booksmain

Decipher the clue, name a crucial location in Dan Brown's 'Inferno'

TODAY staff — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:56:38 GMT

OriginalclueIt's a place featured in Dan Brown's new book "Inferno." A holy site where people worship God, it is often called "The Church of Love." But they also come to pay homage to a pivotal figure from an era of rebirth.Inside is the tomb of a lady of legend, as well as a basket of letters left by believers hoping to overcome the heartache of unrequited love.Dan Brown's "Inferno" cover reveale...

'Impossible Odds': Jessica Buchanan's amazing account of her kidnapping and rescue

Jessica Buchanan and Erik Landemalm with Anthony Flacco — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:50:29 GMT

Teacher Jessica Buchanan shares the remarkable true story of being kidnapped by Somali pirates in 2011 and her rescue by a SEAL Team Six in "impossible Odds." Here's an excerpt.CHAPTER ONEJessica:Erik tells me for the umpteenth time, “I just don’t like it, Jess.”“And I still agree,” I tell him. “I’ve just got no choice.”“Oh, come on. There’s always a choice. You can get around it.”“I’ve canceled t...

'The Outsider': Tennis legend Jimmy Connors opens up

Jimmy Connors — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:50:15 GMT

From the outside, Jimmy Connors looked to have it all. At the top of his game, he dominated the tennis court and was a household name. But privately, he was second-guessing himself and his abilities. In "The Outsider," Connors reveals his struggles with doubt and the pitfalls of fame. Here's an excerpt.Out of the Shadows I’m 29 years old and for the last three years people have been tel...

'Divergent': Intrigue and adventure await in Veronica Roth's dystopian thriller

Veronica Roth — Wed, 08 May 2013 22:00:42 GMT

In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all. Here's an excerpt from "Divergent."CHAPTER ONEThere is one mirror in my house. It...

'Ask Wendy': Drama solutions from Wendy Williams

Wendy Williams — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:17:17 GMT

As host of popular radio and television programs, Wendy Williams is well versed and dispensing hard-hitting, practical advice to those in need of ridding their lives of pesky drama. In "Ask Wendy," Williams continues her campaign of straight talk. Here's an excerpt.IntroductionGo on . . . ask me anything. That’s what people have been doing for twenty-five years on the radio and on my TV talk show....

'Big Daddy's Rules': Steve Schirripa's guide to being a parent

Steve Schirripa — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:06:16 GMT

Tough guy Steve Schirripa's tired of the popular stereotype that most fathers are oblivious to the needs, necessities and responsibilites of being a parent. In "Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters is Tougher Than I Look," Schirripa lovingly and hilariously recounts how he is 'enormously present' in his kids' lives. Here's an excerpt.THAT’S MISTER DAD TO YOUSometimes being a dad is like watching a...

Jimmy Connors on memoir that makes Evert abortion claim

Scott Stump — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:00:11 GMT

Tennis legend Jimmy Connors is revealing intimate details of relationships, including a broken engagement to Chris Evert and keeping his marriage together after a public affair with another woman.In his new memoir, Connors, 60, writes about breaking his engagement to fellow tennis star Evert in 1975. He writes that Evert, who was 19 at the time, had an abortion shortly before they broke up.“Well, ...

'The Honest Life': Jessica Alba on the pursuit of a more natural lifestyle

Jessica Alba — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:06:26 GMT

Actress Jessica Alba explains her approach to parenting in 'The Honest Life' with an accent on health and affordability that, as the same time, doesn't skimp on style. Here's an excerpt.I'll be honest:This is a book about how you can live a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. But at the same time, it's really not about that at all--because this book is not about why you need to become a vega...

'Obsessed': Mika Brzezinski takes on America's trouble with food

Mika Brzezinski — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:15:19 GMT

In 'Obsessed,' Mike Brzezinski addresses the obesity epidemic in America and speaks candidly about her own personal struggles in the hopes of fostering a healthy new attitude toward food. Here's an excerpt.IntroductionAs I have moved through the process of writing this book—drafts, edits, revisions, etc.—I’ve sought the unvarnished opinions of friends, colleagues, and family members to answer a qu...

'I'm Not Gonna Lie': George Lopez comes clean about aging

George Lopez — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:09:46 GMT

Comedian George Lopez has been through a lot -- from a successful career as an entertainer through a kidney disease and everything in between. In "I'm Not Gonna Lie...And Other Lies You Tell When You Turn 50," Lopez opens up about life. Here's an excerpt.Introduction: Counting FairwaysI did it!I hit the number.Unbelievable.I turned fifty!Without a doubt, my biggest birthday ever.I’m not lying: Rea...

MTV's first five VJs get 'unplugged' in new tell-all

Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn with Gavin Edwards — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:09:45 GMT

More than just a sex, drugs and rock'n'roll memoir, "VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave" traces the pop-culture phenomenon that is MTV back to its humble (and simultaneously hedonistic) roots, as told by its five, fledgling on-air personalities: Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn. Here's an excerpt.Got My Back Against the Record Machine: Close Encounters with ...

