Buzz Worthy News
This week on BWN, we have stories, some sad, some… madness. We have the most scandalously scandalous gossip to bring you and all the crazy shenanigans that you come to expect from Cuddlebuggery.
Book World News
It was a sad news day for anyone who’s had a childhood. Children’s author and unrepentant badass grouchy old man, Maurice Sendak passed away at age 83 from complications arising from a recent stroke. For all those who never read Where The Wild Things Are, you have our condolences and here is a resource to locate a psychologist in your local area.
“Mr. Sendak’s work was the subject of critical studies and major exhibitions; in the second half of his career, he was also renowned as a designer of theatrical sets. His art graced the writing of other eminent authors for children and adults, including Hans Christian Andersen, Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, William Blake and Isaac Bashevis Singer.”
Stephanie says: I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never read Where the Wild Things Are. The monsters always creeped me out as a child. Don’t judge me!
I’ll be taking up a collection for Steph’s therapy bills, so please contact me if you wish to contribute.
Source – New York Times
This has nothing to do with it, but you're welcome.
It seems people just can’t shut up about E.L. James including us because we just keep passing the stories along. But this one was so mindboggling that we couldn’t help ourselves. E.L. James, author of naughty-boo-boo, whippy-chainy-ouchy adult book, and re-appropriated fanfiction, Fifty Shades trilogy, is looking to publish a Young Adult novel.
What’s next? She tells USA TODAY she has two novels stashed away. One is erotic and the other is a young adult paranormal novel.
“I’ve got several more good ideas but how do you follow this?” she says referring to Fifty Shades. “I’ve set the bar quite high in terms of storytelling.”
It seems that… wait… what did she say about setting the bar high?!
We apologize. We needed a minute there.
Steph says: Is it bad that I’m wondering if it’s a Hush, Hush fan fic?
Yes. It is. Bad Steph! Bad! Naughty, bad, wicked, Steph!
Source – USA Today
Tennessee, in its latest bid to fight against intellectualism and good literature, has removed John Green’s Looking for Alaska from its curriculum and has banned it from schools in that state.
Thus we arrive in Tennessee, whose legislature recently passed a bill that says teachers cannot encourage “gateway sexual activity,” thus cementing the state’s abstinence-based sexual education curriculum.
Seemingly empowered by the implications of that law, officials in Sumner County last week banned John Green’s young adult novel “Looking for Alaska” from the school curriculum because it contains a two-page oral sex scene, one of two mildly erotic passages in the book.
What’s important to take away from this is that teens are obviously incredibly stupid as witnessed by the increased rate of teens playing Assassin’s Creed and launching themselves off a 377 foot drop into a haystack. Happens all the time. Just the other day I read Catcher in the Rye and I spent a week asking people where the ducks go in the winter. Then I read Hunger Games and I tried to murder everyone and bring down the government. Horrible, horrible time.
John Green’s video, I Am Not a Pornographer.
Scandalous Scandals
This week was BLISSFULLY quiet on the author/reviewer front! In fact… we don’t know of ANYTHING that happened. If we’re wrong, leave a comment and tell us how wrong we are! How you despise our weakness and patheticness!
About the only thing that happened was that author and Twitter-obsessor, Rick Lipman PUNCHED ME INTO THE BLOOMIN’ MOON.
True story.
So I highly suggest that everyone go tweet @rklipman and tell him that it’s rude to punch COMPLETELY INNOCENT reviewers/book bloggers to the moon. Because I am completely innocent and totally undeserving.
Fangs for the Fantasy
She’s going to keep writing?
It’s times like this that I fantasies about the Nobel body which hands out those nice literary prizes actually has a crack team of ninjas who stalk out in the night to prevent such travesties ever being published. Hey, I can dream can’t I?
I just love the idea that thinks if you keep telling teens not to do something they’ll definitely not do it. And, of course, if you don’t include books in the school library kids will never ever learn about sex. Ever. Ever ever ever.
Sarah @ Smitten over Books
“I’ve set the bar quite high in terms of storytelling.”
OHMYGOD. Just busted my guts out laughing and I don’t even know if I’m amused or just shocked! I can’t believe she said that! Woo, I can’t see the bar from down here. o_0
Nicola
E.L James! YA book! Bar set high!
