The Fault in Our Stars author John Green delivered the commencement speech at the graduation ceremony for Butler University’s class of 2013. To read the entire speech, head to Green’s Tumblr page.

Watch the entire speech in the video embedded above (his talk begins at the 1:01:08 mark). Here’s an excerpt:

I would just note that the default assumption is that the point of human life is to be as successful as possible, to acquire lots of fame or glory or money as defined by quantifiable metrics: number of twitter followers, or facebook friends, or dollars in one’s 401k.

This is the hero’s journey, right? The hero starts out with no money and ends up with a lot of it, or starts out an ugly duckling and becomes a beautiful swan, or starts out an awkward girl and becomes a vampire mother, or grows up an orphan living under the staircase and then becomes the wizard who saves the world. We are taught that the hero’s journey is the journey from weakness to strength. But I am here today to tell you that those stories are wrong. The real hero’s journey is the journey from strength to weakness.

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Universal Studios Florida will add a new section inspired by J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter book series.

Opening in 2014, Diagon Alley is named after the magical shopping district in the fantasy series. The new cover for Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (created by artist Kazu Kibuishi) shows Harry exploring the magical shopping district.

Perhaps the architects will use this illustration as inspiration for designing the new section?

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Scholastic has unveiled the first of seven new covers for a set of U.S. trade paperback editions of J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series. The new editions will come out in September.

Amulet graphic novel artist Kazu Kibuishi created the covers. What do you think? Kibuishi explained his process in the release:

When I was asked to submit samples, I initially hesitated because I didn’t want to see them reinterpreted!  However, I felt that if I were to handle the project, I could bring something to it that many other designers and illustrators probably couldn’t, and that was that I was also a writer of my own series of middle grade fiction. As an author myself, I tried to answer the question, ‘If I were the author of the books – and they were like my own children – how would I want them to be seen years from now?’

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Eleven famous children’s authors will write short stories set in the Dr. Who universe, honoring the British television series’ 50th anniversary.

The stories will be released first as digital “eshorts.” Penguin UK’s Puffin imprint will release a comprehensive paperback collection in November 2013.

Here’s more from BBC: “The first children’s author will be revealed on the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who Facebook page on Monday 7 January, followed by the first story on Wednesday 23 January. A promotional video of each author will also be available each month on the BBC Worldwide YouTube channel starting on Friday 11 January.”

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Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games dominated Facebook this year, her trilogy taking the first, second and third spots on Facebook’s Most Read Books of 2012 list.

Above, you can see Facebook’s infographic about the top books of 2012. Below, we’ve listed the top five books on that list…

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay by  Suzanne Collins
4. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

With 11,525 votes, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling has won the Best Fiction award at the Goodreads Choice Awards. Earning 20,328 votes, Veronica Roth was named Best Goodreads Author for Insurgent.

We’ve linked to samples of all the winners below.

All these authors were nominated and picked by Goodreads users. Did your favorite writer make the list?

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BBC One and BBC Drama have teamed up to create a television adaptation of The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. The series should be released in 2014.

The author had this comment in the release: “I’m thrilled that the BBC has commissioned The Casual Vacancy. I always felt that, if it were to be adapted, this novel was best suited to television and I think the BBC is the perfect home.”

Neil Blair negotiated the deal with BBC One Controller Danny Cohen. Blair will produce through his production company and Rick Senat will be the executive producer on the series. Rowling will “collaborate closely” with the show. The number of episodes and length of each show will be decided.

Is your National Novel Writing Month plot stuck? Maybe you need to add an anti-hero.

V from V for Vendetta, Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series, Guy Montag from  Fahrenheit 451 and The Punisher. What do all these characters have in common? They aren’t villains; they’re anti-heroes.

Above, we’ve embedded a TED-Ed video about anti-heroes, narrated by educator Tim Adams. Below, we’ve rounded up tips for creating an anti-hero.

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With all news about Hurricane #Sandy , it may be scary for children, good time to get out the books & read to them.Read.gov

— Craig Fugate (@CraigatFEMA) October 29, 2012

As Hurricane Sandy nears the East Coast, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate urged parents to read with their children.

If you want to know how Hurricane Sandy will affect your state, visit the State-by-State  Guide to Hurricane Sandy at The New York Times.

Readers have been using the #StormReads hashtag to talk about the books they are reading during this difficult time. We’ve embedded some of these tweets below.

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Have you ever written a scary story? In honor of the Halloween season, we are interviewing horror writers to learn about the craft of scaring readers. Recently, we spoke with author Jonathan Maberry.

Throughout Maberry’s career, he has won multiple Stoker Awards for his horror work. Last month, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers released the third installment of the Rot & Ruin series, Flesh & Bone.

He has written for Marvel Comics and published multiple novels for both adults and young-adults. As a nonfiction writer, Maberry has examined topics ranging from martial arts to zombie pop culture. Check out the highlights from our interview below…

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