Free Comic Book Day set to unleash heroes, zombies, talking mice

Rick Schindler — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:59:39 GMT

For comic book fans, the most wonderful time of the year isn't Christmas — it's the first Saturday in May. And it isn't Santa who visits; it's Superman, and zombies, and a vast array of other colorful characters.This year, May 4 is Free Comic Book Day, and comic book shops around the country will give away more than 4.6 million comic books. One of them is Midtown Comics in Manhattan, where co-owne...

Transgender mom: Sex of parents is less important than love

Scott Stump — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:04:25 GMT

Best-selling transgender author Jennifer Finney Boylan and her wife have maintained a loving relationship with their two sons. “What we know is that the gender of parents is a whole lot less important than the love in the family,’’ said Boylan, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2002, on TODAY Friday. In her new book, “Stuck in the Middle With You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders,...

'Stuck in the Middle with You': Memoir of a transgender parent

Jennifer Finney Boylan — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:42:33 GMT

Jennifer Finney Boylan began parenting as a father prior to coming out as a transgender before eventually transitioning into the woman she is today. In "Stuck in the Middle with You," Boylan tells the story of the journey for both herself and her family. Here's an excerpt.On a cold February night in 1994, Deedie and I were watching Brideshead Revisited on the television in our little house in Main...

Hey, high-achieving women! Here's how perfectionism holds you back

Laura T. Coffey — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:23:27 GMT

OK, ladies, you know who you are. You take such pride in your work that even mild criticism stings. You want so sincerely for your email messages to have just the right tone that it takes forever to hit send. You keep thinking about completed tasks so much that nothing ever feels finished.If any of this sounds familiar — and if the words “good enough” make you cringe — you may be suffering from a ...

'I am Adam Lanza's mother' writer signs book deal

Scott Stump — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:38:37 GMT

The Idaho mom who wrote a widely read essay about her worries concerning her mentally ill son in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings has signed a deal to write a book about her issues with the mental health-care system.Liza Long, who wrote the essay “I am Adam Lanza’s mother,” is writing a book titled, “I Am Michael’s Mother,’’ a spokesperson for publisher Hudson Street Press c...

Son of transgender author: 'I live in a normal family'

Scott Stump — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:21:17 GMT

When noted transgender author Jennifer Finney Boylan began the transition from male to female, she believed her marriage to wife Deedie Boylan was most likely over. Instead, it is still going strong 25 years since the two tied the knot, and her relationship to their two sons is equally solid. In an interview with Harry Smith that will air on "Rock Center with Brian Williams" Friday at 10 p.m. ET, ...

'Heaven Hears': A public petition for prayer in the face of tragedy

Lindy Boone Michaelis — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:40:26 GMT

In 2001, Lindy Boone Michaelis' son Ryan stepped through a skylight and fell three stories. As he clung to life, Lindy agreed to an appearance on Larry King's television show with her father, music legend Pat Boone. Lindy and Pat expressed their faith and pleaded with Larry King's viewers to pray for Ryan. "Heaven Hears" tells their story. Here's an excerpt.Introduction“Do you believe, Lindy, in p...

Eve Ensler on connecting to the world through a cancer diagnosis

Eve Ensler — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:22:33 GMT

Renowned for her theatrical works like "The Vagina Monologues," Eve Ensler turns her focus to her own struggle to connect with a broken world. In "In the Body of the World," she tells the story of how a diagnosis of uterine cancer helped her perceive her body and the world around her in a whole new way. Here's an excerpt.DIVIDEDA mother’s body against a child’s body makes a place. It says you are ...

Eve Ensler's moving account of connecting to the world through a cancer diagnosis

Eve Ensler — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:11:18 GMT

Even Ensler's moving account of connecting to the world through a cancer diagnosis

Eve Ensler — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:51:15 GMT

Gabby Douglas: 'My life has been a whirlwind'

Gabrielle Douglas — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:06:38 GMT

Read an excerpt from "Raising the Bar" by Gabrielle Douglas

Beastie Boys sign a memoir deal

Ben Sisario — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:33:18 GMT

If the Beastie Boys wrote a book, you might expect it to depart from standard memoir form. Rather than a strict narrative patiently winding its way from bygone days, such a book might — in keeping with the group’s hypereclectic style — be a pastiche of voices, images, irreverent humor and pop-culture reference points.And that, it turns out, is exactly what the Beastie Boys’ book will be like.Micha...

'Living the Good Long Life': Martha Stewart's guide to health and happiness

Martha Stewart — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:26:34 GMT

In 'Living the Good Long Life,' Martha Stewart shares her practical tips to ensure a fruitful and healthy lifestyle for you and those you care about. Here's an excerpt.STAY ACTIVE EVERY DAYWhen you were a child, you didn’t have to schedule exercise—you just ran outside to play. And whether that meant jumping rope, climbing trees, or racing bicycles, you experienced all of the benefits that exercis...

'Someday, Someday, Maybe': Lauren Graham's first romantic novel

Lauren Graham — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:31:28 GMT

An actress renowned for her roles on TV's "Gilmore Girls" and "Parenthood," Lauren Graham makes her literary debut with "Someday, Someday, Maybe," a romantic novel set in the heart of New York City. Here's an excerpt.Chapter 1“Begin whenever you’re ready,” comes the voice from the back of the house. Oh, I’m ready. After all, I’ve prepared for this day for years: The Day of the Most Important Aud...