In Juliet Naked, woman leaves her rock and roll obsessed husband, striking up a relationship with the object of his obsession. Nick Hornby's latest novel explores the nature of love and meaning in life with the backdrop of popular music that High Fidelity fans will relish.

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In Generation A, Douglas Coupland envisions a near future in which bees have been extinct for years and the earth has, as a result, undergone a pollination crisis, in which various plant and animal species have died out. The novel opens with what is then an extraordinary occurance: five seemingly random individuals are each stung by a bee.

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In the foreword to The Best American Short Stories 2009, series editor Heidi Pitlor asks, "Does anyone still read fiction?" The question chills the spine, and leaves the silent room in which it's read seeming a little quieter still. What is the sound of a storyless world, whose literary canon lies long forgotten somewhere in the distant past? Read more.

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Today, Nielsen Business Media announced that they will be closing Kirkus Reviews, long a significant player in the book publishing industry.

Anyone who browses books online has seen Kirkus' book reviews - often they are one of a couple short critiques of a book on Amazon.com and other online venues. But Kirkus was around well before Amazon came along, before the Internet even. Kirkus has been reviewing books since 1933 and publishes about 400 pre-pub reviews a month. The publication has been a reliable voice to which countless readers have turned for book advice over the years. I have frequently based reading decisions on their pre-release feedback, so it's startling to me to hear they will be no more.

Nielson will also be closing Editor & Publisher, which covers the newspaper industry much as Kirkus covers books, as well as selling some of its othe properties as the company extracts itself from the trade publication business.