Books/Publishing News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fans of the bestselling novel "Waiting to Exhale" may have been holding their breath for a sequel all these years, but author Terry McMillan never thought she would revisit her most famous characters. Full Story »

"With Love and Laughter, John Ritter" (Gallery Books, $26), by Amy Yasbeck: John Ritter is a comedic institution. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Jonathan Franzen is still getting used to the attention. Full Story »

"Fever of the Bone" (HarperCollins, $14.99), by Val McDermid: When serial crime fiction is done well, readers can drop into any installment and within a few chapters, understand nearly everything about the primary characters and their relationship with one another. Full Story »

"Pretty Little Things" (Vanguard Press, $25.95), by Jilliane Hoffman: Jilliane Hoffman takes the standard "To Catch a Predator" plot — adult male sex offender ensnaring unsuspecting teens by various online chat rooms or social networks — and escalates it to a thoroughly creepy serial killer level. Full Story »

UNITED NATIONS - Former First Lady Laura Bush says that teaching more women around the world to read and write can dramatically improve their lives and those of their children. Full Story »

"The Elephant's Journey" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24), by Jose Saramago: This is a book Serious Readers should love. Consider the pedigree: a recently deceased Nobel Prize-winning author, a benevolent animal protagonist and a space on bookstore and library shelves in the hot category Historical Fiction. Full Story »

LONDON - A book-launch party for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at London's top modern art venue has been postponed following a threat by protesters to picket the event. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British premier Tony Blair has been forced to postponed a party at the Tate Modern art gallery celebrating the launch of his autobiography because of threats from anti-war protesters, his office said on Wednesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK - The Wall Street Journal is set to launch a book review in the next few weeks, even as newspapers across the country cut back on book coverage. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - Former premier Tony Blair has postponed a party at the Tate Modern art gallery celebrating the launch of his autobiography because of threats from protesters, his office said on Wednesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Journalist Bob Woodward's impending book on President Barack Obama focuses on the war in Afghanistan and military decisions in Pakistan, publisher Simon & Schuster said Tuesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Less than three weeks before publication, Bob Woodward's new book finally has a cover design and a title: "Obama's Wars." Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - Peter Carey could scoop the Booker Prize for a record third time after the Australian author was named on the shortlist Tuesday for one of the world's most prestigious literary awards. Full Story »

LONDON - Australian writer Peter Carey moved closer to a literary hat trick Tuesday when he was named a finalist for fiction's prestigious Booker Prize, an award he has already won twice. Full Story »

"The Grand Design" (Random House, $28), by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow: Cosmologists, the people who study the entire cosmos, will want to read British physicist and mathematician Stephen Hawking's new book. Full Story »

"Trail of Blood" (William Morrow, $24.99), by Lisa Black: The discovery of a body that appears to have been hidden for over 70 years spurs a contemporary murder spree in "Trail of Blood," Lisa Black's latest novel featuring forensic scientist Theresa MacLean. Full Story »

PARIS (AFP) - Sexist, obscene, racist were the accusations thrown at Michel Houellebecq over his previous novels. Now it's plagiarism, after France's best-known living writer allegedly cut and pasted chunks of Wikipedia into his new book. Full Story »