Google, the Internet's leader in search and advertising, says the process it developed and is using for scanning the majority of the books in Book Search is proprietary. Employees will not discuss it except to say it is much faster than what Mitchel is doing and it's not destructive. "It took us quite a while to develop it so we do keep that confidential," said a library manager for Book Search, Ben Bunnell, who declined even to say where Google does the scanning.

Many libraries began digitizing books a decade ago to preserve them. Funding from Google allows the 28 libraries it's working with to cut their digitizing costs because they don't have to pay for scanning the books Google wants to include in Book Search.

Through Book Search, users can track down a book on any topic they're interested in and read a small portion. If the book's not protected by copyright, users can download the whole thing. If it is, or if they just want to read an original, they can use Book Search to find copies to buy or borrow. More than 1 million rare or fragile books have been digitized through the Google-Michigan partnership since it began in 2004, with an estimated 6 million to go.

Lily Allen was never the most obvious pick to judge a major literary prize. She's famous not for her views on novels but for a song about London that doesn't even spell out the city's whole name. That didn't stop the organisers of the Orange Broadband prize (awarded for the best novel in English by a woman). In December, they added Allen's name to a judging panel alongside broadcaster Kirsty Lang, journalist Bel Mooney, novelist Philippa Gregory and the Guardian's Lisa Allardice.

Lily Allen was never the most obvious pick to judge a major literary prize. She's famous not for her views on novels but for a song about London that doesn't even spell out the city's whole name. That didn't stop the organisers of the Orange Broadband prize (awarded for the best novel in English by a woman). In December, they added Allen's name to a judging panel alongside broadcaster Kirsty Lang, journalist Bel Mooney, novelist Philippa Gregory and the Guardian's Lisa Allardice.

Many lit snobs squawked, wondering what a 22-year-old pop singer would bring to the table -- other than chewing gum and photographers' flash-bulbs. And now, well, they can stop squawking. Because Lily Allen's out. "It is with deep regret that Lily Allen has withdrawn from the judging panel," Allen's manager told the Daily Mail this weekend. "Lily had read extensively for the first stage of the judging process and was looking forward to the shortlist meeting but recently found that she was unable to commit 100% to the role due to ill-health."

Allen did not attend a judges' meeting last month to discuss the 20-book longlist, according to the Daily Mail. Instead she participated by telephone. Allen also missed a debate last week to decide the shortlist. "Lily hopes that her withdrawal will not detract from the huge importance of the Orange prize and sends her sincere apologies to her fellow judges and to the individual authors," her manager added.

At least since Dante's Paolo and Francesca fell in love over tales of Lancelot, literary taste has been a good shorthand for gauging compatibility. These days, thanks to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, listing your favorite books and authors is a crucial, if risky, part of self-branding. When it comes to online dating, even casual references can turn into deal breakers. Sussing out a date's taste in books is "actually a pretty good way -- as a sort of first pass -- of getting a sense of someone," said Anna Fels, a Manhattan psychiatrist and the author of Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women's Changing Lives. "It's a bit of a Rorschach test." To Fels (who happens to be married to the literary publisher and writer James Atlas), reading habits can be a rough indicator of other qualities. "It tells something about ... their level of intellectual curiosity, what their style is," Fels said. "It speaks to class, educational level."

Naming a favorite book or author can be fraught. Go too low, and you risk looking dumb. Go too high, and you risk looking like a bore -- or a phony. "Manhattan dating is a highly competitive, ruthlessly selective sport," Augusten Burroughs, the author of Running With Scissors and other vivid memoirs, said. "Generally, if a guy had read a book in the last year, or ever, that was good enough." The author recalled a date with one Michael, a "robust blond from Germany." As he walked to meet him outside Dean & DeLuca, "I saw, to my horror, an artfully worn, older-than-me copy of Proust by Samuel Beckett." That, Burroughs claims, was a deal breaker. "If there existed a more hackneyed, achingly obvious method of telegraphing one's education, literary standards and general intelligence, I couldn't imagine it."

Viewing modern adaptations was found to be as popular as teachers might have suspected, according to the YouGov poll. With both texts regularly figuring in secondary school English classes, it is no surprise that Baz Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet and the BBC's Pride And Prejudice were frequently watched. Londoners were the worst culprits, with 16% admitting to using the films to sidestep the texts, the poll commissioned by academic bookseller Blackwell found.

