Dec 6 2012 12:01 AM ET

'Batman' #15: Exclusive preview of the DC comic!

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The Dark Knight faces off against his most terrifying villain yet again in next week’s Batman #15. It’s the latest chapter of the “Death of the Family” crossover, which sees the Joker’s predictably gore-splattered return to Gotham City. EW is proud to present four variant covers and the first five pages of the issue. Be sure to check it out when it hits stands next Wednesday!

Dec 5 2012 09:13 AM ET

Oprah's next Book Club selection is...

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Oprah Winfrey rebooted the much-coveted Oprah’s Book Club earlier this year, proving that she didn’t need her network talk show to create a huge impact on the publishing business. Her endorsement of Wild by Cheryl Strayed helped the memoir skyrocket to No. 1 in Hardcover Nonfiction.

Today, Winfrey went back to her love of novels by announcing her newest selection, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by debut author Ayana Mathis, the release date for which as been moved up to tomorrow, Dec. 6. Winfrey doled high praise on the novel: “The opening pages of Ayana’s debut took my breath away,” she said. “I can’t remember when I read anything that moved me in quite this way, besides the work of Toni Morrison.” (I’ve read the opening pages, too, and they are indeed breathtaking).

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie follows one family over 60 years through the Great Migration, centering on Hattie Shepherd, a mother of nine children.

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Read more:
Cheryl Strayed talks ‘Wild,’ ‘Tiny Beautiful Things,’ Oprah, and ‘Dear Sugar’
Oprah Winfrey sits down with ‘Wild’ author Cheryl Strayed — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Dec 4 2012 03:01 PM ET

Interview with Tony Fletcher, author of 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths'

http://img2.timeinc.net//ew/i/2012/12/03/light-never-goes-out_510x317.jpgSome of you might know The Smiths as one of the seminal indie rock bands of the 1980′s, responsible for such landmark albums as Meat is Murder and The Queen is Dead. Others (myself included) know them as “that band that Zooey Deschanel listens to in (500) Days of Summer“. Thanks to Ms. Deschanel’s music-savvy temptress and, now, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the group that made Morrissey and Johnny Marr household names is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. But there’s much more to these Manchester lads than weepie teen fiction.

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 4 2012 12:00 PM ET

Best of 2012 (Behind the Scenes): Gillian Flynn on 'Gone Girl' twists -- 'It's fine with me if people don't like the ending'

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Image Credit: Heidi Jo Brady

[WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!] Gillian Flynn, a former EW critic and current Entertainer of the Year, has had a dream 2012. Not only has her third novel Gone Girl been a giant critical and commercial success, it’s become part of the zeitgeist, stirring heated conversation. You can’t look at Gone Girl‘s Amazon page without reading endless rants about THAT ending. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 4 2012 10:10 AM ET

Check out the cover for the 'Twilight' fanfic turned novel 'Beautiful Bastard' -- EXCLUSIVE

Ladies (and gents — no shame!), get ready to meet your next kinky businessman obsession: Mr. Bennett Ryan. Beautiful Bastard (or, as I like to call it, the Twilight fanfiction formerly known as The Office) won’t be released until February, but we’ve got an exclusive first look at the tantalizing cover to whet your appetites.

As we reported earlier this month, Beautiful Bastard is the latest Twilight imitator to score a book deal. The fanfiction, which centers on “whip-smart” intern Chloe Mills and her love/hate relationship with her exacting boss Bennett Ryan, first appeared online in 2009, but was quickly taken down by author Christina Hobbs after the attention proved to be overwhelming. In 2010, she began pursuing projects with her fellow fanfic writer Lauren Billings and the two revised The Office together under the pen name Christina Lauren, eventually landing a deal for two books — Beautiful Bastard and its sequel Beautiful Stranger. Think Fifty Shades of Grey, but classier (or so I’m told). So without further ado, check out the cover of the first book below:

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Who can resist a man in a skinny tie? How haute couture.

Beautiful Bastard hits shelves Feb. 12. Fans of The Office, how does it compare to Fifty Shades? Better? Worse? Hotter? Kinkier? What do you think of the cover? Let me know in the comments!

