Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" won the Eurasian regional award for Great Britain's Commonwealth prize, it was announced Feb. 7, 2006. It now goes up against other regional winners for best book of 2005. Smith won in 2001 for her first novel, "White Teeth." Her new book is a playful reworking of "Howard's End," set in a New England college town. The author poses in North London, Sept. 19, 2005.
Best-selling mystery writer Robert Parker has a new book, "Sea Change," released Feb. 7, 2006. Here, he poses with his bull terrier, Rosie, in his office in Cambridge, Mass., on Monday, Jan. 30, 2006.
In London, Katie Price (aka Jordan) poses with copies of the just-released update of her autobiography, "Jordan: A Whole New World," formerly called "Being Jordan," at Waterstone's Oxford Street on Feb. 1, 2006. Price has mesmerized British readers with the story of her dual identity as glamorous model Jordan and struggling single mum Katie.
Writer Jesse Kellerman poses in New York's Central Park on Jan. 4, 2006, to publicize his new suspense novel, "Sunstroke." The novel is set in Los Angeles and Mexico and follows a woman's search for her missing boss.
In a now-rare public appearance, Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez attended the Hay Festival in Cartagena, Colombia, on Jan. 27, 2006. Marquez, now 78, says he has stopped writing, at least for the time being. "The year 2005 was the first in my life when I did not write a single line," he told Barcelona-based daily La Vanguardia.
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, watches orphaned Romanian children dance in Bucharest, Romania, from a front row seat on Jan. 26, 2006. Rowling, 40, recently became a trustee of the Children's High Level Group, a foundation that raises money for children in need and promotes child-care reforms in Romania.
John Grogan, author of "Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog," poses with his new dog, Gracie, at home in Emmaus, Pa., on Jan. 6, 2006. The newspaper columnist's loving memoir of an incorrigibly naughty Labrador retriever is a surprise best seller.
Jackie Collins poses during a book-signing appearance at a Barnes & Noble in New York on Feb. 7, 2006. Her latest Tinseltown pot-boiler is "Lovers And Players."
Norah Vincent, author of "Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back," talks about her book in an interview in New York on Jan. 12, 2006. Vincent went undercover as a man for 18 months. Her adventures in research included joining an all-male bowling team, dating women, going on a retreat in a monastery and hanging out in strip clubs.
Hilary Spurling, author of "Matisse The Master, A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest Of Colour: 1909-1954," takes the stage in London after being awarded the prestigious 2006 Whitbread Book of the Year Award on Jan. 24, 2006. The second volume of her biography focuses on the artist's work and life after age 40, when he achieved renown.
Christopher Logue holds a copy of his book "Cold Calls" at a media photo call for the Whitbread Book Awards in London on Jan. 24, 2006. Logue's book was on the short list for the annual Book of the Year award, open to British writers. It's the fifth of a projected six installments in his blank-verse retelling of Homer's epic "The Iliad."
Kate Thompson holds a copy of her book "The New Policeman" at a media photo call for the Whitbread Book Awards in London Tuesday Jan. 24, 2006. Thompson's book was on the short list for the annual book award, open to British writers. Her latest book for young readers tells of a boy's adventures in Ireland's mythical land of eternal youth, Tir na n'Og.
Tash Aw holds a copy of his book "The Harmony Silk Factory" at a media photo call for the Whitbread Book Awards in London on Jan 24, 2006. His book was on the short list for the annual Book of the Year award, open to British writers. The young writer's first novel is set in Malaysia on the eve of World War II.
Scottish novelist Ali Smith poses with a copy of her novel "the accidental" at a bookstore in central London on Oct. 10, 2005. Smith's book was on the short list for the annual Whitbread Book of the Year award, open to British writers. Her first full-length novel tells the story of a young girl who records the drab world around her on a Sony digital camera.
Author and filmmaker Josh Tickell talks about his latest book, "Biodiesel America," during his keynote speech at the 2006 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2006. Tickell's book explores the history and the potential of renewable fuel made from American crops, and offers consumers practical advice on biodiesel use.