Two-thirds of Britons were unaware that films such as Ten Things I Hate About You and Clueless were actually adaptations. But despite one-third of adults admitting they never read the classics, there are those who think modern life is imitating the traditional. Dickensian Britain has been reborn in the modern binge-drinking culture, according to 54% of those surveyed.

And 47% believe that many young people are suffering from Peter Pan syndrome, unwilling to grow up just as in JM Barrie's classic novel. There is also evidence that the "wag" culture may not be such a new phenomenon - 30% believe that trying to find a rich husband mirrors the themes of Jane Austen's novels.

Phil Jamieson, head of marketing at Blackwell, said: "Classic books are timeless. You will find contemporary themes such as love, sex, murder, mystery and high-octane drama in all the great novels, which is why they still appeal to the masses to this day through films and have parallels with our daily lives."

Former Avon and Berkley publisher Lou Aronica and agent Peter Miller are creating The Story Plant, a publishing company focused on "commercial fiction and author development," intending to "develop writers over multiple books" and "focus on long-term relationships with commercial novelists." Distributed by Perseus Distribution, the line launches this fall with Sienna Skyy's AMERICAN QUEST, a contemporary romantic fantasy, and Jonathan Javitt's medical thriller CAPITOL REFLECTIONS.

Miller, who serves as marketing and rights director for the company, says in the announcement, "When we sign a Story Plant title, we're specifically looking at the book's film and foreign potential. We think the books on this list are going to be successful on a number of platforms." Foreign rights are being sold by Baror International.

The Best of the Booker, a one-off award, is announced today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Booker Prize. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction recognises and is awarded for the best novel of the year; and now The Best of the Booker will honour the best overall novel to have won the prize since it was first awarded on 22 April 1969.

This is only the second time that a celebratory award has been created. The first was in 1993 - the 25th anniversary - when Salman Rushdie won the Booker of Bookers with Midnight's Children. However, unlike then, this time the public will be able to cast their vote.

In all, 41 novelists have won the prize over the years because in 1974 and 1992 there were two winners. In 1974 Nadine Gordimer won with The Conservationist and Stanley Middleton with Holiday. In 1992 Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient shared the top spot with Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger.

For The Best of the Booker, a panel of judges has been appointed to select a shortlist of six novels. They are biographer, novelist and critic Victoria Glendinning, (Chair); writer and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, and John Mullan, Professor of English at UCL. Their shortlist will be announced in May, and public voting will then begin via the Man Booker Prize website - www.themanbookerprize.com.

He is happy with the movie version of his best-selling novel Atonement— though he concedes that, at first, he had reservations about its big budget and the medium of film itself. The British author now praises director Joe Wright's "lush visual sense" and "real sense and eye for instinct, for the emotional heart." And he appreciates screenwriter Christopher Hampton's ability to incorporate details from the book into the screenplay.

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The film's only actor to be nominated is 13-year-old Irish actress Saoirse Ronan. And McEwan is impressed by her handling of the novel's key character, Briony, who falsely accuses her sister's lover of a rape. "Even if you couldn't have access to her mind, you really got the sense of her mind just turning," McEwan said Tuesday at the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. "And I think that's really important to the success of the film."

The 59-year-old Booker prize winner added that the movie's other two stars, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, "worked marvelously together. ...Joe Wright turned out to be an absolutely superb caster." McEwan says he was initially skeptical of the movie's $40 million budget, worrying that the big investment would allow commercial considerations, such as pressure to cast marketable stars, to trump artistic integrity. But, he says, "all my fears were allayed."

Story follows a newspaper editor (Broderick) demoted from politics to comics after a debilitating concussion. He links up with his uncle (Alda) and his high school sweetheart (Madsen) and goes on a road trip to sell what may be a valuable baseball card.

In addition to directing credit for the feature "Kubuku Rides" Kinney acted in the films "Save the Last Dance" and "Sleepers", was a regular on HBO's "OZ," co-founded Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, and appeared on the Rialto in "The Grapes of Wrath."

Ms. Golomb, who represented Ms. Pessl in the sale of "Special Topics," said in an interview last week that Ms. Gibson's book is set in a wealthy community on the North shore of Long Island, and centers around a 16-year-old girl who struggles with the "terribly materialistic world" in which she lives. Like her classmates, Ms. Golomb said, the girl does not like to read, and her parents, in an attempt to get her to embrace literature, hire someone to write a book fitted specifically to her taste and sensibility.

Ms. Golomb said A Book for Carley, which was acquired by Dutton editor-in-chief Trena Keating, was written with a sort of "heightened wit" and precocious dialogue reminiscent of Special Topics and the film Juno.

