think it's brilliant, and possibly what our future will look like if we can (I'm looking at you publishers) get our acts together.  
• While admittedly cool, this new app to allow you to read a novel in under 90 minutes seems to kind of be missing the point of reading a novel entirely.  
• Maybe it's just me that finds army ration packs a little bit fascinating in the actual trying to make real food happen out in the wild/on a battlefield/etc...but maybe not because the Guardian did a really cool piece about what is in ration packs from around the world. If we were going to put them in a contest to win, I think work to food ratio needs to be considered, as does what the food is...but then again, we eat very different around the planet.  Regardless, France probably wins.  Negative points for having your food wrappers look like condom wrappers.  Seriously, Spain?
• I lovee: Eggs for breakfast. Eggs for lunch. Eggs for dinner, Eggs all DAY. .Did I mention how much I love eggs? 
• I find this literary-inspired fashion piece charming!  

Tidbits

This link should prove to you how long I've been putting off this Tidbits post. Yeah. Christmas, 2013. Seems like just yesterday huh? It's like I'm a hoarder. Don't judge meeee!  

Books and Libraries

• If you need a very uh...saucy gift for Valentine's day for the book fondler in your life, try these.  The 50/50 slap vs chuckle is on you though!  
• 50 Shades of Linger-grey.  Eyeroll. Probably another V-day gift idea, but could be a loaded one. 
• For the more discreet yet naughty, NPR is onto what you're really reading on that cell phone!  
• Struggling with which great YA to pick up next?  Struggle no more!  Book Riot put together a very thorough flow chart to help you muddle through this crisis of great import.  
• According to the most recent Pew study on libraries, "Some 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their community, with 63% saying it would have a “major” impact."  Thank you for recognizing the importance of your library, Americans who took this survey!  Now please, go and make all your friends agree with you!
• I'm calling it a three way tie between Alec Baldwin, LLCoolJ, and Stephen Hawkings in theRead posters of the 1980s and 1990s, compiled by Book Riot.  
• I want all of these Harry Potter stilettos, or just an invite to this inevitably awesome wedding! 
• Here is a very delightful trailer for BJ Novaks new book, One More Thing, a review of which, I promise, is coming soon.     
• Behold, the worlds worst allergy.  

Food

• How great are these fantastic tea blends based on books and TV/movies/fandoms I am not cool enough to understand?  I want to try them ALL!
• I obvi want to try these literary cocktails (especially the Sherlock and Watson), but not as much as I want to go to Novela in San Francisco! 
• It's Girl Scout Cookie season, and I have as yet failed to mention that an 8 year old in the subway station selling me them tried to get me to give her my credit card...because they take credit cards now.  Those wily minxes!  Here are some wine (they're kind of gross, in my opinion) and beer pairing ideas to go with your cookies as you ponder a world in which you can instantly buy things on credit from children.  

Movies and TV

• I truly madly deeply hope the BBC plan to adapt Anansi Boys comes to fruition! 
• These Broken Stars has been optioned for TV, but I'm more excited for the sequel.  When's that happening already? 
• Remember Little Golden Books?  Here are some TV shows reimagined as Little Golden Books (or, perhaps, cautionary tales for children about dealing meth?).  
• Oooh, Daughter of Smoke and Bone has a director.  I am so hopeful!
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has been optioned, because the illustrations weren't scary enough in 2D.  Fat chance I'll see it; still recovering from my 1994 reading experience.  
• Did you hear that Fault in Our Stars has a trailer?  Yes, yes you did, because everyone did.  Torn between being over it, and glad that people are picking up a book - hoping it leads to more exploration of YA titles!  Still kind of weirded out about the brother-lover sitch though...
• I've save the best for almost last.  OUTLANDERHASATRAILER.  Repeat, one more time, on the slow-like: Outlander has a trailer! Two, actually.  I'm embedding the better one. You know, the one in which Jamie talks and doesn't wear a shirt? Duh.  

Lastly, here is the one of the best things I've read on the Internet in a while, written by a teenage girl.  Suffice it to say, she's tired of being patronized:   

"When you applaud or critique a young girl’s taste based on how well or badly it aligns with yours, you are suggesting that your taste = THE RIGHT TASTE, because you are the one IN THE KNOW."

Huge high five to this young woman.  Well said!

Tidbits: Are you Hungry for the Divergent trailer or just drooling over butterbeer and Hobbit pancakes?

