You may have missed these

I've been away for a week. Thought I'd copy and paste a few stories that you may have missed.


1. Jane Austen tops teacher's favourite - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22031238


2. Howard Jacobson and Michael Frayn in the running for Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction




3.Popular children's book series, Horrible Histories, is to end after 20 years according to author Terry Deary.

He said on his website that he is writing a new range of history books for adults for the next two years.


Horrible Histories has "naturally come to an end," he told the Times. "It has had a good run, it's had a better run than most children's series."


4. Online retailer Amazon has said it will buy Goodreads, a book discovery and recommendation website.


San Francisco-based Goodreads was founded in 2007, has 16 million members and is one of the most prominent online communities for readers. (I don't like the sounds of this - I think amazon has a finger in too many pies and will it just make Goodreads an advertising arm for Amazon?) - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21972852


5. And finally,


Mums are better at developing their child's emotional skills because they tell more heartfelt stories, according to a new study. see - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9961252/Mothers-better-at-reading-bedtime-stories.html