"The real message of the book is that literature is something that can really inform your life and your life choices and your feelings about yourself, and it's kind of a rallying cry for children and teenagers and all of us to continue to read because it's not just some dry thing that's good for you," Ms. Golomb said. "That's the kind of thing that the publishing community can really get behind and it’s very popular with book clubs."

Egypt has banned a number of Western and secular books from the 40th Cairo International Book Fair, including works by Czech author Milan Kundera and Morocco's Mohamed Choukri, publishers said on Monday.

The Cairo book fair, the Arab world's largest, is dominated by Islamist and educational works, an AFP correspondent reported, and the authorities have not said why the other works were seized at Cairo airport.

"The Egyptian authorities have given no explanation, we were neither informed nor consulted about this measure and the books have not been returned to us," said Rana Idriss, director of Lebanese publishing house Dar al-Adab.

Friedman, whose books include the million-selling The World is Flat, will be promoting his new work, Green is the New Red, White and Blue, an environmentally themed work coming out in August.

BookExpo event director Lance Fensterman said Wednesday he was "especially pleased and proud to have been able to secure him for this book, and for this keynote event. Thomas Friedman's message not only dovetails nicely with our own programming, but it promises to be a definitive 'call to arms' for how we manage our environment in the future."

David Rosenthal, Simon & Schuster's publisher, said he had hired Ms. Painton because he wanted to "bring someone with a very fresh perspective of things." Ms. Painton, 49, had been at Time for nearly two decades before she resigned, working first as a reporter and then as an editor. Before being appointed deputy managing editor, she served as Time's executive editor, which made her the highest-ranking woman editor in the history of the magazine.

At Simon & Schuster, Ms. Painton will acquire and edit books as well as oversee a team of nine editors. Until now, the editors have reported to Alice Mayhew, who is Simon & Schuster's editorial director. Ms. Mayhew will continue to acquire and edit titles and will report to Mr. Rosenthal, as will Ms. Painton.

"I just felt the strong need to launch a second career," Ms. Painton said. She said she saw publishing as complementary to her experience and that her network of contacts could serve as a pool for possible authors.

Mr. Rosenthal said he hoped Ms. Painton's media connections would benefit the publishing house. "Media is critical to how we publicize and promote our books, so a sophisticated knowledge of that ain't a bad thing to have," he said.

Was it hard to watch Atonement be adapted to film by other people? Did you feel possessive?

I'm fairly used to the process. I think this is the fifth or sixth of my stories or novels that have been made into films. I'm sure I'd be possessive if I allowed myself to get involved in the writing of the script. There's a lot to be said for not doing that. I did it once with The Innocent and John Schlesinger, and it was a fairly difficult process because everyone -- the director, the designers, actors, everyone -- had their own ideas and came piling in. And you are suddenly knocked off your perch as the God in this machine. It is better to have someone take a free run at it. But I can't quite walk away, so I like to stay involved. I like film sets, and I enjoy the collaborative process. I'm not sure if I had the worst of both worlds or the best.

With sales for his most recent novel, "I Am Charlotte Simmons," well below those for his celebrated "The Bonfire of the Vanities," Wolfe and Farrar, Straus couldn't agree on terms for his next book. Wolfe wanted at least $5 million, more than Farrar was willing to risk.

"We have an old-fashioned model for publishing, which is to publish someone well and consistently for a long time," Farrar publisher Jonathan Galassi said. "That is a model that works well; it's when money rears its ugly head that you have a problem. And we had that with Tom."

Readers may not know, or care, whether an author sticks with Farrar, Straus or Little, Brown, but within the industry there is a long, proud history of writers who became inseparable from their publishers: John Steinbeck and Viking, William Styron and Random House, Ernest Hemingway and Scribner. Even Wolfe liked to call himself the "Cal Ripken" of the book world for his uninterrupted streak with Farrar, Straus — longer, he noted, than Steinbeck's time with Viking.

The business is far larger, more fickle and more impersonal than when Wolfe first joined Farrar, in 1965, but most of the major publishers still have a core of veteran authors who have stayed in one place: David McCullough and Mary Higgins Clark at Simon & Schuster, Maya Angelou and E.L. Doctorow at Random House, Russell Banks and Tony Hillerman at HarperCollins. Longevity can be a story of personal or professional loyalty. At Grove/Atlantic, publisher Morgan Entrekin and author P.J. O'Rourke are so close that Entrekin served as best man at O'Rourke's wedding. Studs Terkel has a decades-long bond with New Press publisher Andre Schiffrin, as does Angelou with editor Bob Loomis. Wolfe worked for years at Farrar, Straus with editor Pat Strachan, who will again handle the author at Little, Brown.

