when is a Puppy a Sad Puppy?

I was reading a blog post about the National Book Award nominees in the children's/YA division, and I learned that a publisher submits titles for consideration, and that he/she must pay to do so. This limits the number of entries, especially from small and struggling publishers.
So then I thought, "hey! why not a crowd-funded effort to provide a fund these underfunded publishers can use?" That seemed like a great idea, but now I worry that that's how the Sad Puppies got started. Hmmm.

seeing something nasty in the woodshed

I am reading Da Vinci Code for a project, and I'm underwhelmed. On first glance, it read like a Sidney Sheldon - but I'd much prefer to be reading a Sidney Sheldon. The one delightful moment so far has been that Sophie goes into the woodshed at her grandfather's country house and sees something nasty.
I hadn't suspected that Dan Brown had a sense of humor, but surely that can't be coincidence?

Feiwel & Friends

What is with Feiwel and Friends? A friend just sent me a story saying that Ann M. Martin and a descendant of Betty MacDonald will be reviving the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series next year. Why Ann M. Martin? Why add a romantic plot line? Why revive a series that had a - let's face it - problematic approach to child raising in the first place?
I find it impossible to believe that Ann M. Martin is hard up for ideas. But here's the kicker: this is the second blog post I've written in the last month about an unnecessary book series revival, and Feiwel & Friends has been behind both of them. Odd.