Olive Garden Fan Fiction Exists
A Twitter user put out a call for short stories based on a sentence in an essay about Olive Garden that she liked, and…people…are…writing them?? The result are weird genre-benders, science fiction, cosmic considerations our humanity’s place in the universe and more. Including, one assumes, breadsticks and unlimited salad.
LGBTQ YA By the Numbers
YA author Malinda Lo has been tracking stats about YA novels with LGBTQ characters released by mainstream publishers since 2011, and has just released a report about 2015-2016. The report is worth reading as a whole, but some of the biggest takeaways are that the amount of LGBTQ YA coming from big publishers has doubled in the last decade (yay!), and 55% of LGBTQ YA books are about cis boys (boo).
Cher is Releasing a Memoir
There is goodness left in the world, and that goodness is bringing us a new “intimate” memoir from Cher. HarperCollins is going to be her publisher, and there’s no title or release date yet. The memoir will cover the singer’s whole life it seems like, from childhood to her Sonny and Cher days to her solo career. Please, please, please let her narrate the audiobook.
Sponsored by Penguin Teen
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with both breathtaking pain and beauty, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns possesses all the hallmarks of masterful fantasy: dazzling magic, heartbreaking romance, and a world that hangs in the balance. Fans of Heartless, Stealing Snow, and Red Queen will devour this stunning debut.