Of the 53 percent of U.S. adults who said they visited a library in 2007, the biggest users were young adults aged 18 to 30 in the tech-loving group known as Generation Y, the survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project said. "These findings turn our thinking about libraries upside down," said Leigh Estabrook, a professor emerita at the University of Illinois and co-author of a report on the survey results. "Internet use seems to create an information hunger and it is information-savvy young people who are most likely to visit libraries," she said.

Internet users were more than twice as likely to patronize libraries as non-Internet users, according to the survey. More than two-thirds of library visitors in all age groups said they used computers while at the library. Sixty-five percent of them looked up information on the Internet while 62 percent used computers to check into the library's resources. Public libraries now offer virtual homework help, special gaming software programs, and some librarians even have created characters in the Second Life virtual world, Estabrook said. Libraries also remain a community hub or gathering place in many neighborhoods, she said.

The survey showed 62 percent of Generation Y respondents said they visited a public library in the past year, with a steady decline in usage according to age. Some 57 percent of adults aged 43 to 52 said they visited a library in 2007, followed by 46 percent of adults aged 53 to 61; 42 percent of adults aged 62 to 71; and just 32 percent of adults over 72.

"We were surprised by these findings, particularly in relation to Generation Y," said Lee Rainie, co-author of the study and director of the Pew project. In 1996 a survey by the Benton Foundation found young adults saw libraries becoming less relevant in the future.

The survey focused on 69 U.S. cities with populations of 250,000 or above. Jack Miller of Central Connecticut State University chose six key indicators to rank literacy. These included newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and Internet resources. Overall, the top 10 most literate (and wired) cities included:

1—Minneapolis, Minn.
2—Seattle, Wash.
3—St. Paul, Minn.
4—Denver, Colo.
5—Washington, D.C.
6—St. Louis, Mo.
7—San Francisco, Calif.
8—Atlanta, Ga.
9—Pittsburgh, Pa.
10—Boston, Mass.

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Some cities that didn't make it to the overall top 10, however, did strut their stuff in one of the six key literacy indicators. For instance, while Newark, N.J., was the 49th most literate city overall, it shared the top spot for newspaper circulation with Washington, D.C.

Plano, Texas, ranking 51st on the overall most-literate-city list, came in second for educational attainment. The education ranking included two factors: the percentage of the city's adult population with a high school diploma or higher and those with a bachelor's degree or higher.

Tough-guy actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris sued publisher Penguin on Friday over a book he claims unfairly exploits his famous name, based on a satirical Internet list of "mythical facts" about him.

Penguin published "The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human" in November. Author Ian Spector and two Web sites he runs to promote the book, including www.truthaboutchuck.com, are also named in the suit. The book capitalizes on "mythical facts" that have been circulating on the Internet since 2005 that poke fun at Norris' tough-guy image and super-human abilities, the suit said.

It includes such humorous "facts" as "Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried" and "Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits," the suit said, as well as "Chuck Norris can charge a cell phone by rubbing it against his beard." "Some of the 'facts' in the book are racist, lewd or portray Mr. Norris as engaged in illegal activities," the lawsuit alleges.

• Autographed copy of How to Get Somewhere in the Music Business: From Nowhere to Nothing by Mary Dawson (CQK), the must-have guidebook for every aspiring songwriter.
  
  
• Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Warner Books), the exciting and moving story of three women and their unexpected and shocking adventure.
  
  
• Widdershins by Charles deLint (Tor), the captivating bestselling urban fantasy set in and around the mysterious town of Newford.
  
  
• Science Fiction: The Best of the Year 2007, Edited by Rich Horton (Cosmos), the collection of short stories that will thrill sf fans. A Locus Recommended Reading Selection.
  
  

Doris Lessing is unable to travel to Stockholm to receive her Nobel prize for literature on December 10 due to back problems. Instead, the Nobel foundation will present the £766,000 prize to the 87-year-old British writer in London, after medical advisers told her not to travel. In London, Lessing's representative, Olivia Guest, confirmed the cancellation had "to do with her back". Lessing had been invited to collect the award at the ceremony in Stockholm along with the Nobel winners in chemistry, physics, medicine and economics on December 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel 1896.

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Literature prize winners traditionally give a lecture in Stockholm before accepting the award. Lessing's lecture would be prerecorded and shown at the academy on December 7, the foundation said. Guest said she hoped Lessing would be able to record her lecture in London, but added that plans to do so "aren't set in stone".

