Let’s put James Franco on all the covers.

So we’re more than half-way through September and I don’t know about you, but I didn’t realize that until the moment I began typing this. I’m still thinking it’s May.

Here’s a roundup of some of the things that have caught my eye in the last couple of weeks that I think are worth reading — and if you’re looking for a good laugh, make sure you click the link under the Franco cover above because I laughed until I hurt.

• Here’s one for the bloggers/social networking folks: why successful networks breed good ideas. A lot of good food for thought on how and why writing and sharing on the internet are positive things. 

• Malinda Lo compiled a series of charts and graphs to talk about diversity in YA as it applies to YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults lists between 2011 and 2013. This is a multiple reader piece — there is a lot to digest. 

• Speaking of longer reads requiring some digestion, there’s this post by Foz Meadows about what mechanics we use when choosing our next reads. But more than that, it’s a musing about representation and browsing for books, particularly in brick-and-mortar stores. As I said, not light reading but certainly worthwhile. 

• Actual research that proves the point everyone who cares about reading knows already: reading for pleasure helps children do better in school. 

• Next month I’ll be posting a review of Robin Wasserman’s latest YA book The Waking Dark, but I wanted to share this great interview she did with Entertainment Weekly. Specifically, I found the discussion of how dark is too dark in YA was interesting. It got me thinking about how dark is too dark (I don’t think that exists) but more than that, whether or not my own expectations of dark are impacted by genre distinction. I read Wasserman’s book as straight-up horror, so I expected darkness. But would I feel that way if I hadn’t read with my perceptions of darkness and horror in mind?