Comedian Jim Gaffigan enlisted the help of his kids to create this trailer for his new parenting book Dad Is Fat. The results are kind of hilarious … Discuss

The costumes typically worn by female comic heroes aren’t generally known for their crime-fighting functionality. Now, artist Michael Lee Lunsford decided to see what it would be if his favorite super-heroines 'fully dressed'. Though he claimed that the drawings were just an exercise in character design and said he’s not trying to push “some moral code” on anyone, the pictures do raise an interesting point about cultural standards and a sense of modesty in comic books ... Discuss

Good news, Tolkien-heads. It turns out that J.R.R. Tolkien's novels (they're called The Lord of the Rings. Perhaps you've heard of them) may actually have been inspired by a real ring that was, curiously, forgotten for ages but has recently been re-discovered. Apparently, there's an old Roman myth about about a man cursed by the god Nodens until he returned a ring—this ring, in fact—that he stole.

That might bear only a faint resemblance to Tolkien's epic (it's about "Hobbits," but these are technical terms. We don't expect you to remember them) but, evidently, Tolkien was researching the etymology behind Nodens' name and the myth itself just before he started brainstorming up The Hobbit. So—to borrow a phrase from the book that only die-hard fans will truly understand—is this the one ring that inspired them all? Probably so. It was recently dug up in an old corner of the Library at The Vyne in the British countryside, and is going on display at a new Tolkien exhibit where it will hopefully be safe from Gollum (a character from the book. Hard to explain it all here) ... Discuss

In its next step toward owning the entire publishing industry, Amazon is in the process of purchasing the book-sharing social site GoodReads. As The New York Times points out, many fans of the site aren’t too excited about the acquisition. Whereas GoodReads has a reputation for being a reliable place to find new books based on peer reviews and recommendations, Amazon has had to crack down on authors posting bogus reviews of their own works. Amazon also currently has ownership stake in two of GoodReads main competitors, Shelfari and LibraryThing—meaning the online retailer now essentially has a monopoly on social book reviews … Discuss

Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani activist who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman after voicing the need for education rights for girls in the country, has just signed a $3 million book deal. Her memoir, I Am Malala, is due out this fall. In a press release about the book, Malala, who is the youngest person ever to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, said, “I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can't get education. I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right" .. Discuss