A friend and I were talking last night, as we usually do, about books. We were going on and on about our favorite authors and I noticed there were no men authors being talked about. When I asked her who her favorite male author was who wrote romance she immediately said Nicolas Sparks, "If you can get past the tragic endings." Well, I knew that was the reason I didn't read his books. I need my HEA (happily ever after).

So for my turn I threw out Paul Levine who writes the great Solomon vs Lord series (think Moonlighting meets Boston Legal). I love the romance in his books, along with the humor, memorable characters and mystery.

Most spectacularly, the lawsuit alleges that Ms. Regan was the victim of a vast conspiracy, set in motion by two unnamed News Corp executives, who were worried that she would expose secrets about her now-indicted former lover Bernard Kerik-the former New York City police commissioner-that would imperil his former boss Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. News Corp conspired to not only fire her, according to the lawsuit, but also defame her and discredit her so that any allegations she made would be immediately discounted as the ravings of a crazy person. HarperCollins and Ms. Friedman declined to comment for this story. A News Corp spokeswoman called the suit "preposterous."

According to a source close to Ms. Regan and familiar with the negotiations, she was offered a $6.5 million settlement in August but turned it down. Bertram Fields, Ms. Regan's lawyer (though he is not directly representing her in the case) told The Observer last week: "We told them their number was unacceptable. They were warned in advance that she was going to file if they didn't increase the settlement offer they'd made and they responded that they were not going to increase it by one dime. And as a result she filed."

If there's one thing Judith Regan has, it's impeccable timing. Whether it was deliberate or not-and no one's saying-having her lawsuit ready to go just as the first indictments were handed down against Mr. Kerik is a not-so-subtle stroke of genius. Just as he is getting further discredited in the public eye, here comes his former girlfriend to say that not only was he a cheat, but he also might have told her incriminating stuff about the current leading Republican presidential nominee.

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But looked at in another light, the lawsuit's very scope may be revealing in a different way. After all, by sticking narrowly to the breach of contract angle, Ms. Regan would likely have increased her chances of winning. Why go further, and threaten to bring down senior News Corp execs and upend the 2008 presidential campaign? In other words, does Judith Regan have a smoking gun? Or is this just her next sensational, headline-grabbing project?

Harry Potter, James Patterson and Oprah Winfrey's book club aside, Americans - particularly young Americans - appear to be reading less for fun, and as that happens, their reading test scores are declining. At the same time, performance in other academic disciplines like math and science is dipping for students whose access to books is limited, and employers are rating workers deficient in basic writing skills.

That is the message of a new report being released today by the National Endowment for the Arts, based on an analysis of data from about two dozen studies from the federal Education and Labor Departments and the Census Bureau as well as other academic, foundation and business surveys. After its 2004 report, "Reading at Risk," which found that fewer than half of Americans over 18 read novels, short stories, plays or poetry, the endowment sought to collect more comprehensive data to build a picture of the role of all reading, including nonfiction. In his preface to the new 99-page report Dana Gioia, chairman of the endowment, described the data as "simple, consistent and alarming."

Among the findings is that although reading scores among elementary school students have been improving, scores are flat among middle school students and slightly declining among high school seniors. These trends are concurrent with a falloff in daily pleasure reading among young people as they progress from elementary to high school, a drop that appears to continue once they enter college. The data also showed that students who read for fun nearly every day performed better on reading tests than those who reported reading never or hardly at all. The study also examined results from reading tests administered to adults and found a similar trend: The percentage of adults who are proficient in reading prose has fallen at the same time that the proportion of people who read regularly for pleasure has declined.

Three years ago "Reading at Risk," which was based on a study by the Census Bureau in 2002, provoked a debate among academics, publishers and others, some of whom argued that the report defined reading too narrowly by focusing on fiction, poetry and drama. Others argued that there had not been as much of a decline in reading as the report suggested. This time the endowment did not limit its analysis to so-called literary reading. It selected studies that asked questions about "reading for fun" or "time spent reading for pleasure," saying that this could refer to a range of reading materials.

The first edition of 5,000 had sold out before the authorities realised. The novel tells the story of a man who wants to mark his 90th birthday by sleeping with a 14-year-old virgin in a brothel and ends up falling in love. Iran's culture ministry said a "bureaucratic error" had led to permission being granted for the book's publication, the Fars news agency reported. The official responsible had been sacked, Fars said.

