News on Books and Literature

Call it the luck of Marley. The late Labrador retriever made famous by "Marley and Me" will be the hero of 13 children's books by "Marley" author John Grogan. The first of the series comes out this summer, HarperCollins Children's Books announced Thursday. Grogan's "Marley & Me," published in 2005, is a million-selling memoir and the basis for the hit movie of the same name, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback 1. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P) 2. "My Sister's Keeper: A Novel" by Jodi Picoult (Pocket) (F-P) 3. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-P) 4. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-H) 5. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) (F-H) 6. "Skin Trade" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley) (F-H) 7. "The Shack" by William P. Young (Windblown Media) (F-P) 8 ...

Remember that tell-all book about A-Rod? Just a month after making headlines with its allegations that the New York Yankees star likely used steroids as far back as high school, Selena Roberts' "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez" has vanished from best seller lists. Published in early May by HarperCollins with an announced first printing of 150,000, "A-Rod" has sold just 16,000 copies so far, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75 ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Anthony Browne, Britain's new laureate for children is on a mission to get the country drawing. Browne, who started his two-year stint as laureate on Tuesday, told Reuters he intends to use the platform to promote drawing as a way for children -- and adults -- to express their creativity. Making images is a great way to unleash the imagination, Browne said, and he aims to get them playing the shape game -- a game invented by him and his brother when they were little -- to encourage more children to ...