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'Grump' Finds Happiest Places
'Grump' Finds Happiest Places
Feb 13, 2008 1:40 PM CST

'Grump' Finds Happiest Places

Author places Bhutan, Iceland at the top of his most joyous locales

(Newser) - When self-described grouch Eric Weiner packed his bags and set off to find personal bliss, one might've expected him to head for tropical weather or lavish settings. Au contraire, CNN reports: Weiner’s favorite countries were frigid Iceland and underdeveloped Bhutan. He found the most content people were those who...

'Bossy? Aloof?' Index of Hillary Bio Is Way Off

Blogger dissects back pages of book on Dem hopeful

(Newser) - Readers looking for a crash course in everything Hillary can try the index of Carl Bernstein's A Woman in Charge, and find a laundry list of moody traits: "bossiness," "aloofness," "anger, temper and hurt" are only the A's and B's. But New York Times blogger...

Publisher Will Post Free Books Online

HarperCollins execs want readers to browse before they buy

(Newser) - In a counterintuitive move, HarperCollins will attempt to sell more books by giving books away. Starting today, a handful of complete books will be available free on the publisher's website. The company compares the new policy to allowing prospective readers to flip through as they might in a store. “...

Man-Training Manual Finally Hits the Stores

Therapists call dog analogy cute but no marital cure-all

(Newser) - A woman who has long compared men to dogs has a book coming out and a movie in the works, all plugging the notion that men can be trained. But critics fear that What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love and Marriage is another pop psych title that props up...

Margaret Truman Daniel Dead
Margaret Truman Daniel Dead
Jan 29, 2008 5:20 PM CST

Margaret Truman Daniel Dead

First Daughter went on to act, sing and write

(Newser) - Margaret Truman Daniel died today at 83 after breaking the mold of First Daughter and embarking on careers in singing, acting, and writing, the Los Angeles Times reports. The go-getter braved opera critics as a singer in the 1940s and '50s before acting alongside Jimmy Stewart on radio and television....

JK Rowling to Speak at Harvard Commencement

Hogwarts creator will get honorary degree

(Newser) - Harvard students will get a Hogwarts send-off at their spring commencement this year, reports the Crimson, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling as the keynote speaker.  "Perhaps no one in our time has done more than JK Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the...

'French Anne Frank' Diaries a Hit
'French Anne Frank' Diaries a Hit
Jan 10, 2008 2:49 PM CST

'French Anne Frank' Diaries a Hit

Account of life in Nazi-occupied Paris only now available

(Newser) - Often called France’s Anne Frank, Helene Berr was a young Jewish student living in Nazi-occupied Paris who, like Frank, kept a diary detailing the journey from her privileged life to the reality of her fate. Just published for the first time, the diary has become a literary phenomenon, selling...

The Best Unsung Books of 2007
The Best Unsung Books of 2007
Dec 30, 2007 11:07 AM CST

The Best Unsung Books of 2007

Mark Sarvas and Laura Miller recommend the best works to be overlooked this year.

(Newser) - Looking for a read off the beaten path? NPR asks two literary bloggers—Laura Miller of Salon and Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation—for the best works, fictional or factual, that were overlooked by mainstream book-review sections in 2007.
  • The Farther Shore, by Matthew Eck: "A new kind
...

Amazon Unveiled as $4M Buyer of Rowling Fairy Tales

Proceeds from the handwritten book will go to charity

(Newser) - The Internet giant of book sales revealed today that it was behind the purchase of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" in auction yesterday. Amazon paid $3.98 million for the handwritten manuscript -- a record for a children's book and for any modern literary manuscript, not to mention...

JK Rowling Book Sells for $4M
JK Rowling Book Sells for $4M
Dec 13, 2007 12:15 PM CST

JK Rowling Book Sells for $4M

Only 7 copies of the Tales of Beedle the Bard exist

(Newser) - Sotheby’s figured The Tales of Beedle the Bard would fetch about $100,000 at auction—in retrospect, about 40 times too low. The book, a one-of-a-kind piece of the Harry Potter canon hand-written and illustrated by JK Rowling herself, fetched $3.98 million for charity today, Reuters reports. “...

