AbeBooks (UK), an online bookseller, brings us the fabulous Weird Books Room, which features all things odd in the literary world. You may be familiar with the equally wonderful Rare Books Room, but the Weird Books Room is decidedly different. Showcasing books like Summer with the Leprechauns: A True Story, Spaghetti Art Ware: Poodles and Other Collectible Ceramics, and Ductigami: The Art of the Tape, the list is full of little unknown treasures, however strange they may be.

But the whole idea of categorizing a group of books as 'weird' raises a number of issues. What exactly makes a book 'weird'? Are the compilers of the Weird Book Room and those who suggest books judging them by their covers? Has the publishing industry's preference for catchy titles created a cottage industry for 'weird' books?

Despite making a genius marketing move by repackaging unknown or unpopular books, AbeBooks has given us a great platform for discussing the whole idea of 'weirdness' in literature. And you can't put the words 'odd' and 'book' in a sentence without talking about the granddaddy of literary oddities, Tristram Shandy.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is an 18th century fake memoir full of digressions and tangents that stretch it to nine volumes published over ten years. One of the earliest comic novels, it's so chock-full of the strange that it becomes difficult to read. Despite its weirdness, the book has won a place in the literary canon where it's remembered as weird and wonderful, silly and scholarly. As such it's not something that would ever wind up in the Weird Books Room. Or is it?

Do prefer to read real, physical paperbound books over electronic devices? Or are you one of the Kindle, iPhone, or even laptop reading converts? Debate over whether or not ebooks provide a satisfying reading experience has been going on for years, long before the Amazon Kindle ever debuted. But with the popularity of modern ebook readers, the discussion around this topic has exploded.

Courtesy of BoingBoing, I discovered this amazing comic from artist Lucy Knisley. As someone who, like me, grew up reading on computer screens, Lucy brings up some really interesting points from a younger generation of readers for whom ebooks don't seem so strange. She calls the comic 'Downloading Optimism (Pessimism Virus Detected)'.

Whether or not you agree with her about ebooks, I think she points out one thing that is often overlooked: the experience of reading online can be just as rich and nostalgic as with an actual paper-and-ink book. I know many die-hards will disagree, but I'm siding with Lucy on this one. She respects and even loves ebooks without ever feeling the need to disparage or abandon print. As she puts it, 'I'd just rather not expend all my energy worrying over how my words are delivered, and instead concentrate on the quality and content of the words.'

Now isn't that a sentiment we can all get behind? Let us know what you think in the comments. And this weekend, curl up with your favorite book, delivered in whatever way you see fit.

Before you ask: no, this is not a post about the late-80s/early-90s sitcom starring Alan Thicke and Kirk Cameron. Wouldn't it be great if it was?

Instead, we're going to be making a few changes around here in the next month or so, and I wanted to share some of the plans with you as well as make a few requests.

For starters, you're going to start to see a little less of me and a little more of others. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I let slip some details about one of my current projects. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be making some guest appearances on other blogs, and I'll let you know when those come up. Correlated to that, you're going to see a few more guests around here, some old faces and some new ones.

That being said, as always we're open to posts and columns from any of you. During this period of transition, I'd love to be able to welcome some new writers into the fold. If you're interested, give me a shout on Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail.

The site itself also needs a bit of a revamp, and hopefully you'll start seeing some changes soon. We always welcome input about what's working and what isn't.

Lastly, the thing I'm most excited about! When I started Paradise Tossed early last year, I'd envisioned it expanding into a project bigger than just the blog. I'm delighted to announce that one additional venture, the Paradise Tossed podcast, will shortly become a reality. I don't want to give too much away yet, but today I confirmed everything with my future co-host. I'm hoping to make a test-run this week, and push out the first episode of the bi-weekly podcast next week.

I want to thank all of you for sticking with us! This project has been more fulfilling so far than I could have imagined, and it's because of your support. You can be sure I'll continue to keep you in the loop as things develop further.

P.S. Read the whole post and didn't get your dose of whimsical literary resources? Well, how about LOLerature? Enjoy!