Books News Headlines

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dan Brown's "Inferno" kept a tight hold on the top spot of the U.S. best-sellers list on Thursday for the fourth straight week. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "Inferno" by …

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - What would have happened if Anne Boleyn, the wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I, had given her husband the son he so desperately wanted instead of miscarrying and eventually losing her head as a traitor? This is the premise behind "The Boleyn King" by Laura Anderson, the first …

By Jeff Sneider LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Tom Hanks is reteaming with his "Cloud Atlas" director Tom Tykwer on a feature adaptation of Dave Eggers' novel "A Hologram For the King," TheWrap has learned. Tykwer adapted the book and will direct the indie movie, for which CAA is in the process of securing financing. "A Hologram …

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - A British writer whose debut novel about mothers at the school gate sparked a seven-way bidding war between publishers has attributed the overnight success of her book to striking a chord with women used to negotiating the politics of female groups. The hype around "The Hive" led …

By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Lawrence Hill's bestseller "Someone Knows My Name" is coming to the small screen, in a big way. Originally published in Canada as "The Book of Negroes," the 2007 novel is being adapted into a miniseries that will air on BET in America and CBC in Canada, under its original title. …

By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Ringo Starr is developing quite the second career as a literary mogul. First came news that the former Beatle is releasing an interactive book of photos from his days with the iconic group. And now he's planning a children's book based on his Beatles song "Octopus's Garden." …

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - When Harper meets Kirby, he is a grown man and she is a child. He gives her a toy pony, tells her he'll be back, then vanishes - into Chicago in the 1930s and a mysterious house that opens onto other times. Later, he tries to kill her. "The Shining Girls", by South African Lauren Beukes, …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dan Brown's "Inferno" held on to the top spot on the U.S. best-sellers list on Thursday for the third consecutive week. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "Inferno" by Dan Brown …

By Brent Lang LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - A rash of burglaries targeting stars like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan by a group of fame-crazed teenagers stunned Hollywood, earning the group the catchy sobriquet "The Bling Ring." These were criminals for the reality TV show age - a gang of club-goers, most too young to vote …

By Victor Coupe LONDON (Reuters) - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver inspired home cooks across Britain with his "pukka tukka" or nutritious food recipes and now he wants to expand his profile internationally by opening up to 20 of his Italian restaurants around the world. Oliver, 38, whose book, television, and restaurant empire …

By Nigel Stephenson HAY-ON-WYE, Wales (Reuters) - Prices of the rarest books are rising as the Internet drives the trade off dusty shelves and into the digital age, a leading expert said this weekend. Matthew Haley, head of the books, manuscripts and photographs department at auction house Bonhams in London, said the rise …

By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Many low-level tax inspectors in Germany's Nazi-era finance ministry were oblivious to the Holocaust and dutifully tried to contact murdered Jews whose wealth was being plundered by the ministry's top officials, according to a new book. Germans have publicly atoned for Nazi crimes in …

By Nigel Stephenson HAY-ON-WYE, Wales (Reuters) - Europe has an extraordinary opportunity to re-introduce wolves, bison and beavers and allow its citizens to reconnect with their wild side, an environmentalist and author said. George Monbiot told an audience at the Hay Festival of literature on the weekend that some 30 …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Inferno," Dan Brown's latest book, maintained the top spot on the U.S. best-sellers list on Thursday for the second week. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "Inferno" by Dan …

By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Banks have failed, the yen has fallen and Japan's economy has collapsed, leading to political turmoil. Its great ally, the United States, abandons it. Then comes the final straw: an attack by North Korean guerrillas posing as Korean tourists. "From the Fatherland, With Love", by veteran …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mystery and science fiction writer Jack Vance, whose works included "The Dragon Master" and "The Last Castle," has died at age 96, according to a statement posted on his official website on Wednesday. Vance passed away at his Oakland, California, home on Sunday, according to the statement at www.jackvance.com, …

LONDON (Reuters) - British author Helen Fielding's comic creation returns to battle her insecurities in a third novel entitled "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" due out in October, her publisher Jonathan Cape said. The fictional 30-something Londoner, who sprang from Fielding's newspaper column in the 1990s to become a …

By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - A new novel about a neo-Nazi plot to assassinate Germany's first Jewish candidate for Chancellor has shed a timely light on the right-wing extremist violence that has plagued the country since 1990 and was swept under the carpet for years. Political thriller "The Jewish Candidate" by …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A first edition copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby," will be up for sale next month and could fetch up to $150,000, Sotheby's said on Thursday. The book, which once belonged to the critic and author Malcolm Cowley, will go under the hammer along with a group of Fitzgerald's …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Inferno," Dan Brown's latest book, shot to the top of the U.S. best-sellers list on Thursday. The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide. Hardcover Fiction Last Week 1. "Inferno" by Dan Brown (Doubleday, $29.95) - …

By Billy Cheung NEW YORK (Reuters) - Award-winning author James Salter, who completed his last full-length book more than 30 years ago, has released a new novel that chronicles a life drawn from many of his own experiences. Like Salter, the main character in "All That Is" leaves the military to embark on a literary career. …

By Tim Molloy NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Robin Roberts will release a memoir in April 2014 detailing her battle against her life-threatening illness and return to the "Good Morning America" anchor desk. Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, is publishing the book, which Jamie Raab, president and publisher …

By Claire Davenport BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Electronic publishing is allowing authors to be more creative and the best ones are successfully blending video and online content with traditional text, says cult writer Irvine Welsh. The author of "Trainspotting" and "The Acid House", who has also written short stories and plays, …