Book News, In Brief

The Wall Street Journal forgets its raison d'etre, recommending people borrow from libraries instead of buying at bookstores. Ah, but this'll learn 'em...

Instant karma! Financial woes are forcing The Wall Street Journal to cut 50 editing positions. Note to WSJ: Maybe nobody's buying your paper cuz they're reading it in the library.

Scandal! David Hessayon, author of the 50 million-selling Expert series (Gardening for Dummies, but loftier), has announced that "tending his own roses and shrubs no longer gives him pleasure." I betcha he still loves harvesting the ol' money tree, though.

Fanfic makes good. George Norman Lippert's James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing, an unofficial sequel to the Harry Potter series, has not only inspired a YouTube film adaptation and its own fanfic spin-offs, it has received J.K. Rowling's blessing as well. Lippert's next James Potter book, The Curse of the Gatekeeper, hits the net this September.