A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first book in J.K. Rowling's phenomenally selling 7-part series, has been acquired for 150,000 pounds (or $227,421) at a London charity auction held by Sotheby's and organized with the English PEN writers' association.
To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone — and to partially banish its iconic covers from a new generation — Scholastic says paperback editions of the series will be getting a makeover.
Discovered: Wizard-like scientists make objects invisible; death is close when chromosome tips are worn down; pregnant women who contract flus are more likely to have autistic babies; prosthetic skin that heals itself.
Today in books and publishing: Reviews are in on Franzen-adapting play; closing Amazon's tax loopholes; only Harry Potter can save Bloomsbury now; telling designers what to read.
Until J.K. Rowling's new novel for adults, The Casual Vacancy, comes out on Thursday at its worldwide on-sale time of 8 a.m. GMT (so 3 a.m. ET and 12 a.m. PT), it is strictly guarded by her publisher's non-disclosure requirements. But the A.P. has released their review of the book anyway.
For all the hormones that raged in the halls of Hogwarts, J. K. Rowling's writing has been pretty PG when it comes to sexual matters. Not anymore, though.
The Giver is one of the books you probably read as a kid, somewhere between late elementary or middle school and early high school, depending on your school and curriculum. Two of us hadn't, though, and finally did.
What's better, the book or the movie? Can the movie ever be as good as the book? The debate is an age-old one, probably existing since the very first screenplay was derived from a popular work, because when we fall in love with books we typically fall hard.
Today in books and publishing: Chicago Public Library bestows amnesty; rediscovering Thomas Browne; Google accused of copyright infringement; the results from NPR's Y.A. poll.
Today in books and publishing: Dennis Rodman writes a children's book; doubts cast about Ryszard Kapuściński; Gore Vidal dies; another seven-figure Twilight fan fiction book deal.
Every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the video clips that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention.
One key difference between a good book and a great book is that a great book is eternally transportive, no matter how times you return to the well. Here are the books we started reading as kids and haven't put down since.
Today in books and publishing: Questioning the stories of Obama in a new book; free, unlimited Potter for Amazon Prime subscribers; Alice Walker protests Israel's treatment of Palestine, won't allow Hebrew translation of The Color Purple.
Today in books and publishing: Fifty Shades of Grey is the fastest-selling paperback ever; Elie Wiesel returns an award to Hungary in protest; remembering the good old book days; what would your favorite author drunk-text?
Today in books: Book Expo America is on; Sony introduces an augmented reality book for Playstation by J.K. Rowling; Amazon buys Avalon Books; and more.
A story going around this week about hundreds of Harry Potter fans abandoning the pet owls they foolishly adopted provides us with opportunity to revisit an important lesson: Stop adopting animals because they looked cute in a movie!
Today in books: Multivolume biographies aren't what they used to be, Amazon has some big Harry Potter news, and the 2012 election will result in a quickie Ann Coulter book.
Today in books and publishing: Adaptation screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is adapting Lionsgate's next big YA series, Jonathan Franzen's new essay collection is here, and the "weirdos" of World Book Night had a good time giving away literature for nothing.
What exactly is "Y.A."? What does it mean? Why did it begin in the first place, and when was that? What has it become since? We conferred with librarians, agents, publishing world executives, and the experts of the Internet to put together a primer of sorts.
Despite advance tickets selling like crazy and hype for the books and film rivaling that of Twilight and the Harry Potter franchise, Lionsgate is worried that young men won't see The Hunger Games.
For Harry Potter fans, the long, cold, and Dark five-year publishing hiatus of J.K. Rowling has been tough, but today we learn it will soon end.
After a long day spent staring at Twitter, we're sharing our favorite tweets that made no sense.
Discovered: An even better invisibility cloak, the crime genes, working hard is depressing, the speed limit of particles, and heart attack deaths halved over the last 10 years.
Discovered: Hairy chested crabs, a invisibility cloak that erases time, a beautiful image of the next generation of stars, the key to dieting success, the effects of climate change are worse than we predicted
Today in books: the "Bad Sex in Fiction" award results are in, two poets have withdrawn from the T.S. Eliot prize shortlist, and California gets a Harry Potter theme park.
A new report that the British tabloid News of the World hired a private eye to spy on the lawyers of phone-hacking victims just got a bit Darker (yes, with a capital D!).
Today in film and television: Craig Gillespie walks from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Spielberg blames Lucas for the last Indiana Jones movie, and stuntman has died on the Bulgarian set of The Expendables 2.
Warner Bros has announced that it will stop shipping all DVD and Blu-ray versions of the eight Harry Potter films on December 29, putting them back "in the vault" to increase scarcity — and the value of future, yet-to-be-made special editions.
Aaron Sorkin is being courted to write a Steve Jobs biopic, former White House speechwriter Jon Lovett sells a White House-set comedy, and Warner Bros. is going to stop shipping Harry Potter movies in December.
Plus: Michael Chabon wife addresses his Amazon critics
Plus: Nobody wants to be the savior of NBC
The 'Up in the Air' author is blogging through a long list of complaints
The final installment of the franchise scored the highest opening of all time
Final film in the series has matched Obama $86 million haul in under a day
That's also about half about as much as last year's GDP for Haiti and Nicaragua
Some very serious people have participated in the franchise's farewell tour
A hidden meaning makes Harry Potter premiere headlines more interesting
Fans and non-fans alike are rushing to heap praise on the final film in the franchise
The British author launches a new online store called Pottermore
Leaked memo offers details on J.K. Rowling's mysterious new web project
Warner Bros. accused of not respecting France's 'communal cup'
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