Chick Lit, Meet Manfiction

Stephen King, Christopher Hitchens make the cut

(NEWSER) - If you need a book recommendation for holiday reading, look no further than the New York Times ' list of the 10 best books of the year. Five are fiction and five non-fiction:

• 11/22/63 by Stephen King: A time portal sends an English teacher back to 1958 to try and stop Lee Harvey Oswald. King reflects "on questions of memory, fate, and free will as he richly evokes midcentury America."
• Swamplandia! By Karen Russell: "Exuberantly inventive language" marks this story of "a heroine who is wise beyond her years" as she tries to preserve her family's way of life. Also, an alligator theme park is involved.

Because 'life, not death, is the novelist's subject': Laura Miller

(NEWSER) - Ten years later, and still no great 9/11 novels? Yes, because "at its heart, 9/11 was meaningless," writes Laura Miller at Salon . "I realize that sounds inflammatory, but hear me out." A novelist explores "the winding and unwinding of long strands of cause and effect, in the reasons people do things and the often unanticipated results they get." And it's hard to infuse that into the 2,996 deaths of 9/11. Those deaths were simply "abrupt and unanticipated, as is the case with most disasters." More»

Jonathan Franzen's 'Freedom' lands coveted book club slot

(NEWSER) - Nine years after Oprah Winfrey chose Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections for her book club, and the "uncomfortable" novelist talked his way out of appearing on her show, he's getting another chance, reports the New York Post . The media magnate's people won't confirm the Oprah's Book Club selection—likely the last, because her show is ending —but multiple booksellers tell the AP the highly touted Freedom will get the nod tomorrow. More»

Rule change omitted all books published in 1970

(NEWSER) - In 1970, the Man Booker Prize went to a book published in 1969, but the rules changed in 1971 and the coveted prize was awarded to a book published that year—meaning no 1970 novel scored a Booker. Organizers plan to right the perceived wrong by awarding the Lost Man Booker Prize to one of a number of "remarkable" titles from the forgotten year, the BBC reports. More»

Author claims assistant stole $2.7M

(NEWSER) - A long-time assistant has pleaded guilty to embezzling $400,000 from best-selling romance queen Danielle Steel. Kristy Watts admitted depositing checks for Steel into her own bank account and using the author's credit card points to obtain gifts and airline tickets. Steel, who has written 76 best-selling novels, claims Watts defrauded her of $2.7 million and has filed a civil suit against her. More»