The book sold out within three weeks of arriving in Iranian bookshops. But the book angered religious conservatives who drew the authorities' attention to its original title and content. The ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, which must approve all publications in Iran, then refused to issue a permit to allow the book to be reprinted. Iran has tightened censorship of books since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.

Almost 2 out of 3 Americans, or 63%, said they were more inclined to side with writers in their dispute with major studios, according to a survey by Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business Management that is scheduled to be released today. Writers went on strike last week amid disputes over pay when their work is distributed on the Internet and via cellphones and other new-media devices.

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Smith said the public support could wane if the strike disrupted consumers' TV viewing habits. Though several shows have stopped shooting, viewers won't notice much change until early next year, when reruns, sports and reality shows replace scripted programs. When asked about the prospect of reruns replacing new shows, 42% of the respondents said they would read more, and 35% said they would spend more time on the Internet.

Follett's depiction of the precarious balance of power between monarchy and religion in the Middle Ages, and of the effects of social upheavals and the forces of nature (storms, famines) on political events; his ability to convey the fine points of architecture so that the cathedral becomes clearly visualized in the reader's mind; and above all, his portrayals of the enduring human emotions of ambition, greed, bravery, dedication, revenge and love, result in a highly engrossing narrative. Manipulating a complex plot in which the characters interact against a broad canvas of medieval life, Follett has written a novel that entertains, instructs and satisfies on a grand scale.

A new strategy at Borders will reinforce the message that its stores are not just about books: the company has been installing 37-inch flat-screen televisions to show original programming, advertisements, news and weather. George L. Jones, the chief executive of the Borders Group, said each store would have two screens. The broadcast service, called Borders TV, has arrived in nearly 60 stores and is scheduled to reach an additional 250 stores by the end of February. The screens are "not designed to be intrusive," Mr. Jones said. Rather, he said, they are "part of a master plan to create content that will do several things for us," like directing traffic to the Borders Web site and paving the way to more cross-promotional deals with large media companies.

Will literary-minded customers bristle at the intrusion, or will the screens be welcomed as fun? Mr. Jones has a firm opinion: at Borders, "you browse, buy a latte, read a magazine. It's entertaining." The televisions are “another way that we can bring knowledge and entertainment," he said.

Wolf Totem, a Chinese novel that has attracted critical and popular acclaim for its thought-provoking reflections on Chinese culture and society by Jiang Rong, a publicity-shy first-time author who writes under a pen name, has won the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize.

The book, set on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution, has been a publishing phenomenon in China, where it has sold two million copies in its legitimate imprint and several million pirated copies since its release in 2004, despite Rong's desire to keep a low profile. The book is due to be published in English next March by Penguin Group, which set a Chinese record with the sum it paid in 2005 for foreign publication rights. Penguin expects as many as two million copies to be sold in English.

A panel of three authors and literary judges selected Rong's novel for the award, which is intended to lift the international visibility of Asian fiction and increase the volume of works reaching English audiences. The $10,000 annual prize, funded by the British investment firm Man Group, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize, was announced Saturday at an upscale Hong Kong restaurant. The book's translator, Howard Goldblatt, was awarded $3,000.

The Beijing-based author, who has largely sought anonymity as his book and nom de plume have grown in celebrity in China, was absent from the award dinner. His Chinese and English publishers said the 61-year-old author was suffering ill health. "I spent 30 years thinking, and six years writing 'Wolf Totem,' and my only hope was to produce an appealing story," Rong said in a letter read by his Chinese publisher, Li Bo. But "Wolf Totem" has turned out to be much more than simply an appealing story. The book's messages about the state of modern China and Chinese culture have touched a nerve. It has been featured on television shows, used by businesses in China as a motivational tool and sold for film production, and has spawned a children's tale.

About one-sixth of the books, monographs and bound periodicals at the Library of Congress weren't where they were supposed to be because of flaws in the systems for shelving and retrieving materials, according to a survey to be made public at a congressional hearing today. Officials at the library say they believe most of the missing materials are misplaced, not stolen or lost.

Investigators for the congressional library have told lawmakers on a House oversight committee that its review of the retrieval system for the general collection concluded that a 17 percent of materials requested could not be found. "A subsequent review found 4 percent were either on nearby shelves, checked out to the public or marked with the wrong call numbers. But it remains deeply troubling that nearly 13 percent are unaccounted for by library officials," said Howard Gantman, staff director of the joint congressional committee on the library. The Library of Congress's Office of the Inspector General did the survey earlier this year but did not make it public.