Movies and adaptations

• In case you've been camped out under a rock or working out your daddy issues on a deserted island like the stud my new favorite brain vacation show, The Arrow, the new  Hunger Games movie is about to drop, with the requisite frenzy and hooplah.  Here are some things:
• Oh good.  It appears that the crack marketing team at Subway received advanced degrees in not understanding what the Hunger Games is about!  
• Just like the braintrusts behind the Hunger Games summer camp and the plan to make an amusement park.  
• Shockingly, Finnick can't read good.  
• This is the best thing I think we'll all see, all week.  The Sesame Street Hungry Games

• Harry Potter stamps drop on my birthday aka today.  Thank you for the gift, universe!
• Butterbeer...at Starbucks?
• The Hobbit menu is baaaaccccccck, precious! 
• If they take pictures and put them on the cover, it has to happen, right?  Fifty Shades promo pictures (since you've never heard of it before and it needs the all the promotional help it can get).  I can't wait; it's not often to find such high potential to be a fantastic case of the terribles! Go Fug yourself agrees. 
• I'm way too excited by Four's back to wrangle sense into the English language; luckily the ladies at Forever YA have girded their loins against being Pamuked senseless and have done it for us, because you guys....DIVERGENT TRAILER.
• Bad accent, awesome costume alert (how great are those horns?): the trailer for Maleficent is out! 
• I've failed to adequately share just how flippin' excited I am about the upcoming Outlander series (aka my favorite not so secret shame).  Here are somethings that have me in a tizzy:
• Let's start with Jamie.  
• Or better yet, Jamie in the modern day.  Pretty sure that horse is panting. 
• And now Claire.
• And how about Jamie and Claire 2gether 4evah?
• And how about SIXTEEN episodes?  I'm so down.  
• And now this unsurprising yet terrible news from DGabs that she's delaying the publication of the next book in the series. Yet again. This is all I have to say about that.. It's only been like five years...why not make it an even six? (But please don't.)

Books

• Judy Blume's Forever and Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, got a facelift.  Apparently AYTGIMM is being marketed to middle aged lady book clubs? 
• Eric Carle has a beautiful new book about friends titled...you guessed it!  Friends.

Misc and nonsense

• I have more questions than answers regarding an OkCupid first date to go traveling internationally together for a month bringing no luggage, and only plane tickets.  
• All you need to know about why this would make a great gift for a tea swilling book nerd is in the product description, if they were real.  Sadly, it appears to just be an idea in an art portfolio.  All I'm sayin' is...get at me:  
  

  Prologue is a series of fine teas inspired by literary classics. Each canister of loose leaves features a unique blend of flavors that characterizes the novel. The designs on the tins include motifs from the narratives and other elements that are a part of the reading experience. 

• Now I know why I always wanted to wash my hands when I checked in dog-earred Romance novels at the Public Library...If this isn't a case for more eBooks at libraries, I don't know what is! 

Tidbits: Hallowinners

• If you are not a lazy pumpkin carver, like moi, these could prove to be inspiring for you as you ponder what to carve on a pumpkin (that the neighboorhood hooligans will later feast upon/smash).  And by hooligans, I mean squirrels.
• In even more exciting Halloween things, here are 15 Adorably Bookish Pet Costumes!  I'm kind of partial to Max from the Grinch, but Edward Cullen the Cat made me laugh.  
• Litographs has some pretty cool things, what with the text and the books and the art...well played!  Here is the easiest yet cleverest Halloween costume I could come up with.  Especially if you break a slate over someone's head.
• Step out with style, fellow word nerds.  
• In things after my heart, enjoy these 10 great meal ideas from literature.  Perhaps for your next book club?!
• Oh hello, interview with the Divergent ladies on Forever YA! 
• This Case of the Terribles headline kind of writes itself:  Ja Rule wants to write a microwave cookbook.  Fingers crossed, team!  

Tidbits

Dearest readers,

I've been hoarding these links up since mid-September, because I am 2 parts monster, 1 part super busy and 1 part perhaps need to learn to say no.  I got rid of the stuff that I'm pretty sure you'd have fallen into a deep well in Siberia to have missed (Bridget Jones is back, Mark Darcy is not, JK Rowling is writing a movie set inside Harry Potterworld but prior to it.  I'd say spoilers, but whatever, the Internet took care of that weeks ago).  So, without further adieu, read on, and enjoy with your tasty Tuesday lunch.

