Not dead yet: Libraries still vital, Pew report finds

The Pew report assures us that, even in the digital age, libraries continue to serve a variety of functions.

Inauguration 2013: Richard Blanco's poem captures nation's hope, unease

In about 550 words, Richard Blanco's inaugural poem created a metaphorical country and took it through the journey of a metaphorical day.

Congrats to the Story Prize finalists

The Story Prize finalists were announced, along with the debut of a new prize, the Spotlight Award, designed for the Story Prize founders to single out a work due additional attention.

Dan Brown of 'The Da Vinci Code' to publish 'Inferno' in May

Dan Brown's new thriller "Inferno," starrring his tweedy hero Robert Langdon from "The Da Vinci Code," will be published May 14 in hardcover and as an e-book by Doubleday.

National Book Critics Circle announces finalists for awards

The late journalist Anthony Shadid, Los Angeles writer Reyna Grande and the novelist Zadie Smith were among the finalists announced Monday for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards.

Obama's inauguration poet is a fresh burst of firsts

Cuban American Richard Blanco will not only be the first Latino poet to be so honored, but the first openly gay man to be selected as well.

'Big Sur': Another Kerouac novel heads to the screen

"Big Sur" is coming to the screen, in an adaptation directed by Michael Polish and starring Jean-Marc Barr; it premieres at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah later this month.

Where the wild things are for sale

The Swann Gallery in New York is holding a large auction of 20th century illustrations that features the works of Maurice Sendak.

Everyone's life is interesting: Defending confessional nonfiction

There's a fundamental flaw in "Journalism Is Not Narcissism," the recent Gawker post deriding confessional nonfiction: The first-person essays he finds so self-indulgent are not journalism.

C. Joseph Greaves' 'Hard Twisted' a gritty, gripping read

The Depression-era tale of a killer and the teenage girl who becomes his companion, 'Hard Twisted' by C. Joseph Greaves is rich in detail and brutally told.

The bestselling e-book of 2012: 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

If you bought a copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" for your e-reader, you are not alone -- not by a long shot.

How to keep your 2013 resolutions: Jeremy Dean on 'Making Habits'

The sun has risen on a new year, a time for (once the hangover has subsided) fulfilling all the resolutions we made.

15 literary resolutions for 2013

We asked some smart bookish types if they have any particularly literary resolutions for 2013 — they've got some great ideas for kicking off the new year.

Faces to Watch 2013: Emily Rapp, Small Demons' Valla Vakili, more

Who should you be reading in 2013? Memoirist Emily Rapp and short-story writer Jim Gavin, for starters.

Amy Wilentz revisits Haiti in 'Farewell, Fred Voodoo'

This moving study of the country before and after the quake is both love letter and lament.

Beauty, brains in Jane Yolen's 'Curse of the Thirteenth Fey'

Fairy girl Gorse is a smart, modern heroine as she takes on curses and questionable characters in the Sleeping Beauty tale.

Art appreciation 101: 'Glittering Images' by Camille Paglia

The author surveys and appreciates 29 visual artworks in 'A Journey Through Art From Egypt to Star Wars.'

Azardeen Van der Vliet Oloomi's exciting 'Fra Keeler'

Plus, Jeffrey Fleishman coaxes mystery from forgetting in 'Shadow Man.'

'On the Road' toward mortality: A critic ponders Jack Kerouac

The 1957 novel seems to be Kerouac's attempt to mythologize his band of friends so that they would escape time. The new movie overlooks this element.

An Amazon.com jungle of wrapping paper

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house, so much wrapping paper is spilling and suffocating my spouse.

How well do you know your Christmas tree? Take the quiz

The Christmas tree is a fixture as familiar as it is ubiquitous; but how well do you know the Christmas tree?

Nassim Nicholas Taleb's 'Antifragile' dares us to expect the unexpected

The author offers bold new ideas on how to benefit from strife, but his huge ego can get tiresome.

'The Holy or the Broken' tracks a song's slow build to classic

'The Holy or the Broken' by Alan Light follows 'Hallelujah' from Leonard Cohen in 1984 to Jeff Buckley in 1994 to recent pop culture ubiquity.

Sebastian Faulks' 'A Possible Life' told with craft

Though its well-regarded writer calls the book a novel, it's better to read it as a gallery of fictional portraits. That way, we can appreciate his skill.

'Best European Fiction' anthologies open doors around the world

Think the U.S. isn't up to participating in 'the big dialogue of literature'? The American-produced 'Best European' anthologies tell a different story.