We’ve talked a lot about libraries and librarians here. Honestly, I wish I were writing this article from a library right now. Sure, the article would take me 6 hours to finish because I’d be wandering the stacks, but that’s the joy of free books. They’re a constant distraction, but, somehow a healthy one? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I’m also not a librarian, so when a woman with the handle @grumpwitch shared her thoughts on what people don’t know about our beloved book sanctuaries, I found it eye-opening. So too did the rest of Twitter. The thoughts...
3012/2021January 6, 2022
5 Funny Fairy Tale Parodies
A few years back, I did a whole show about Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Among other things, I discovered how truly bizarre the original stories (as the Grimm Brothers compiled them) are. Below are a few fake ones I wrote myself. If I can impart any knowledge about what I learned in my research on fairy tales, it’s this: they have no point. Unlike a fable or a parable, there is no moral lesson, necessarily. Sometimes, a gnome is just a gnome, you gnome what I mean? I’m sorry. Please keep reading. Please enjoy these new terrible fairy tales: 1. The...
2812/2021December 28, 2021
Readers Answer The Big Question: “What Movie Is Better Than The Book?”
As my friend Soul Khan once said: “books…they’re like movies you can take into the bathroom.” Verifiably, books are often better than their cinematic adaptations. But now, thanks to iPads and flat-screen TVs that can fit in your shower, you literally can take a movie into the bathroom with you. The dream is realized, and books need to do something to keep up with the changing world. Until then, let’s see what movies readers believe are actually better than their source text. One person on Reddit wanted to know: “What movie was better than the book and why?” Basically, the...
2712/2021December 27, 2021
25 Funny Pulitzer-Worthy Tweets From This Week
Yes, we all love books here. In fact, you should probably be reading one instead of this website, but come on. You’re on the toilet or the subway right now. That’s no time for mind-expanding fiction. Sometimes, you want to unwind with a few funny short jokes. Thankfully, that’s really all anyone is posting on Twitter these days (unless you count all the un-Democratic misinformation. There’s always room for that on social media.). Not everyone is built to write the next great American novel. Some people like to fit their genius ideas into a tweet under 240 characters. That’s good...
2312/2021December 23, 2021
Here Are Some Hilarious Fake Retitles For Famous Children’s Books (33 Pics)
What can you say about kids? They love dark, weird stories with dubious morals. Frankly, Children’s Literature alone is enough to make me pump the brakes on making a new one and sending it out into the world. They all seem like tiny sociopaths who like I Want My Hat Back or the part in James And The Giant Peach when the eponymous peach kills the aunts. Nevertheless, there will come a day where I find myself reading Click Clack Moo for the 800th time, hoping the socialist overtones resonated with my child. Hopefully, they will. More likely, they’ll like the...
2212/2021January 2, 2022
Wow, There’s A Sentence I’ve Never Read Before (30 Pics)
I recently revisited Patton Oswalt’s first album, and thought “wow, nothing is going to top the sentence: ‘Buddha has a ghost-penis that lives in your cereal.'” Nevertheless, every day a new and extremely weird, 100% original sentence is written that is stranger than that and yet somehow logical in context. Thankfully, there’s a whole subreddit devoted to “Brand New Sentences.” If you’ve ever heard a smart person speak who “did the math” or thought some small piece of logic through to its obvious conclusion, chances are you’ve heard something truly bizarre but true come out of their mouth. That’s where...
