Morning links.

• Shortlist: Hatchet Job of the Year.
• Good for a giggle: Lousy Book Covers.
• Caroline B. Cooney on the last Janie book: "Janie Face to Face is definitely the final Janie book. People ask what it is like to say good-bye to characters with whom I've lived for so long. But it isn't good-bye."
• THEY'D BETTER NOT MESS WITH THE THIMBLE OR THE SHOE.
• At the Guardian: "A little portion of literacy is set to be served up alongside the cheeseburgers and fries at McDonald's after the fast food chain committed to giving away 15m books with its Happy Meals over the next two years."
• At Jacket Copy: "Richard Blanco, 44, will be the first Latino poet, and the first openly gay man given the honor of reading at a presidential inauguration. And his choice is a reflection of the great shifts in American poetry circles and U.S. culture at large."