Suddenly, it seems like gay characters are everywhere in YA literature. Or, if not everywhere, certainly in far more places and in a greater variety than ever before. On the state of LGBT characters in young adult fiction. (David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing will be published by Text in September.)

So Amazon has bought Goodreads. Steve Almond says: don’t panic.

Word aversion: why we hate the words moist, crevice, slacks, fudge, ointment, squab, panties, navel, crud…