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• Holiday books 2009
  Our annual offering of the season's best, from our staffers and reviewers. We've picked the most tempting titles.
  
• The browser: A quick look at recent releases
  How do people resume being a family when an important member dies? That is the problem facing Kate Cavanaugh and her two kids after her husband dies at 42.
  
• McCain: Tension between aides, Palin 'no big deal'
  U.S. Sen. John McCain said Saturday that he enjoyed reading running mate Sarah Palin's new memoir and downplayed any tension between their campaign aides as "no big deal."
  
• Minnesota native wins book award
  T.J. Stiles given nonfiction prize for his biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
  
• Want to flash-read Palin's book?
  The Associated Press electronically scanned the book, "Going Rogue," and, using software to highlight the most common words, created a "word cloud" that captures the book in a nutshell.
  
• Going back to the shack
  Going back to the shack
  
• Inside King's dome
  A mesmerizing master of the macabre, Stephen King finds inspiration for his 51st novel, "Under the Dome," in human frailty.
  
• SHORT STORIES: 'Nocturnes' tunes are simply magical
  Five lovely stories about music and life from the beloved author of "The Remains of the Day."
  
• FICTION
  1. THE GATHERING STORM, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. (Tor/TomDoherty, $29.99.) Book 12 of the Wheel of Time fantasy series.
  
• Build your own not so big house
  Plans for some of the homes made famous in Sarah Susanka's "Not So Big" books are available online.
  
• Ghost writer
  Audrey Niffenegger enchanted readers with a best-selling tale of love that traveled across time. With "Her Fearful Symmetry," she offers a ghost story that spurns romantic notions.
  
• The browser: A quick look at recent releases
  With Patsy MacLemoore, Huneven boldly shows how low "bottom" can be for an alcoholic in denial.
  
• "Under the Dome" is chilling and absorbing
  An invisible dome descends over a Maine town, trapping - and dooming - more than 100 people.
  
• Prose reveals an ambitious writer's determination
  The focus here is more on Anne Frank, the artist, than on Anne Frank, the victim.
  
• 'Friend' examines pitfalls of a suburban father's best-laid plans
  A gripping portrayal of a suburban family in free-fall.
  
• With art, hope, he overcomes pain, neglect
  David Small grew up crushingly lonely, rendered mute from cancer surgery and largely ignored by his distant father, his even more distant mother and his cruel, possibly insane, grandmother.
  
• Fans of Horowitz's Alex Rider get green light for adventure
  You might know Anthony Horowitz as the guy behind the BBC-TV series "Foyle's War." But kids know him as the author of the Alex Rider books, international best-selling adventure novels that have been called "the not-so-secret weapon" in getting boys to read. To launch his newest book, "Crocodile Tears," Horowitz has planned a series of events nationwide that allow kids to "be" Alex Rider by posing for a photo in front of a green screen and then uploading the photo to the Web. (And apparently the resulting pictures will look for all the world as if the kids are falling into the mouths of crocodiles.) The Twin Cities green screen event will be at 1 p.m. next Sunday at the Ridgedale Library, 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka. Two autographed copies of "Crocodile Tears" will be raffled off.
  
• Local bestsellers
  Fiction and nonfiction
  
• 'Tinsel' finds Christmas to spare in Texas
  A pop-culture journalist seeks to enhance his understanding of one of America's most popular cultural events.
  
• A dark legacy
  Ingar Sletten Kolloen attempts to reconcile the great Norwegian writer with his unwavering support of the Nazis.
  
• Literary Lions
  Having a men-only reading club helps guys become, well, open books.
  
• Talking Volumes: Stephen King on his first novel 'Carrie'
  Talking Volumes authors Stephen King on his first novel "Carrie."
  
• Talking Volumes: Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger talk about the writing process
  Talking Volumes authors Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger talk about the writing process.
  
• Talking Volumes: Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger on imagination
  Talking Volumes authors Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger talk about the use of imagination in their writing.
  
• Palin book goes after McCain camp but not Levi
  Sarah Palin's new memoir describes heart-wrenching anguish about her teen daughter's pregnancy playing out before a national audience. But the 413-page tome doesn't contain a single reference to the father of her granddaughter.
  

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