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Books and literature

Review: Clark's new mystery an irresistible read
"Footprints in the Sand" (William Morrow), by Mary Jane Clark Piper Donovan, the heroine of a mystery series by Mary Jane Clark, is fearless and ...
Review: Justin Cronin returns to apocalyptic saga
"The Twelve" (Ballantine), by Justin Cronin The middle book in a trilogy faces a striking challenge. It must match the interest and appeal created by ...
Harvard Medical School launches series of e-books
The publishing arm of the Harvard Medical School is planning a series of short, original e-books on work, parenting, yoga and how to be a surgeon.
Poet-performer Jayne Cortez dies in NY at age 78
Jayne Cortez, a forceful poet, activist and performance artist who blended oral and written traditions into numerous books and musical recordings, has ...
'Lincoln,' 'Argo' earn Writers Guild nominations
"Lincoln" and "Zero Dark Thirty" are adding to their front-runner status for Hollywood's awards season. The two dramas earned nominations from the ...
Chefs offer their take on Jerusalem
Two London-based chefs with roots in Jerusalem one day. The next, poster boys for peace. Such has been the reaction to "Jerusalem," a bestselling ...
Hilary Mantel wins best-novel Costa Book Award
British writer and two-time Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel has been named novelist of the year at Britain's Costa Book Awards for "Bring Up the ...
Review: Novel draws on jazz legend's music
"Tiger Rag" (The Dial Press), by Nicholas Christopher Buddy Bolden is a jazz legend whose powerful, original sound at the turn of the last century was ...
UK's Pearson invests in Barnes & Noble's Nook
Pearson, the U.K. publisher and education company, is to take a 5 percent stake in Barnes & Noble's NOOK e-reader as technology companies seek new ...
College student's turtle project takes dark twist
Clemson University student Nathan Weaver set out to determine how to help turtles cross the road. He ended up getting a glimpse into the dark souls ...
Robert Frost's Christmas cards collected in NH
Take heart, holiday procrastinators: Famed poet Robert Frost once waited until July to get his Christmas cards in the mail. Unlike the flimsy, ...
US crime author has dark take on Finnish society
In the doorway of a Helsinki bar on a snowy December afternoon, American author James Thompson is being offered a pair of Russian army night vision ...
Final goodbye: Roll call of some who died in 2012
Neil Armstrong would always be taking that first step onto the moon, and Dick Clark was forever "the world's oldest teenager." Some of the notables ...
Justice reaches settlement with Penguin on e-books
The Justice Department announced Tuesday it has reached a settlement with Penguin Group (USA) Inc. in its lawsuit accusing the nation's largest book ...
Fidel Castro nominated for Cuban parliament seat
Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro has been nominated for a seat in the country's parliament, authorities said Sunday. The afternoon TV news announced ...
Famed French mountaineer Maurice Herzog dies at 93
France loved him for his indefatigable, pioneering spirit — the first man to climb an 8,000-meter Himalayan peak despite losing all his fingers and ...
Weight Watchers anniversary cookbook out in May
Weight Watchers is marking its 50th year by shedding its old publisher and hoping to expand its audience for an anniversary cookbook. "Weight Watchers ...
Tolkien class at Wis. university proves popular
The vast collection of J.R.R. Tolkien manuscripts initially sold senior Joe Kirchoff on Marquette University, so when the school offered its first ...
NY Times jumps into mini digital book market
The New York Times is getting into the business of selling bite-sized digital books based on its reporters' work, giving it entree into a growing ...
New-found tale could be Hans Christian Andersen's
For years, the somber fairy tale about a lonely candle that wanted to be lit dwelt in oblivion at the bottom of a box in Denmark's National Archives.
Chabon ties it all together in 'Telegraph Avenue'
The way Michael Chabon sees it, he took the cowardly way out early in his career. It's a startling admission from one of modern American literature's ...
Apple, e-book publishers, EU find competition deal
The European Union's competition watchdog has accepted proposals by four publishers and Apple to end agreements that set retail prices for e-books — ...
Pope's sensitive side revealed in children's book
A children's picture book about the goldfish pond at the pope's summer residence reveals a side of him few may know. Every day while Pope Benedict XVI ...
'Fifty Shades' dominates publishing in 2012
The story of 2012 in publishing was the story of "Fifty Shades of Grey," in more ways than one. E L James' erotic trilogy was easily the year's ...
Mandela battles lung infection, a chronic ailment
Military doctors are treating South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela for a recurring lung infection, an ailment the 94-year-old anti-apartheid ...