Edward Champion's Return of the Reluctant

Afternoon Headlines

• The illustrious Mark Sarvas has served up spectacular coverage of the L.A. Times Book Festival. He even makes a noble attempt to understand Steve Almond. We also wish Mr. Sarvas the best wishes on his new reign as a teacher.
• A new novel penned by the late Park Tae-won has been found. The new book's called Flag of Motherland and is the first novel Park wrote before crossing the border during the Korean War.
• Arianna Huffington has launched a group blog. Alarmingly, Michael Medved is involved.
• Why publicist Shawn Le thought we'd be interested in this thing is a mystery. But we can't resist exposing yet another reason why James Patterson should be avoided at all costs. We thought at first that it was an obscene joke, but Patterson has devised a blog for his new book, Maximum Ride. This dreadful tie-in can be accessed through James Patterson's official site. The novel involves genetically engineered killing machines hunting creatures who are 98% human, 2% bird. A sample entry reads: "It’s finally starting to look like spring and the flying is great! It’s still a little chilly but there’s no better skyline to glide over then New York! Angel, Gassy, nudge and even Fang is in a good mood! We all want to fly, unfortunately all the regular people are looking up and enjoying the sun - not good for 6 winged kids trying to keep a low profile."
• Steve Stern doesn't get any respect, and he's been turning out literary fiction for 25 years.
• Apparently, the twelve men who have walked the moon are "an unusually dull lot."
• Ever since she appeared in The Incredibles, Sarah Vowell now has to contend with little girls coming up to her at book signings. At least she hasn't been showered with spare security blankets.
• The casting of Harry Potter's girlfriend has unleashed a good deal of racism on the Internet.
• Two public libraries in the UK reopened with new buildings. Guess what? The number of book loans went up.