Broke Aussie Author Inspires Bidding Frenzy

(NEWSER) - Banning a book is a move laden with ironies that can make the banner seem dull-witted in the long run. For National Banned Books Week, 11Points.com lists "the most hypocritical, ignorant, and, based on the content of the books, ironic" bans:

• Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury: The sci-fi classic is about a future government that bans and burns books. 'Nuff said?

Record orders for boy wizard's final book flood publisher

(NEWSER) - Advance orders for the final book in the Harry Potter series are up 17% over the last installment, British publisher Bloomsbury reports. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will bring down the curtain on one of the biggest money makers in publishing history on July 21. The latest Potter movie, which has already premiered in Tokyo, is also casting a spell on fans. More»

It will be 'very different' than Harry Potter

(NEWSER) - JK Rowling is back, but if you're hoping for more adventures starring a certain boy wizard—or anything along the lines of those books—you're out of luck. Little, Brown and Company announced today that it had acquired the rights to publish a new book by Rowling, but this one will be aimed at adults, the New York Times reports. More»

More than a popular book, Potter transformed literature, says critic

(NEWSER) - With the release of the eighth and final movie in the Harry Potter franchise, stories about the famous young wizard may be over, but the series' legacy—both cultural and literary—will live on, writes John Granger in the Washington Post . "[JK] Rowling transformed our idea of what stories can do," he writes, thanks to the sheer scale of her books' success—her seven books sold 500 million copies in 67 languages (not to mention a few movies you might have heard of). More»

Fluffy novels 'must respond to a more sober age'

(NEWSER) - The world of chick lit is populated with material concerns and hefty price tags—but in today’s battered economy, such themes may no longer resonate, writes author Sarah Bilston for DoubleX. Her latest book's “cheery consumerism and aimless career-dithering were clearly out of touch in a world of mortgage defaulting, pink slips, and repossessed homes.” The UK version was already on shelves, but not so the US edition: So "in a single mad month I slashed and burned," as other writers must for the genre to survive. More»