Author J.K. Rowling's latest work, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," has been named Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Rowling, whose sales have topped 300 million worldwide, is in the midst of writing the seventh and final book in the series. She says the last Potter work is on target. "I am enjoying writing the last book in the series and it's coming along nicely," she said.
Amy Hunt
Author Amy Hunt spoke about her life and what it takes to be an author to students and teachers Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006, at the Novinger school in Novinger, Mo. Hunt is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She has served as president of the Missouri Writers' Guild on the state and local level and is active in her local writing chapter.
Read Across America
Martha Benavides left, and Terry Sosa, right entertain children from the Harlingen Child Development Center and Kidz Kare in Harlingen, Texas, Thursday, March 2, 2006. Benavides is reading a Dr. Seuss book, "One Fish Two Fish," as part of Read Across America, a National Education Association reading program.
Ben Franklin
Handwritten notes by Benjamin Franklin grace the margins of a bound pamphlet on the Stamp Act, one title from a collection of books once owned by Franklin, displayed Feb. 22, 2006, in Philadelphia. The Library Company of Philadelphia plans to publish a catalog of titles comprising up to two-thirds of Franklin's lost collection.
Betty Berzon
Dr. Betty Berzon, a psychotherapist and author who championed gay rights after struggling for more than half her life with her own sexuality, died at her home recently. She was 78. She is shown at her home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles June 18, 2002.
Dolly Parton
Country music star Dolly Parton does the Hokey Pokey with children from the Blakemore Children's Center while Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, left, reads from the book "The Hokey Pokey" in this file photo. Parton's book program, which provides children a free book each month up to age 5 regardless of family income, began in the singer's native Sevier County, Tenn., and has spread to 572 communities in 41 states.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Author Doris Kearns Goodwin has received another literary honor for "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." The New-York Historical Society announced Tuesday, March 28, 2006, that Goodwin was the first winner of its Book Prize for American History, a $50,000 award. She is pictured speaking at the O'Shaughnessy auditorium at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn., on March 7, 2002.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Nobel Prize award winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from Colombia, walks out of the Paraninfo after the Film Promotion Institutes Homage Sunday March 26 2006, during the 21st Guadalajara International Film Festival, in Mexico.
Julian Barnes
British writer Julian Barnes discusses his most recent novel, "Arthur and George," during a recent interview in a New York hotel.
Justin Tussing
Author Justin Tussing, whose first novel "The Best People in the World" was released in February, poses in his office at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore.
Jessica Jiji
Author of "Diamonds Take Forever," Jessica Jiji, is photographed at her home in New York during a recent interview.
Somaly Mam
UNICEF Chairwoman Heide Simonis, right, poses with Somaly Mam at a news conference on child prostituion in Berlin on March 21, 2006. Mam introduced her book, "The Silence of Innocence," in which she describes her own way out of a brothel in the capital Phnom Penh from which she escaped at the age of 20. Mam later founded the organization AFESIP to help young prostitutes. UNICEF supports the organization's efforts.
Octavia Butler
Science fiction writer Octavia Butler, considered the first black woman to gain national prominence as a science fiction writer, died Friday, Feb. 24, 2006, after falling and striking her head on the cobbled walkway outside her Seattle home. She was 58. She is pictured near some of her novels at University Book Store in Seattle, Wash., on Feb. 4, 2004.
Robert Crais
This undated photo shows Robert Crais, whose new book, "The Two Minute Rule," was released in February by Simon & Schuster.
Sarah Gran
This undated photo, supplied by G.P. Putnam's Sons, shows Sara Gran, whose new book, "Dope," comes out Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006.
Emily and Stephanie Parks
Emily Parks, 8, left, and her sister, Stephanie, 10, look over some of the children's books in the Traverse Area District Library, in Traverse City, Mich., Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006. Both girls came to the library dressed in prairie costumes to celebrate the birthday of one of their favorite authors, Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Michael Palin
A travel book by former Monty Python comedian Michael Palin will become required reading in high school geography classes, Britain's school minister said Thursday, March 30, 2006. The book, "Himalaya," follows Palin's 1,800-mile six-month trek through that mountain range in 2003 and 2004. Here, the author is seen crossing a stream on his trek in Derali, Nepal.
Ronald Kidd
Ronald Kidd, author of "Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial," poses at his home in Nashville, Tenn., March 13, 2006. Kidd's new novel for young people is about the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, which pitted the theory of evolution against the biblical story of creation in a hyped-up show trial in east Tennessee.
Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams
San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada, right, and Lance Williams are the authors of "Game of Shadows," a new book containing behind-the-scenes accounts of alleged steroid use by famous athletes.