Friday, May 15, 2009

Book News, In Brief

A sequel to Catcher in the Rye is about to be published in Europe, and (surprise, surprise) it wasn't written by J.D. Salinger.


A Michigan man just inherited a comic book collection from his father valued at over $100,000. (Editor's dream-destroying note to recent comics 'investors': These books dated back to the 1940's and did not include any Barack Obama guest appearances. You = FAIL.)


An unpublished memoir by William H. McMasters -- publicist for famous fraudster Charles Ponzi -- was recently found among a private collection of "books, manuscripts and pamphlets about financial sharpies, charlatans, and their schemes to defraud." Who wants to bet it's a fake?


Have you ever seen that Sarah Silverman bit where she talks about sending cowel neck sweaters to kids in Africa, and how they sent her a letter thanking her and telling her that the sweaters were delicious? From The Portland Tribune: "Beaverton couple sends truckloads of books to countries in need." Mmm...books.


A group of New England scientists is traveling to this year's Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee. Although they're all fans of Mark Twain, their reason for attending is strictly business: They're trying to figure out why Southern frogs jump farther than their Northeastern kin.


Kuz I kan't make it a week without at least one Kindle news item: Amazon has unveiled a program which pays bloggers for Kindle subscriptions to their posts. For taking the time to write, reference, fact-check, and come up with lame, Klu Klux Klan-inspired spelling gags, the blogger receives anywhere from 3-6 cents per monthly subscription. Amazon, unsurprisingly, makes a whole helluva lot more.


The 'Mmm...books' photo comes courtesy of Bookavore. To follow her Twitter feed, click here.