Tom Cruise in a scene from 'Jack Reacher,' based on Lee Child's character. Cruise plays a former military cop investigating a sniper case. (Photo: Karen Ballard AP)
Here's a look at what's buzzing in the book world today:
Mayan madess: Read like today's the end of the world with Flavorpill's list of required reading.
E-Sparks: Nicholas Sparks is jumping into the world of enhanced e-books with the movie tie-in edition of Safe Haven, which merges the original book with extras from the movie starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel.
'Tis the season: Did you catch USA TODAY's Craig Wilson's five fun facts about Christmas trees yesterday? Keep the holiday spirit going by flipping through GalleyCat's gallery of book Christmas trees submitted by readers.
Bookish trends: The New York Times reports that the e-reader market is shrinking faster than predicted because of the dominance of tablets, while NPR tackles the story of self-publishing, a once-scorned practice that has gained significant legitimacy this past year. And for holiday book sales, Publishers Weekly explains that while there have been gains since Thanksgiving, the upward trend is slower than in 2011.
Swoon-worthy: Macmillan Children's has announced the launch of Swoon Reads, a crowd-sourced romance imprint targeted to teens, launching in 2014. The imprint "will be a community, one whose members are included in every step of the publishing process, from the initial discovery of the manuscript to providing edit notes, designing covers, and marketing," the release explains.
Child's play: Quite a few fans are unimpressed by Tom Cruise's portrayal of Lee Child's Jack Reacher in the movie adaptation.
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