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The publication of Sherry Jones' novel The Jewel of Medina, which was recently cancelled by Random House, was picked up by Beaufort Books for publication sometime in October, along with a deal for a sequel. Beaufort, which was named one of the fastest growing independent publishers of 2007, was the house that picked up O. J. Simpson's If I Did It last year after being cancelled by HarperCollins.

Stephenie Meyer's fifth book in her popular Twilight series, Midnight Sun, has been put on hold indefinitely after a partial draft was leaked online. Take a look at her statement posted on her website.

The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize was recently announced. A few surprises: neither Salman Rushdie's novel, The Enchantress of Florence nor Joseph O'Neill's novel Netherland made the cut. Sadly, Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 didn't make the cut either, but I think that was to be expected. Although it's a great book (which I will talk more about later), it's not very Bookerish. The finalists are:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

Fox 2000 has won film rights to Water for Elephants.

Maxine Hong Kingston was awarded the 2008 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation.

Herman Wouk was given the Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction.

The Guardian has a fun article titled "How Bestsellers Chart the State of Nations." In the UK, readers are apparently "incapable of thinking for [themselves] and making any decisions without Richard and Judy" as two-thirds of the bestselling authors have appeared on the show. American readers are cultivating their spiritual side with books like Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love and Rhonda Byrne's The Secret. The Irish are patriotic readers, preferring Ireland-born Cathy Kelly, Maeve Binchy, Sheila O'Flanagan and Marian Keyes. The Australians are romance readers and the French like highbrow literary fiction.

Amazon.com is tracking America's political book buying by state. They have created a map of the country showing each state's percentage of "red" and "blue" books as well as the most popular books in each state. There is a lot of red on that map. Illinois seems to be sporting some odd shade of lavender.