Read more:
The ‘Fifty Shades’ bump: More ‘Twilight’ fanficion is being turned into novels
Just what your baby needs: a ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’-themed onesie
‘Fifty Shades’ Watch: Erotic book trilogy sells for seven figures

Dec 4 2012 08:00 AM ET

Goodreads users select best books of 2012 -- FIRST LOOK

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The annual Goodreads Choice Awards are basically the People’s Choice Awards of books. Users of the literary social network voted on their favorite books of the year in 20 categories, and this year, there were some surprises — J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy as best novel? — and some slam dunks (Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl for Best Mystery, John Green for Best Young Adult, and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild for Best Memoir). Once again, Veronica Roth proved that she’s pretty much unbeatable when it comes to reader-voted prizes, winning the Best Goodreads Author award for the first time and the Best Young Adult Fantasy award for the second time with Insurgent, sequel to Divergent.

The closest race occurred in Best Historical Fiction, with M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans narrowly beating out Man Booker-winner Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. J.K. Rowling’s first adult novel most likely benefited from a large and devoted fanbase, as Casual Vacancy only became a finalist due to write-in votes — its Goodreads user rating of 3.32 stars wasn’t originally high enough to qualify it — yet it won the biggest honor.

Susan Cain’s Nonfiction win for her best-seller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking made me smile — partly because I could picture a bunch of Goodreads bookworms really relating to it, and also because introverts, a sizable but often ignored and misunderstood demographic, have had a big year in 2012 with the publication of Quiet, Sophia Dembling’s The Introvert’s Way, and a buzzed-about feature in The Atlantic.

See the entire list of winners below: READ FULL STORY »

Dec 3 2012 10:52 AM ET

'Three Cups of Tea' co-author David Oliver Relin dies at age 49

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David Oliver Relin, co-author of the 2006 best-selling inspirational memoir Three Cups of Tea, died on Nov. 14 in Oregon at age 49. Relin had been suffering from depression and committed suicide, according to a family spokesperson.

The book, co-authored with Greg Mortenson, came under fire in 2011 when 60 Minutes and author Jon Krakauer alleged that it misrepresented or fabricated basic facts, particularly passages about Mortenson’s rescue by the citizens of Korphe, Pakistan, and the number of schools built by Mortenson’s charity, the Central Asia Institute. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 30 2012 05:12 PM ET

R. Kelly writing 'Trapped in the Closet' book

Image Credit: Parrish Lewis

Image Credit: Parrish Lewis

Just when you thought R. Kelly couldn’t possibly have any more ideas for Trapped in the Closet.

The R&B crooner just released 10 new chapters in his twisted “hip-hopera” and plans to take the saga to Broadway, but he’s not stopping there – a book is also in the works. Kelly told Fast Company‘s Co.Create that he’s currently writing the book that appears in an infomercial in the series’ most recent installments. It’s a hefty tome that he claims provides background information about the story’s bizarre set of characters: Rufus, Chuck, Sylvester, Pimp Lucius, Bridget, a midget named, fittingly, Little Man.
READ FULL STORY »

Nov 30 2012 03:14 PM ET

Meet Babies Grey and Anastasia: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' inspires baby names

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Image Credit: Etsy

Call it the Fifty Shades bump — literally. BabyCenter has released their yearly list of most popular baby names and — shocker! — the Class of 2030 will be seeing a lot more Anastasias and Greys. Wait, Greys? Yes, readers. When bestowing a Fifty Shades-inspired moniker on their child, parents chose not Christian, but Grey. The name saw a 20 percent jump from last year. On the girls’ side of things, Anastasia rose ten percent, while Ana climbed 35 spots. I suppose we should just be thankful these parents are still together. Make love, not war, right?

As the child of a voracious reader, this news strikes particularly close to home. My father named me for Gone with the Wind, but my brother was not so lucky (in his eyes) — his name is Dickens and he’s been clamoring to change it to Will since he was 10 (don’t even get me started on our dog Trollope). So on that note, what are the worst book-based names you can think of? Here are my top ten: READ FULL STORY »

Nov 29 2012 01:44 PM ET

Title, release date announced for Amanda Knox memoir

Image Credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Harper Collins has released the title, publication date, and cover design for Amanda Knox’s memoir.

The book, called Waiting to be Heard, will hit stores on April 30, 2013. The cover will feature Knox’s intense, unsmiling face.

READ FULL STORY »

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