You know I’ll probably read it…
Rachel Hartman
I read The Count of Monte Cristo and then exacted horrible revenge on everyone many years later! And that’s a classic, man! A CLASSIC!
Will no one think of the (people who were) children (30 years ago)???
GoogleUser1
Hmmm… Gateway activity? Has “Return to the Blue Lagoon” taught these people NOTHING? (In which a boy and a girl are stranded on a tropical island, and with absolutely no outside influence still manage to have a baby.)
I have never understood the whole “ignorance is the only viable sex education” argument. Nature won that one long ago with a little thing called “hormones.”
Amy @ Turn the Page
Lol at E.L James!!! Who says that about their own writing!?! 😀 Love it.
Holds up hand at never having read Where the Wild Things Are. In fact I’d never even heard of it until 3rd year at university when the movie came out. Neither had several of my friends. And we were on an illustration degree course. Maybe it’s to do with where we grew up lol?
Ian is, as always, pretty.
roro @roro is reading[rogier]
i loved where wild things are/ dutch version
so sad to hear
Julie@my5monkeys
Still haven’t read that book and don’t intend to read any more. I don’t think she set the bar high at all. A YA novel thats a novel idea .
Kara @ Great Imaginations
That is one YA novel I probably won’t (will..shhh) be reading. And I’ll be more than happy to chip in for Steph’s therapy bills.
Stephanie Sinclair
@Kara @ Great Imaginations:
Lol. We’ll probably all read it. It’s kinda like what would happen if Stephenie Meyer wrote another YA novel.
Jenni @ Alluring Reads
What a sad yet peaceful Buzzworthy, kind of refreshing to read ladies. Ya, I know theres a death and banning of books which is of course no good! But still, no drama *thumbs up*. Now, I just finished reading Hemlock so excuse me, I’m off to kill everyone I see just in case they are werewolves.
Beatriz
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse… A paranormal young adult. I agree with Steph, it must be something resembling Hush, Hush. Or who knows, maybe even Halo. And is Ian really going to play Christian in the movie? Because if he does… humanity is doomed. And poor John Green o.O
~~Beatriz
Stephanie Sinclair
@Beatriz:
Oh man, not Halo! Lol. ANYTHING but Halo.
Cassi Haggard
What is a “gateway sexual activity,” ??? LOL
Kate C.
Ewwww… on the E.L. James news. I’m so DONE with romance writers writing YA novels. IT IS NOT THE SAME THING. ACK! I may swear off of YA for a while. The End.
(Also, Steph, Where the Wild Things Are monsters always creeped me out, too. My son love them, however.)
Stephanie Sinclair
@Kate C.:
I knew I couldn’t be the only one creeped out by those monsters. And ugh about James. Just ugh.
Sarah (saz101)
Yo. Shut up. Haystack diving is awesome, as is running through crowded streets, cutting throats, then walking nonchalantly away. Though *I* wear a black hoodie, because I’m a unique and special snowflake. I don’t know what YOU guys do with your weekends. Why, just last night I was talking to my sparkly boyfriend about how much I wanted to be a hamburger when.. WHAT. THE. FFKGSFKGJS.
Come.
On.
On what planet is pretending sex doesn’t exist helpful to anyone? Encouraging the idea that sex is a dirty, naughty shameful thing is going to do two things: either encourage kids to do it, because, you know, ‘I’m a rebel’, but without the tools of knowledge, STD awareness, or contraception, or create shame-cycles and some seriously fucked up young adults. Can you imagine what they’re going to be like as adults, when married, in the dark with the curtains drawn and still stuck with the idea that this is fundamentally wrong? The kids with enough common sense to know it’s healthy, natural, and good, and to go about it in the right way will always be OK… with or without realistic fiction, but the others?
Seriously. Please excuse wile I bash my head to a bloody pulp on my keyboard.
I’m sorry. I couldn’t help the rant. Just. so. upsetting. With everything else going on in the world, the free love generation want to deprive their kids of any practical edutcation -__-
Also: Maurice Sendak :(((
Stephen Colbert did this piece where he showed some previously unnaired footage from an interview with him earlier in the year, and it was lovely and sad…
also, how’s the lunar weather this time of year?