Sex, Young Adult | featured news

Colleen Hoover's Hopeless, a self-published mature young adult novel about the darker side of sex, enters the list at an eye-popping position: No. 2. Hoover's reaction? "This entire experience has been surreal," she tells USA TODAY. Hoover had two books on the list last year: Point of Retreat, which reached No. 31 in July, and Slammed, which peaked at No. 17. Hoover says she turned down the chance to have Hopeless published by a major house and opted for self-publishing. It's obviously working.

Every day brings news of more and more projects hanging onto Fifty Shades of Grey‘s coattails (or cat o’nine tails). You can’t blame any of the bandwagon-jumpers, though. E L James’ S&M trilogy is quickly joining the likes of Twilight and The Hunger Games in terms of sales, and Amazon UK has reported that the books have become the best-selling books in the website’s 14-year history, overtaking the Harry Potter series in just four months.

Bibles in nightstands are a familiar amenity for hotel guests, but travelers seeking to read their favorite verse at one establishment will be in for a big surprise. The Damson Dene Hotel, which touts itself as the perfect destination for a “peaceful break away from it all” in England’s picturesque Lake District, is making quite a noise for replacing the Bible with “Fifty Shades of Grey” in its 40 guest rooms.