Libraries and Design

• Hello, library porn.
• After Mrs. Gav reads and I had an awesome drink at the Library Bar in London, I've come to consider myself a bit of a library lush.  File this under places I'd like to get a drink: The Library Bar in NYC.  
• Do you need some new wall art and are you also perhaps a beer drinking TV nerd? Well, well, well: look no further.  
• It had to happen: Librarian Shaming
• The Strongest Librarian arm wrestled the man with the scariest mind in a battle of...wrists?

Literacy and Literature

• Really, what would we do without BuzzFeed? (Don't answer that. I know we'd see daylight.)  Those wily minxed have compiled a list of 21 Halloween costumes pulled straight from children's books.  
• An EpicReads mashup of 10 YA titles and 10 So You Think You Can Dance dance routines.  I have...read one of the books.  Because I've been avoiding daylight and spending too much time on Buzzfeed, obvi.  
• Map of the day: the most famous book from every state in the U.S.A.
• I already thought the YMCA was pretty great, but now they're going and expanding their early literacy initiatives (thanks to a grant from Kellogg, who also sometimes sponsors my breakfast).  
• I was totally unaware that John Grisham wrote a sequel A Time To Kill, but I'm actually interested enough to want to pick up a copy!
• Great interview with the great Patrick Ness, whose most recent title I gave to the PopTart this summer as a birthday gift that I plan to steal back (are you done yet?).  
• What your favorite Babysitters Club character says about you (seriously, did you phone Jessie Ramsey in or what, HuffPo?).  
• NPR claims that teens are terrified by the economy.  Their evidence: the rise of dystopian fiction.  As someone who spends a lot of time in the company of teens, I'd say maybe, but that's a bit of a stretch, especially because the case presented by the article is like Swiss Cheese: full of holes.   BS alert!
• Why it's okay to be a grownup fan of  YA novels.  And why it's maybesortofkindof okay to crush on YA characters (But seriously, I rule that it's impossible not to feel conflicted, unless *caveat* it's a fantasy novel.  Then you can perv on, perv.).  
• Slightly embarrassed by this, but Harper Lee is still alive?!

Movies and TV

• I am really, really excited about Outlander being a TV series.  Here's why you should be too.  But really: KILTS.  
• There are so many new things Divergent movie related.  Or...no longer new.  Maybe even old.  But posters!  Four!
• I had no idea that If I Stay was already in the casting process.  Plus, can we briefly discuss The Giver adaptation?  I agree with Lois Lowry that a movie audience will probably better buy an older teen cast, but does casting older teens then turn The Giver into YA, when I firmly feel it is in the (best of all-time) Children's literature category?  Help me ponder, please, all two readers and twelve spambots who regularly follow this blog.  

And just because...

• Slightly terrified as to which teacher of the 8 Types of Teachers you had I may be. 
• Thank god BuzzFeed planned my wedding for me.  Next up: picking the perfect groom - Fiction or Nonfiction section?  

Until the next time I horrify myself by having to weed through 40 links I've hoarded up....

Truly, madly, deeply,

Moi

Tidbits:

Let's play two lies and zero truths: I haven't been hoarding these links since July or anything...it's also not September, and I'm not back at school. 

Mish mash and some bookish things

• I love to hear about things like this pseudo Little Library, real library, book store mashup happening in the Shanghai subway.  It sounds like a library done right! 
• I think I found my how to guide for my Halloween costume!
• I love running, but some days, some days it is hard, juno?!  Thank the sweet baby lord jay-zeus that Book Riot knows about our woes  and made us this handy guide to Fitness for Book Nerds, fellow fitness doing book nerds! 
• You guys already know how I feel about food, but I also think the best karaoke I've ever seen done was to Coolio's Gangsters Delight, in a bar that served jello shots and was best known by it's pet name, Uncle Stabby's. This makes me think investing my $12 of life savings in this venture is a great idea!
• Check out the first six chapters of the lovely Laurie Halse Anderson's upcoming book, The Impossible Knife of Memory. 
• Aziz Ansari is going to write about my, your, OUR life, amigos of my day and age (aka modern romance).  I'm kindasortareallyexcited!

Movies and  TV show galore!

