Book News & Features

Known as the "Joan Anderson Letter," the 18-page, single-spaced, stream of consciousness note from Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac was found amid the dusty papers of a now-closed publishing house.

The veteran-penned short story collection and the nonfiction look at modern China and its citizens joined youth literature winner Brown Girl Dreaming and poetry winner Faithful and Virtuous Night.

On Tuesday night, finalists for the National Book Awards read from their nominated works at The New School in New York City. The National Book Foundation will announce the winners Wednesday night.

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes sparked the notice of the Oxford Dictionaries, which chose "vape" as the word of the year for 2014. It beat out contenders such as "bae" and "normcore."

This week Spain's northeast region voted in favor of independence. But the results weren't recognized by the Spanish government. The situation reminds poet Rowan Ricardo Phillips of a favorite book.

The agreement in the months-long dispute was announced today and the two former adversaries will resume normal business "immediately," according to a press release.

It's literary awards season. The Nobel, the National Book Awards shortlists, and the Man Booker Prize were all recently announced. Author Jason Sheehan recommends some reading on all this reading.