Books
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Burkina Faso soldiers in Mali worry about defense
2013-05-26 15:49:53 UTC
TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — African soldiers in the fabled city of Timbuktu worry their equipment, training and circumstances are not adequate to defend against another takeover by Islamic extremists who know the terrain as a double bombing by radical elements has also threatened neighboring Ni...
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Rare Superman comic found in house insulation
2013-05-25 05:43:49 UTC
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It's considered the Holy Grail of comic books: Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman. And David Gonzales found one mixed in with old newspapers insulating a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota.
Gonzales did some research that con...
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Journalist and author Haynes Johnson dies at 81
2013-05-25 05:18:27 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Haynes Johnson, a pioneering Washington journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the civil rights movement and migrated from newspapers to television, books and teaching, died Friday. He was 81.
The Washington Post reported he died at Suburban Hospital in...
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Brown hounded for calling Manila 'gates of hell'
2013-05-25 05:05:04 UTC
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Dan Brown's description of Manila as "the gates of hell" in the American novelist's latest book has not gone down well with officials in the Philippine capital.
The book "Inferno," which is being sold in the Philippines, describes a visitor to the city who is taken...
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Tunisia announces 3 cases of coronavirus, 1 death
2013-05-23 04:49:32 UTC
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A 66-year-old Tunisian man has died from the new coronavirus following a visit to Saudi Arabia and two of his adult children were infected with it, the Tunisian Health Ministry reported.
His sons were treated and have since recovered but the rest of the family rem...
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Beatles' lyrics headed for British Library
2013-05-22 17:53:37 UTC
LONDON (AP) — Shakespeare, the Magna Carta — and now some of John Lennon's finest lyrics.
The British Library on Wednesday added substantially to its already formidable collection with handwritten lyrics to Beatles' classics "Strawberry Fields Forever", "She Said She Said" and "In My Lif...
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Harry Potter book with author notes sold for $228K
2013-05-22 05:10:19 UTC
LONDON (AP) — For fans of the boy wizard, this could be the most coveted copy of all the "Harry Potter" books in the world.
A first edition copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" that contains author J.K. Rowling's notes and original illustrations fetched 150,000 pounds ($228,000...
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JPMorgan's Dimon survives shareholder referendum
2013-05-22 04:42:10 UTC
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, easily survived a vote Tuesday that would have called on him to give up his role as chairman of the nation's largest bank. But shareholders sent a message that the bank needs better oversight by giving only narrow app...
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Archie Comics' gay kiss a poke at real controversy
2013-05-21 04:58:24 UTC
It's just a quick kiss, but it's a long step forward for Archie Comics' only openly gay character Kevin Keller.
The Riverdale teen finds his life turned upside down after locking lips with his boyfriend, Devon, in Pop Tate's diner, drawing the ire of at least one disapproving Riverdale m...
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Ron Chernow receives biography award
2013-05-20 04:25:58 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow was honored by his peers this weekend and in turn shared a few tips about his craft.
Chernow, 64, received the BIO award from the Biographers International Organization, a nonprofit established in 2010. During a lunchtime gath...
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Shrinks, critics face off over psychiatric manual
2013-05-18 16:11:44 UTC
CHICAGO (AP) — In the new psychiatric manual of mental disorders, grief soon after a loved one's death can be considered major depression. Extreme childhood temper tantrums get a fancy name. And certain "senior moments" are called "mild neurocognitive disorder."
Those changes are just ...
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9 detained in car bombings in Turkish border town
2013-05-12 16:24:58 UTC
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish citizens believed to have links to the Syrian intelligence agency have been detained in connection with twin car bombings that shattered a Turkish border town, officials said Sunday. Turkey's prime minister insisted the country wouldn't fall for a "dir...
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US appeals panel speaks well of Google book plans
2013-05-09 19:08:38 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Judges on a federal appeals court panel spoke excitedly Wednesday about Google Inc.'s plan to create the world's largest digital library, signaling that the court has a favorable opinion about the value of the project.
