More Fun Stuff From Around The Web

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Readers Gone Wild

There has been a lot of talk lately about authors who respond poorly to criticism, openly bashing reviewers and readers alike, but it's not only authors who get a little crazy sometimes. A popular fan fiction writer was receiving so much harassment from readers that she actually faked her own death to avoid them.

You’re right, I’m not dead.

I want to apologize for hurting as many people as I did. You have to understand that I never expected it to blow up so fast and cause so much pain for so many people. I didn’t do it because I wanted attention and I wanted my stories to get more popular. I deleted the e-mail to my account, this is the first time I’ve even logged on fanfiction since it happened, I haven’t even read any of the reviews after it happened. I did it because, for the same reason I have to write this letter, a lot of people crossed a line. My life was getting threatened, people were writing me suicide notes (in hopes that I would kill myself one day) and not to mention I was graduating high school in a month, my mom was dying (she passed away last year), and it was f-----g fan fiction!

Let me repeat that, it was fan fiction. You know that you can read about those characters in the original story, Twilight, right?

Wow, and I thought the book blogging community was intense...

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Zombie Ant Invasion

Think that zombies aren't real? Well, think again.

From Live Science:

In two sites in the Brazilian rain forest, researchers identified four new species of brain-controlling fungal parasites. These fungi infect carpenter ants and turn them into zombies, directing them to leave their colonies and die in places where the fungi can grow and spread. The zombifying fungus can be seen growing from the top of this dead ant's head.



The zombie invasion has begun. First ants, then the world...

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Tree Branch Bookshelf

This is definitely one of the coolest bookshelves I've ever seen.


In the immortal words of Veruca Salt " I want it now!" (and can you guess what I've been reading?)

(via Book Rat)

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50 Books to Not Read

The Telegraph recently published a tongue-in-cheek article entitled "Not the 50 books you must read before you die" which lists fifty popular books that the author thinks you should not bother reading, and why.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald Jay Gatsby is not as great a character as everyone thinks he is. Neither is this book, or the author, or the million of people who pretend to like it. Full of people doing tedious things, breaking off only to sleep with each other’s wives.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo One of the great 19th-century novels, taking in war, politics, religion and retribution. But not as catchy as the musical.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Eat, pray, love, wallow, whine, travel, indulge, write, check bank account

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking No, you haven’t read it either.

I enjoyed reading both the article and the comments, agreeing with some of the statements while disagreeing with others. I spent a bit of time afterwards thinking about which popular books I would recommend that people not read, and came up with quite a few.

At the top of my list is Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, a memoir which was wildly popular but left me feeling nauseated and dirty after reading it. The author just seemed so gleeful in describing each sordid detail of his disturbing childhood that I wished I had never picked it up.

Following up closely is the popular novel Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews, which I had read in high school and has haunted me ever since (and not in a good way).

Are there any books that you would recommend people not read?

(Thanks to Books on the Nightstand for pointing this article out)