Must Reads : The Two-Way Some stories are just too weird, too funny or too sad to ignore. They may not be "serious news," but are so fascinating you must read them. NPR correspondents are on the watch for such tales. We pass along the best, from NPR and other news outlets.

The Two-Way

Must Reads

Friday January 31, 2014

It's True: Snowiest Places Are Least Likely To Close Schools

Dark blue: It's going to take a foot or more of snow to close schools. Green: Any snow's going to shut things down. reddit.com/user/atrubetskoy hide caption

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reddit.com/user/atrubetskoy

America

It's True: Snowiest Places Are Least Likely To Close Schools

January 31, 2014 • Crunching some data, a Reddit user has come up with a map that sure seems to confirm what many have been saying: It doesn't doesn't take much, if any, snow to close schools in much of the South. But up North? A foot or more is going to have to fall before the kids get to stay home.

PHOTOS: When Barn-Sized Boulder Meets Barn, Barn Loses

Years ago, the boulder in the foreground broke loose and rolled on to this farm in northern Italy. Then this month, the boulder in the center of the photo tumbled down the mountain, tore through a barn and came to rest in a field. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Markus Hell/Tareom.com/AP hide caption

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Markus Hell/Tareom.com/AP

Must Reads

PHOTOS: When Barn-Sized Boulder Meets Barn, Barn Loses

January 31, 2014 • The images from northern Italy are stunning. A massive boulder broke free from a mountainside and tore a destructive path through a farm. The good news: No one was hurt.

Books

Book News: U.N.-Backed Report Finds 'Shocking' Levels of Youth Illiteracy

January 31, 2014 • Also: Eleanor & Park author Rainbow Rowell has a deal for two graphic novels; Susan Sontag's biographer on reading her emails; Gary Shteyngart on his reading habits.

Brain Surgeon Walks 6 Miles Through Storm To Save Patient

Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw, who made a long, cold trek to save his patient in Birmingham, Ala. Frank Couch/AL.com/Landov hide caption

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Frank Couch/AL.com/Landov

America

Brain Surgeon Walks 6 Miles Through Storm To Save Patient

January 31, 2014 • While ice blasted Birmingham, Ala., a doctor at one hospital heard that a patient might die at another without specialized surgery. "It's not going to happen on my shift," he said.

Thursday January 30, 2014

This Photo Of Lake Michigan Will Make You Shiver

Lake Michigan, now partially frozen, as snow and clouds blow over. NOAA hide caption

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NOAA

America

This Photo Of Lake Michigan Will Make You Shiver

January 30, 2014 • Even from space, the ice, snow and clouds blowing across the water are chilling. All five of the Great Lakes are icing up earlier than they have in a few decades. But experts say it's not all that unusual. It's just an old-fashioned cold winter.

Oh Toronto! New Accusation For Mayor And New Charge For Bieber

There was quite a commotion Wednesday night in Toronto when pop star Justin Bieber (center) arrived at a police station to be charged in connection with the alleged assault on a limo driver. Alex Urosevic/Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Alex Urosevic/Reuters/Landov

International

Oh Toronto! New Accusation For Mayor And New Charge For Bieber

January 30, 2014 • Mayor Rob Ford is accused in a lawsuit of conspiring with others to have a former family friend beaten up. Meanwhile, pop star Justin Bieber has appeared in the city to face charges related to an alleged assult on a limo driver.

Book News: Two Poems By Greek Poet Sappho Discovered

An image of the ancient Greek poet Sappho. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Books

Book News: Two Poems By Greek Poet Sappho Discovered

January 30, 2014 • Also: a fatal literary dispute in Russia; The Rumpus interviews Jerry Stahl.

Racing's Michael Schumacher Being Brought Out Of Coma

Michael Schumacher in April 2012. Eugene Hoshiko/AP hide caption

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Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Must Reads

Racing's Michael Schumacher Being Brought Out Of Coma

January 30, 2014 • The German driver fell while skiing in France last month and struck his head. Since then, he's been in a medically induced coma and doctors have operated twice. The process of waking him may "take a long time," Schumacher's manager says. It's too soon to say much about his post-coma prospects.

Asteroid Belt May Be Just One Big Melting Pot Of Space Rocks

An artist's concept of a narrow asteroid belt orbiting a star similar to our own sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

Must Reads

Asteroid Belt May Be Just One Big Melting Pot Of Space Rocks

January 30, 2014 • New research shows that a planetary reshuffle might have shaped the ring of rubble between Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroid Belt May Be Just One Big Melting Pot Of Space Rocks

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Wednesday January 29, 2014

Heroin In The Drive-Thru? McDonald's Employee Busted

A McDonald's Happy Meal was allegedly part of a secret drug market run out of a drive-thru window at one of the restaurants in Pittsburgh. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption

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Eric Risberg/AP

Must Reads

Heroin In The Drive-Thru? McDonald's Employee Busted

January 29, 2014 • Undercover police officers say they bought heroin at a McDonald's in Pittsburgh, acting on a tip that included a code phrase. They were then allegedly given a Happy Meal box containing the drug.

Missing For 112 Years, First Porsche Is Found In Warehouse

The P1, now known as the "first Porsche." Juergen Skarwan/Porsche.com hide caption

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Juergen Skarwan/Porsche.com

Must Reads

Missing For 112 Years, First Porsche Is Found In Warehouse

January 29, 2014 • The P1 that Ferdinand Porsche helped develop was an electric vehicle that could chug along at 22 mph. It was discovered in an Austrian warehouse and is going on display at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

VIDEO: Congressman Threatens To Throw Reporter Off Balcony

Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. (right), as he confronted NY1 reporter Michael Scotto on Tuesday in the Capitol. NY1.com hide caption

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NY1.com

America

VIDEO: Congressman Threatens To Throw Reporter Off Balcony

January 29, 2014 • Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., didn't like a reporter's question. With the camera still rolling, he said he would throw the journalist "off this [expletive] balcony." Also, said Grimm, "I'll break you in half."

Book News: Nurse's Debut Novel Wins Prestigious Costa Award

Costa Book of the Year author Nathan Filer poses with his prize for his debut novel Tuesday in London. Sang Tan/AP hide caption

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Sang Tan/AP

Books

Book News: Nurse's Debut Novel Wins Prestigious Costa Award

January 29, 2014 • Also: Martin Scorsese will direct a documentary about The New York Review of Books; arsonist sentenced to read Malcolm Gladwell; Rebecca Mead on Middlemarch.

Tuesday January 28, 2014

No, Queen Elizabeth Is Not Down To Her 'Last Million'

Queen Elizabeth II. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP hide caption

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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

International

No, Queen Elizabeth Is Not Down To Her 'Last Million'

January 28, 2014 • She's not going to be a pauper anytime soon. Yes, the royal household has drawn down its rainy day fund. But the queen is still worth about $500 million — not counting the billions more in assets that belong to the crown estate.

Super Bowl Tickets Are 'Cheap,' And Weather Isn't Only Reason

Tickets? Tickets? Anybody need tickets? Some are available to Sunday's Super Bowl in New Jersey at "bargain" prices. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption

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Charlie Riedel/AP

Must Reads

Super Bowl Tickets Are 'Cheap,' And Weather Isn't Only Reason

January 28, 2014 • The forecast for temperatures near or below freezing on Sunday has likely kept resale prices down a bit, brokers say. But an even more important factor may be that the matchup — the Denver Broncos vs. the Seattle Seahawks — just isn't drawing interest from some fans.