Three judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Cour...
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Free Comic Book Day finds print, digital in demand
2013-05-06 04:25:23 UTC
When the doors open for Free Comic Book Day — an annual event that's grown in stature from a few stores to some 2,000 worldwide — publishers and purveyors of tales of heroes and villains will court new readers who, despite the ease of digital displays, are making time for and spending money...
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Teachers head: Don't link tests to evaluations yet
2013-04-30 18:31:13 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the country's second-largest teachers union said Tuesday governments should hold off on linking standardized test results with evaluations of schools, students and teachers until everyone is on the same page.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Feder...
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Caroline Kennedy returns to poetry for 10th book
2013-04-01 06:00:54 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Beginning work a few years ago on her latest book, an anthology of poems for young people, Caroline Kennedy found herself looking through one of her mother's scrapbooks. She burst into laughter, she says, as she came across a poem that her brother John, as a youngster, had...
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Sandberg book scores big sales for its first week
2013-03-20 21:29:49 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Sheryl Sandberg has the ear, and the eyes, of the country's book buyers.
Sandberg's "Lean In" sold 140,000 copies its first week of publication, has gone back to press seven times for additional printings and now has 400,000 copies in print, publisher Alfred A. Knopf a...
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German children's author Otfried Preussler dies
2013-02-20 11:46:47 UTC
BERLIN (AP) — Otfried Preussler, a bestselling German children's author who created "The Robber Hotzenplotz" and "The Little Witch" books, has died. He was 89.
His publisher says Preussler died Monday at his home in Prien am Chiemsee.
The Stuttgart, Germany-based Thienemann publishing hou...
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How did 'Little House' sister really become blind?
2013-02-04 05:51:23 UTC
CHICAGO (AP) — Any fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved "Little House" books knows how the author's sister Mary went blind: scarlet fever. But turns out that probably wasn't the cause, medical experts say, upending one of the more dramatic elements in the classic stories.
An analysis ...
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Poet-performer Jayne Cortez dies in NY at age 78
2013-01-06 07:33:47 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — Jayne Cortez, a forceful poet, activist and performance artist who blended oral and written traditions into numerous books and musical recordings, has died. She was 78.
The Organization of Women Writers of Africa says Cortez died of heart failure in New York on Dec. 28. She ha...
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Women's history pioneer Gerda Lerner dies at 92
2013-01-06 07:35:59 UTC
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Gerda Lerner, a pioneer in the field of women's history and a founding member of the National Organization for Women, has died in Wisconsin, her son said Thursday. She was 92.
Lerner, credited with founding the nation's first graduate program in women's history, died pea...
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AP Newsbreak: New Suzanne Collins book in 2013
2012-11-29 16:20:50 UTC
NEW YORK (AP) — "The Hunger Games" novelist Suzanne Collins has a new book coming out next year.
The multimillion-selling children's author has completed an autobiographical picture story scheduled for Sept. 10, 2013, Scholastic Inc. announced Thursday. The 40-page book will be called "Year of...
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Obama buys books to promote independent shops
2012-11-26 08:51:41 UTC
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama made a quick trip to a Virginia bookstore for some Christmas shopping.
The president took his daughters, Sasha and Malia, to One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., on Saturday afternoon.
The White House says Obama was promoting an effort called "...
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A Cold Case That Warms a Cop’s Heart
2012-11-22 08:12:27 UTC
Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch in ‘The Black Box’.
Harry Bosch of the Los Angeles Police Department has a birthday during the course of “The Black Box.” But as Michael Connelly’s readers well know, Harry’s not a party guy. He comes home to find that his 16-year-old daughter, Maddie, has made him...
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Minneapolis writer's secret: Tap inner 11-year-old
2012-11-17 08:36:34 UTC
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Barely known in a literary field dominated by brand names like "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," William Alexander scored the National Book Award for Young People's Literature by tapping into his burning love for books when he was 11 years old.
"Of course I still love books...