Library staff followed usual procedures and no follow-up audit was necessary, according to the report by Karl W. Schornagel, the library's inspector general, but the chairman and ranking member of the House Administration Committee were so upset by the finding that they have summoned James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress, to answer questions about it at a hearing today. The 17 percent rate of missing materials "is unacceptable, and a clear indication that we must reassess how we manage this Nation's priceless collection that exceeds 130 million items," said Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.), the ranking Republican on the committee, in a statement.

Since receiving the assessment in the spring, library officials have accelerated efforts to track down the books. "The number of not-on-shelf books has dropped each year. A quality assurance team in the past several months has reduced that rate to 10 percent," said Deanna Marcum, the associate librarian for library services. Established in 1800, the Library of Congress is one of the world's largest research facilities. It has 135 million items, including almost 20 million books, 59.5 million items in the manuscript division, and nearly 3 million sound recordings and radio and television broadcasts. It has 615 miles of shelving.

Picador has unveiled plans to launch its new fiction in dual hardback and paperback editions, in a bid to combat the ailing market for hardback literary fiction. The move raises serious questions about the future of the hardback literary novel, which Picador publisher Andrew Kidd described as a "moribund format".

From spring 2008, "the majority" of new titles from the literary imprint of Pan Macmillan will be released in limited, high-end hardback editions and B-format paperback editions simultaneously.

Picador's initiative follows falling sales for literary hardbacks, and a disappointing response to efforts by all publishers to attract more buyers by changing the timing, pricing or presentation of the hardback launch.

"While it has never been the easiest end of the market, over the last few years publishers have witnessed sales reaching new lows," said publisher Andrew Kidd. "All of us find it depressing, and there are, frankly, no reasons to think the situation might soon reverse itself."

Hosseini said he "applauded" the decision. "Afghanistan has become a pretty violent place," he added. "If the boys and their families think there is a reasonable risk of threat to them, then you have to take all of the steps that you can to make sure they are okay," he told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. "I applaud the studio for delaying the release of the film even though it goes against whatever commercial wisdom there is."

*****

The harrowing scene - in which the novel's protagonist witnesses his best friend being sexually attacked but does nothing to help - is a pivotal moment in the story. Ahmad Jaan Mahmidzada, whose son Ahmad Khan plays Hassan, the victim of the attack, told the BBC he feared reprisals over the scene. "I'm worried people from my tribe will turn against me, even cut my throat and kill me," he said.

*****

Hosseini said there was no question that the scene would be cut. "Without that moment, the tower of cards really falls apart," he said. "The overall message of the film is tolerance, love, friendship and forgiveness," he added. "It denounces bigotry, it denounces violence, and hatred and discrimination. I don't think anyone who walks out of that film does not understand that."

The U.S. release of the film, based on the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini, has been delayed by six weeks to December 14 to ensure the 12-year-old Afghan boys are out of harm's way by then, an executive for Paramount Vantage said on Thursday.

The extraordinary precautions follow months of shuttle diplomacy and other preparations by the film studio to address concerns about the film's depiction of one boy's rape and other scenes of conflict between rival Pashtun and Hazara tribes. Worries about the well-being of the young actors have escalated as the level of security in Afghanistan has deteriorated in the months since the film was cast and shot, said Megan Colligan, a marketing chief for Paramount Vantage.

Although opinions as to the film's potential for inciting ethnic violence vary widely, "we feel an obligation to put the safety and security of those kids first," she told Reuters. The studio, a division of Viacom Inc.-owned Paramount Pictures, hired a former CIA officer to assess the risks facing the child stars while enlisting a human rights worker to serve as their "minder" and liaison between the studio and their families. "The consensus was we should take them out of the country until this blows over," said John Kiriakou, the ex-CIA counterterrorism operative, who interviewed about two dozen Afghan politicians and others on behalf of the studio.

*****

Arrangements have been made for the boys to then go to the United Arab Emirates, where they probably will remain at least until March, when the new school year begins, she said. By then, the film will have been released in theaters around the world. Although no commercial exhibition is planned for Afghanistan, the studio assumes that bootlegged DVD copies will make their way into the country. If a perceived threat to the youngsters persists beyond March, they will be permitted to remain in the UAE indefinitely, Colligan said, adding, "They're not going back to Kabul unless they want to go back."

