Genre-Setting Travel Author Dies at 47

(NEWSER) - Michael Crichton's seemingly endless output may not be literature (a statement the late Crichton himself might take issue with), but don't discount the "fine craftsmanship" they entailed, writes Charles McGrath in the New York Times. From Andromeda Strain to Jurassic Park, his "intricately engineered entertainment systems" relied on a simple formula—usually a sinister aspect of science run amok—and well researched detail. "Very few readers who started a Crichton novel ever put it down." More»

'2001' author shaped space-age thought

(NEWSER) - Arthur C. Clarke, the sci-fi author who helped shape 20th-century scientific imagination, is dead at 90, the New York Times reports. The co-creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey faced post-polio syndrome in recent decades and died at his home in Sri Lanka due to breathing trouble. “No one can predict the future,” Clarke maintained, but he couldn’t resist trying—and often succeeded. More»

Died from complications from a recent stroke

(NEWSER) - Maurice Sendak, author/illustrator of the beloved Where the Wild Things Are, has died at age 83, reports the New York Times . The cause was complications from a recent stroke, says his editor. The Times offers a glowing profile of Sendak and the many books he was known for penning and illustrating, which were "roundly praised, intermittently censored, and occasionally eaten," writes Margalit Fox. She notes that his "lifelong melancholia"—the result, in part, of a long string of childhood illnesses, being raised in the shadow of the Holocaust, and the homosexuality he hid from his parents—made its way into his books. More»

British children's author wrote more than 100 books on rural life

(NEWSER) - Dick King-Smith, the British children's author who created one of filmdom's favorite pigs, has died at the age of 88. The writer passed away peacefully at his long-time home in rural England, the Guardian reports. King-Smith, a World War II vet, spent 20 years as a farmer before turning to teaching and, in his 50s, writing. Most of his more than 100 books drew on his knowledge of farms and animals. His best-known work, The Sheep-Pig, was adapted into the 1995 hit movie Babe. More»

'The Day I Shot Cupid' is a mess, but an entertaining one

(NEWSER) - Jennifer Love Hewitt wrote a book of advice about love, which is just as ridiculous as it sounds. “Here are 10 completely awesome things that happen in this book,” writes Linda Holmes for NPR :

1. Hewitt admits to visiting and trying on her “dream ring” once a month since she was 12. She is now 31. “If this is true, she has made roughly 225 trips to the jewelry store to try on engagement rings. I do not know where to go with this.”
2. Among her recommendations: Make out with a stranger to get over a breakup—but only if he’s “gorgeous”—and always spray tan before a date.