Book News, In Brief

Channel 7 in Denver, CO hedges its editorial bets: Economic Downturn Good, Bad For Used Bookstores

In an effort to promote youth literacy, The Bucks County Courier Times states the obvious: The More Children Read, The Better They Become At Reading, then resorts to scare tactics: Reading Difficulty Could Land Your Kid In Jail!

Doubleday lays off 10% of its employees, blames 'conspiracy.' No, wait -- they blame 'the lack of a conspiracy': The delayed delivery of Dan 'Da Vinci Code' Brown's next novel. (Note: no presidents', vice-presidents' or board members' jobs were affected. Phew!)

I'm usually on the side of the nerd, but this here's ridiculous: Taichi Takashita launched an online petition aiming for one million signatures to present to the government to establish a law on marriages with (comic book) characters.