• I was SO excited, I forgot to post about the news that Jamie had been cast in the thing I'm probably most anticipating since the last thing, the Outlander miniseries.  What do you think?!  It doesn't really matter, because DGabs seems to be pumped!
• And then I continued to forget...because they cast Black Jack/Frank Randall, and I missed my opportunity to ask, "Et Tu Brutus?" Such a rookie.
• I think my PopTart will be hella excited about the hills coming back to life - I know I am.  Do I smell a family slumber(less) party, or is that just some kielbasa you started to grill in anticipation?
• Uh - Laura Linney and now (okay, a few weeks ago) Sam Tramwell for Hazel's parents?  Well played, casting director casting a cast right into my heart.  (Except for the incest part.   Still TBD.)
• I'm pretty Undeclared, but it is unlikely chance that I will be able to watch 50 Shades of Grey from anything but behind my fingers while giggling nervously has greatly been increased by the casting news. 
• This trailer is such a tease, but it will prove Divergent to your attention for a moment.   
• Who want to go and cry in a movie theater with me?  This trailer for The Book Thief looks so true to the book, I suspect that will be the case!

Until next time I realize I've been hoarding links, I'm back to school, back to school.  If you need to find me in September, I'll be busy. 

Tidbits

Movies

• Sean Parker provided his guests with tailored, handmade costumes for his Lord of the Rings/Medieval themed multimillion dollar wedding.  I'm assuming my invite got lost in the mail? 
• Oh hello, pictures from the movie adaptation of The Book Thief, a movie Ima need a box of tissues and a hug when I see.  
• I'd totally watch the Gallagher Girls movie, but let's be real.  I'm crossing my toes that the CW somehow winds up turning this into a series.  
• You know what sounds like a great idea for summer camp to send your kids to? Not this.  World, please meet the Hunger Games camp (did the creators miss the entire moral of the books?).

Libraries

• According to NPR, libraries are the new cupcakes. If so, pray tell: what does that make the cronut, MonkeySee?!
• Have you met my professional mini-me, the Lego Librarian? 
  
  
  I'm not sure which mold I fit, but I can't even begin to emphasize how perfectly Mr. Library Dude has pinpointed and lego'd each library stereotype.  Well played, sir.
• I'm mildly embarrassed that I missed this gem until reading the first thing on this three point list.  But guess what I'll be watching, on repeat, this 9th grade orientation season without complaint?
  

Tidbits: Gitmo' Shady

• If you follow this blog on the casual, you well know my fervent dreamwish of one day partaking in a live-action version of Oregon Trail (seriously, reality tv - make it happen).  Thank you, Mental Floss, for providing this history lesson on the history lesson game. 
• Shame on you, reader.  You forgot Harry Potter's Larry Bird birthday (he turned 33 yesterday)!  Don't worry.  I did too.  Here are some cakes to celebrate, and here is Ron Weasley's message to his bff.

• Recipe for a Downton Abbey Party (or like 50 - so more of a guide!): I'm in if there's costumes involved.

• Some clever fiend who knows YA Lit and wants to make you nonreading, judging adults read made a Buzzfeed.  Well played, sir or madam.  (This is like the YA Librarians guide to some of the best recommendations in YA today.)

• Jane Austen's got mad scrilla, y'all.  Incidentally, some truly horrible Internet trolls cant handle it, and have nothing better to do than hide behind an IP address and threaten the woman who made it happen.  Grow a pair, dipsh*ts.   

• In other things British that you probably already know about, someone named JK Rowling published a book under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.  And then someone spilled the beans.  Luckily, the New York Times saw this as an opportunity to make other authors come up with some pretty fantastic pseudonyms.  Especially you, Carl Hiaasen

• Jellicoe Road movie news (I'd totally partake in a Kickstarter, for the first and only time, for this to happen.  Just sayin'...)

• Are you even more behind the time than moi?  Well, get with it campers: the Catching Fire trailer is out, and it's pretty solid (spoiler alert: Peeta gets a hair upgrade, Finnick sans shirt, Stanley Tucci will probably haunt your dreams, you get the idea).  The Forever YA girls break it down here. 

• Shock me, shock me, shock me with that deviant behavior.  Fifty Shades is the most popular book at Gitmo?  Get out, Reuters!