Kennedy Inks Blockbuster Deal for Memoir

Senator will discuss failed presidential bid, Chappaquiddick

(Newser) - After a 6-day auction, Ted Kennedy's memoirs have sold for more than $8 million, the New York Times reports. Assuming the Senate Ethics Committee OKs the deal, Kennedy will discuss his lengthy career, infamous car crash, and failed presidential bid. He’s “walking, talking history,” gushed the book's...

Authors List Literary Faves of '07
Authors List Literary Faves of '07
Nov 26, 2007 4:38 PM CST

Authors List Literary Faves of '07

For some good reading, check out these books recommended by your favorite authors

(Newser) - Read the books writers are raving about with the help of this list from the Guardian:
  1. David Hare: Five Germanys I Have Known, Fritz Stern
  2. Nicola Barker: Teenage, Jon Savage
  3. Margaret Drabble: Edith Wharton, Hermione Lee

NYT 's Top Reads for 2007
NYT's Top Reads for 2007
Nov 22, 2007 5:17 PM CST

NYT's Top Reads for 2007

Agent Zigzag and Foreskin's Lament among best 100 in Book Review

(Newser) - Recent write-ups say Americans should read more—but where to start? Try the New York Times' 100 notable books of 2007, ranging from fiction to poetry, essays to bios. Among the acclaimed page-turners:
  • Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal, Ben Macintyre
  • The Art of Political
...

Wharton Letter Bolsters Suicide Theory

Heroine Lily Bart overdosed deliberately, note implies

(Newser) - A recently-discovered letter by Edith Wharton provides new evidence in The House of Mirth's lingering literary mystery, suggesting that heroine Lily Bart does, in fact, intend to kill herself at the book's end, the New York Times reports. Though the ambiguous text has led many to believe she died of...

Is Our Children Reading?
Is Our Children Reading?
Nov 19, 2007 12:46 PM CST

Is Our Children Reading?

No, and neither are teenagers and adults, new study finds

(Newser) - As far as young people are concerned, books are so 20th century. Reading's popularity has fallen as gadgets have taken over modern life, according to a new National Endowment for the Arts report. Only a third of high school seniors read at a proficient level. “And proficiency is not...

Amazon's E-Book Gamble Gets Big Play

Newsweek looks at changes $399 device could wreak on reading

(Newser) - News that Amazon would debut its new Kindle e-book leaked earlier this week, and a Newsweek cover story has the full hype on what Jeff Bezos and company hope to achieve with it. "This isn't a device, it's a service," Bezos says of of the Kindle, pointing to...

The Greatest Novel Never Read
The Greatest Novel Never Read
Oct 31, 2007 8:10 PM CDT

The Greatest Novel Never Read

Contemporary authors admit to the classics they've never tried—or tried and failed—to read

(Newser) - Just because they're accomplished writers doesn't mean they've made it through Ulysses. Slate asks contemporary authors to confess to the must-read classics they've never read:
  1. Amy Bloom, Moby Dick
  2. Stephen Carter, Harry Potter
  3. Jennifer Egan, Buddenbrooks

Books Help Rwandan Kids Cope After Genocide

Only children's publisher in Rwanda has sold about 450,000 copies of 27 titles

(Newser) - Rwandan kids are coping with life after genocide by reading, says the country's sole children's publisher. "After the genocide, children did not laugh, children did not play. But through language and stories, children can learn cultural history, and learn of our joy of life." Agnes Gyr-Ukunda says he...

Schlesinger's Memoirs Offer Insider View

Late historian's journals brim with candid gossip on politics, culture

(Newser) - From the Roosevelts to the Kennedys, from Groucho to Marilyn, Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s  journals provide a rich treasure of insights into 20th-century American life, says reviewer Jon Meacham in the Washington Post. In one gem, Schlesinger quotes JFK: "I'm perfectly willing to kiss Mrs. Roosevelt's arse; in fact...

10 Girls With Major Magic
10 Girls With Major Magic
Sep 18, 2007 10:24 AM CDT

10 Girls With Major Magic

Don't let the boys have all the fun! Girls can slay dragons too

(Newser) - Chocolat author Joanne Harris will soon publish her first children's book, Runemarks, which follows an adolescent heroine with magical powers. At the Guardian's request, she recommends 10 children's books that feature strong female protagonists:
  1. The Ruby in the Smoke, Philip Pullman
  2. The Black Tattoo, Sam Enthoven
  3. Marianne Dreams, Catherine Storr
...

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