This week on the bookish internet

• The crew at Tor/Forge offer these delightful pairings of books and cookies!
• I’m so happy that the Bulwer-Lytton contest—”to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written” à la Edward Bulwar-Lytton‘s “it was a dark and stormy night”—is still being held. (LitHub)
• Although I firmly believe that authors should be well compensated for their work, I can’t help but cheer organizations like Z-Library that challenge Big Publishing (especially for textbooks). Georgie Newson reports. (London Review of Books)
• Danika Ellis shows us how we absolutely can recommend books we didn’t like. (Book Riot)
• Colin Marshall introduces us to the concept of wonky English in Japan through a museum dedicated to the phenomenon. (Open Culture)
• John Donne was a troll. Matthew Wills reveals Donne’s “The Courier’s Library,” a list of non-existent books designed to make people look like idiots if they name-dropped the titles in conversation. I do love a joke that still works after 400+ years. (JSTOR Daily)
• Nikki DeMarco explains how we can mobilize our book clubs against censorship. (Book Riot)
• Fairy tales play a lot of roles but this is the first time I’ve heard of them being used as war propaganda. S. N. Johnson-Roehr and Jonathan Aprea look at Edmund Dulac’s Fairy-Book, published in 1916. (JSTOR Daily)
• This isn’t about books but it’s definitely bookish: Pitchaya Sudbanthad likes to restore fountain pens when he’s not writing. (LitHub)
• Laura Sackton ponders the question: are we ready for books about the COVID pandemic? (Book Riot)
• And it’s time for this week’s censorship news, courtesy of Book Riot.

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