Tidbits: Cleanup in aisle Four

Sorry to disappear, dudes.  It was the end of my school year, and Ms. Paperblog had a million things to do.  Luckily, it is now officially summer vacation, so I'll make big noise about how often I'll review and cook, and get sidetracked with hummus, crudite, iced tea, wine, and a book, inevitably dropping the ball while wearing the same outfit daily in my backyard.  Who else thinks that summer vacation plan sounds awesome?!? 

• Why YA Lit matters.
• OH SNAP.  Please check out a snippit from Maggie Stiefvater's follow up ot the Raven Boys which I never reviewed (mama got lazy, kids) but loved): The Dream Thieves!
• I think I saw this incestuous plotline a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...Tee hee, Fault in Our Stars and Divergent get Luke and Leia'd.  But really, the headline for this one is the best part.  
• Speaking of Divergent, Mr. Pamuk has been werkin' out!  I need to clean the drool off my keyboard.  
• The best new home decoration that will soon be gracing my kitchen wall: THIS.  
• And since I need a new make up bag...I don't see why not! 
• If Wall-E and a library had a baby, I'm pretty sure this is what it would look like.  Which is shorthand for "Squeeeee, I want to go to there!"
• The Portrait of a Librarian.  

Tidbits (and a running case of the terribles)

• Say it ain't so, Keith! Notorious library loving rocker Keith Richards owes his library like a million dollars in 50 year old overdues, a rough conversion from pounds (Hey, I'm a librarian. I never said I was good at math!). 
• Yes kids, books DO grow on trees.  
• I dunno, but I kind of think selling fan fiction goes against the spirit of it.  Amazon is opening it (shock me, shock me, shock me). 
• Ofcourse we need a list of super annoying characters in literary history.  I could not agree with #3 and #1 more.  Touche, Hairpin.  
• A free digital copy of a Neil Gaiman short story and an excerpt of his new book?  Why not?
• I'm both confused, delighted, and frightened by this Selection fan video. No need to read the book now kids!  (Also, the second attempt at a pilot got scrapped.  Maybe because they accidentally submitted this?)
• Reader, I know your deepest desire has always been to look just like Effie Trinket in the Hunger Games.  The Glamazons at Cover Girl have heard your tear-laced prayers!
  
  
• Annnd your Bonus....
  Case of the Terribles, Nudist Family Camp stylez (probably NSFW): Bare Buns Fun Run.  Exactly what it sounds like.  

Tidbits

• Lena Dunham is not a Dauntless.  She's so clearly Candor.  Get it right, EW!
• This is the best letter to an editor this year.  Excellent point, kid.  Kids SHOULD review kids books! 
• NPR Reports do have the best names. 
• 3 New Genres for YA. I can't wait for sexy teen American history.  (Come on already, Diana Gabaldon.)
• YA imprints are the new hot accessory for summer (if you are a publishing company).
• Gender bender!  Maureen Johnson explores how the gender of the author can affect cover design.  Here are some examples of famous covers made over as if the author happened to be the opposite gender.  My favorite?  Lord of the Flies.  Srsly?  That's way creepier than the actual story, faux designer.  Mostly, I think covers reflect the stereotyped audience they are being marketed to, but then again, there's a reason why Joanne Rowling went by JK Rowling...
• We have liftoff!  FINALLY, a trailer that proves Ender's Game is, in fact, happening, and that Han Solo is still out there, somewhere, in space.
• Hahahahollywood, you joker, you.  There is a one in five chance of knowing who these guys on the shortlist to be cast as Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars are (for me).  Am I just old?    

Tidbits

• If there is a stronger case for why Kate Middleton might be the world's communal bestie, I'd like to see it.
• Please meet your potential husbands from YA, kids.  There's some solid choices, but where are Logan from Babysitters Club, Will from Saving Francesca, Judah from Jellicoe Road, Finnikin of the Rock (duh, name in title), Po from Graceling, Sean Kendrick from Scorpio Races, and the only age appropriate one I can come up with, smokin' Joe Solomon from the Gallagher Girls books?!
• Oh hello, badass library predecessors.  Especially you, original sexy librarian with the handlebar mustache.  You work that card catalog!
• If my only quibble is that she's not as blonde as the Tris in my head, then I think I'll survive.  First photo from Divergent, squee!
• Yay! The trailer for Tiger Eyes looks pretty great.  (I totally thought that was Nina Dobrev for a hot minute). 
• I wish I could say I felt less eh about Graceling & co. being optioned...but some things are just so much more enjoyable inside my head, Hollywood.  TBD!
• You guys know my feelings on Little Libraries...so you can imagine the squee that emerged from my heart when I saw the adorableness of this library of miniature books.  Kind of maybe want to join the Miniature Book Society now.

