Books/Publishing News

MADRID (AFP) - Mexican novelist and poet Jose Emilio Pacheco was awarded Monday the Cervantes prize for 2009, the top literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world. Full Story »

The approach of a new decade means a chance for a fresh start with your financial habits. Maybe your loved ones could use a nudge in that direction, too. Full Story »

NEW ORLEANS - "U Is for Undertow" (A Marian Wood Book/Putnam, 403 pages, $27.95) by Sue Grafton: Can it really be 27 years since Kinsey Millhone sifted through clues in "A Is for Alibi?" Full Story »

NEW YORK (AFP) - Republican former governor Sarah Palin's memoir "Going Rogue" shot to the top of the US bestseller list in its first week after publication, industry figures showed Wednesday. Full Story »

RICHLAND, Wash. - Sarah Palin is taking a Thanksgiving break from her book tour to spend time with family members in Washington for a 5K run to benefit the Red Cross. Full Story »

"The Gift" (Harper, 302 pages, $19.99) by Cecelia Ahern: In Cecelia Ahern's latest novel, a successful, self-absorbed workaholic finds his life take a turn by one kind gesture. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - A novel for teenagers about the US prison in Guantanamo Bay written by a rock star's wife was nominated Wednesday for a prestigious children's book prize in Britain. Full Story »

JACKSON, Miss. - Gene Dattel grew up in the segregated South and was one of the few Mississippians enrolled at Yale University in 1962 when his home state became ensnared in a bloody confrontation over integration. Full Story »

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Michael Morpurgo has been writing award-winning children's books for decades but he has lost none of his passion for storytelling or his fascination with taking a real-life event and fusing it with fiction. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc., the nation's two largest brick-and-mortar book sellers, both posted quarterly losses Tuesday and forecast a difficult holiday season, saying competition from discount chains and online retailers is stiffening. Full Story »

HONOLULU - A New York gallery will auction off what is believed to be one of three known surviving historic envelopes postmarked on the first day of the Pony Express. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - A first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," which had been kept in a bathroom bookcase in England for years, fetched 103,250 pounds ($171,000) at auction Tuesday, around twice its pre-sale estimate. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc cut its full-year forecast on expectations of a tough holiday season and high costs for its Nook electronic reader, while rival Borders Group Inc posted a wider-than-expected loss. Shares of both booksellers fell sharply. Full Story »

"The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War" (Little, Brown and Company, 400 pages, $29.99), by James Bradley: Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most admired figures in American history. Full Story »