Here I go blogging about April Fools Day when I might just as well have done a Topical Tips on being shut in (or out). I do get the news, I do – I just have a very thick filter in my brain screening it all. Best of luck to all the Afghanistan conference people, though, I hope it’ll be a useful conference. Now onto book news, though:
Jitse reported on an a new bill of legislation currently under discussion in the UK. The bill will make it “a criminal offence to possess cartoons depicting certain forms of child abuse”. The problem, as the opposition sees it, is that the definitions in the bill are so wide that such comics as Watchmen and The Lost Girls might in the future be illegal to own.
- In a sad case of history repeating itself, Nicholas Hughes, the son of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, has killed himself. Thanks to Sigrid for mailing it on. BTW, if you have any book news to report, don’t hesitate to mail it to blog@abc.nl!
- Lists! Here are 10 Literary One-Hit Wonders. I consider Oscar Wilde a bit of a mistake on that list, but the author’s going by novels only, not plays or short stories, so I guess he may have a case.
- Awards! The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, given annually to an author, illustrator or an organisation that encourages reading, has this year been given to the Tamer Institute for Community Education, which for 20 years has been promoting reading in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
One of my favorite awards, the Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, has also been announced: The 2009 – 2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Container of Fromage Frais scooped Baboon Metaphysics and Curbside Consultation of the Colon for the win. 
- Looking for author sites? Check out filedbyauthor, a site with over 1.8 million author pages. Thanks, Lynn!
- Quiz! I missed this one earlier this month: Around the World in Books. I got 4 out of 10.
- And finally, just because we have to wait until October doesn’t mean we can enjoy the trailer of Where the Wild Things Are. Looks wonderful!