Tidbits:

Movies/TV

• Chuy from Star Wars, I knew I always loved you. 
• If we ever see the Selection on any sort of screen other than my imagination, I will be delighted. (And some other adaptations I've not heard of)
• Divergent is filming already.  I am beyond beyond excited.  

Books

• Even better, the last book in the Divergent trilogy will be titled Allegiant (meh) and will be out in October!
• Here be a cover, another bumped back release date, and an interview with Diana Gabaldon regarding the slightly melodramatically titled Written In My Hearts Own Blood.  Bad that I forgot Jem has been trapped in a mine since like...2009? I just want to read it already!
• A first look at Patrick Ness' new YA book!
• Ugh, the messes the Nazi's are still being sorted out, even in the antique books world. 
• Please meet my new favorite thing: Literarily Drunk.
• Curiouser and curiouser: Jason Segal is writing a YA novel.  Dubious about the whole celebauthor train, but not as dubious in this case?  If that's not enough for you, pour yourself a Game of Thrones Cocktail! I'm all in for a Vodka Implet.

Design

• Bookshelf and home design mixed?  Oh, hello, feeling of nirvana.  (Incidentally, that little boy is such a snatchable little minx!)  But seriously, I want this. 
• Bonus round: a really cool library design, and it's an international library!

Tidbits: Divergent gets Pamuked!

• OMG.  OMG.  OMG.  The cast of Divergent! It is so good!  Words can't describe how excited I am to hear that Tris is going to get Pamuked in Divergent.  And the rest of the cast?  Stacked with excellence.  I'm totally pumped. 
• It is possible I knew that Daughter of Smoke and Bone had been optioned; it is also possible I didn't.  But it has!  And it even has a scriptwriter now.  LEGIT. 
• Ehhh...the Selection is getting a little crazy.  Struggling to keep judgment in check. 
• I have entered a cooking contest.  I don't know what possessed me, but I do know that I'd appreciate your vote for my Chocolate Chorizo Chili as the Best Mexican Recipe! 

Travel plans and races fit for book blogging nerds

Exciting news!
In a matter of days, I will be descending upon London.  It's a quaint little English town, or so I'm told.  Maybe you've heard of it? I've actually been before, but am delighted to be heading back! I have big plans to take advantage of the hospitality of Gav & Mrs. GBR of Gav's Book Reviews, to visit the Library Bar, the British Library, a variety of museums and the Borough Market (where I also have big plans to eat everything in sight), to devour as many cream slathered scones as possible, and most importantly, to run in a race with Mr. & Mrs. GBR dressed as Waldo (of Where's Waldo fame - or change that all to Wally if you're British), to raise money for children's literacy.  That's right.  We're running the Where's Wally Fun Run on March 24th.

If they make us wear jeggings...

If you'd like to sponsor us in our ridiculousness to raise 300 pounds (approximately $450) dressed as Waldo (Wally), we'd be eternally grateful.  The fundraising information is available on our team page, where you can sponsor any of us to donate to the whole team.  For my fellow Yanks, my page is here.  We can promise amusing photos (good luck spotting us), sending good karma your way, and high fives the next time we see you.   We think children's literacy is vitally important, and we are so thankful that your donation shows your agreement and support.  It's for the kids, you guys!

In other news, my goal while in London is to do as many literary or culinary things as I can, aside from what I've listed above.  If you have any suggestions, post them in the comments or send them my way (especially if you have any thoughts on the Charles Dickens museum - or anything relating to closed underground Tube stations, pubs with insane names, cheese, things not to miss, or the best fish and chips in London).  

Tidbits: Nothing to do with books OR movies.

News team assemble! 

For those of you who struggle to understand why those of us who work with teenagers actually enjoy what we do for a living, let me introduce you to my new high school hero, Leonard.  That's pretty much sums it up, guys.  

Give this lady a badge for cooking!  If there had been the promise of Thin Mint Popcorn when I was a Girl Scout, I probably wouldn't be a Girl Scout dropout now.  But I draw the line at Girl Scout Cookie Fish.  Never.  

[ I’m serious when I say I feel strongly we need these new punctuation marks.]