The lawsuit, filed Friday morning in U.S. District Court, also names several other defendants, seeks relief of more than $75,000 and demands a jury trial. The plaintiffs are Pontotoc County District Attorney Bill Peterson and Gary Rogers, a former agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The two men originally convicted of Debbie Sue Carter's murder in Ada, Okla., Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, were later exonerated by DNA evidence and freed after 12 years in prison. Their experiences are chronicled in two books, Grisham's "The Innocent Man," and Fritz's "Journey Toward Justice."

Fritz is among those named as a defendant for the content of his book. "It's nothing more than a power play to get people to believe (Peterson) did nothing wrong," Fritz said Friday from his Kansas City, Mo. home. "It has no merit. We simply told the truth and I have a right to write what my thoughts were." Also named are Robert Mayer, author of "The Dreams of Ada," Barry Scheck, Fritz's former lawyer and author of "Actual Innocence," and Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, among others.

The lawsuit claims the defendants conspired to commit libel against the plaintiffs, generate publicity for self interest by placing them in a false light and intentionally inflicting emotional distress upon them. It claims "the defendants launched this attack through the use of speeches, interviews and simultaneously publishing three books that were all three strategically released in October of 2006," according to the lawsuit. Peterson prosecuted Williamson and Fritz in the Carter murder, while Rogers investigated the death.

"I think John Grisham forgot that he was writing a nonfiction book," said attorney Gary Richardson, whose firm filed the suit. "He himself stated in a speech in Virginia about the time the book was released - he said he fully expected to be sued."

Don't wait for September. Start reading celebrating your freedom to read now! Read one or all the top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2006. Number one on this list, challenged for promoting homosexuality, is Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's award-winning And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins parenting an egg from a mixed-sex penguin couple. Also on the list are The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler; two books by Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye and Beloved; Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher; and The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier.

Display your support for the freedom to read with ALA's Banned Books Week materials.

Take the time to reflect that the First Amendment, intellectual freedom, and the freedom to read should not be taken for granted.

Join the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, and the Newberry Library in Pioneer Plaza, at Michigan Ave. and the Chicago River, on Saturday, September 29, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., for the Banned Books Week Read-Out! Local Chicago celebrities join several acclaimed authors to read passages from their favorite banned and "challenged" books. Authors scheduled to appear include Chris Crutcher, Robie Harris, Carolyn Mackler, Peter Parnell, and Justin Richardson.

Organize your own Banned Books Read-Out! at your school, public library, or favorite bookstore.

Mount these Web badges on your blogs and home pages to help spread the word about BBW.

Join IFAN, the Intellectual Freedom Action Network, a grassroots, ad hoc group of volunteers who have identified themselves as willing to come forward in support of the freedom to read in censorship controversies in their communities.

Dedicate one day's programming on your National Public Radio (NPR) station to Banned Books Week. For example, "Today's programming on [the name of the radio station] is made possible in part by [your name], who is celebrating this Banned Books Week by re-reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings [or another favorite banned or challenged book] or by accomplishing some other activity related to the week.

Reread one of your favorite books. Chances are, it's on the list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.

Write or call your representatives and let them know you want them to protect your freedom to read and your privacy.

Join or support an intellectual freedom advocate, such as the Freedom to Read Foundation, the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund, or the Intellectual Freedom Round Table.

BBW is a celebration of our freedom to read, to seek, hold, receive, and disseminate ideas, even if they are unorthodox or unpopular. Help spread the word! Encourage your friends and colleagues to celebrate their freedom to read. It's one of our most important democratic freedoms!

The 74-year-old, was awarded the James Tait Black memorial prize, worth £10,000, for his bleak vision of a post-apocalyptic America, The Road. The book won a Pulitzer, the US's pre-eminent literary prizes, earlier this year, and is being widely noised as a strong Nobel contender. The novel describes the journey of a father and son who are heading south in a world where a disaster has occurred, reducing nature to a nuclear-grey winter and humans to savage, scavenging cannibals. While the landscape is scorched and some of the set-piece encounters almost Beckettian, the nightmare vision is leavened by McCarthy's austere language and his description of the powerful bond between the boy and his father.

*****

McCarthy beat another critical-commercial crossover success to the award - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with her epic tale of the Biafra war, Half of a Yellow Sun. The Nigerian-born 29-year-old has already won the Orange prize with the book, while also achieving bestseller status with a sales boost from a Richard and Judy endorsement.

Also in the running were the acclaimed Canadian short story writer Alice Munro for The View from Castle Rock; Sarah Waters for her reverse-chronological account of the second world war, The Night Watch; James Lasdun with his thriller, Seven Lies; and debut novelist Ray Robinson with Electricity.