Gabby Douglas, from gold medal to bestseller?

By Jocelyn McClurg, USA TODAY

Here's a look at what's buzzing in the books world today:

Ringwald's new novel: USA TODAY's Craig Wilson catches up with the Brat Pack's Molly Ringwald about her new book, When It Happens to You.

A survivor's tale: Vaddey Ratner used her terrifying experiences as a child in Cambodia in tell her own story through fiction. The debut novelist talks with USA TODAY's Deirdre Donahue.

Book buzz: Readers are discovering The Light Between Oceans, a debut novel by an Australian writer that has strong bookseller support. It debuts at No. 22 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. And while the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy continues to dominate the list, traditional romances are also a hit in the August heat. Infinity Ring: Book 1: A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner, the first in a seven-book series for kids, will be released Aug 28. Check out the cover and read an excerpt.

Solid Gold: Today.com reports that 16-year-old Olympic gymnastics darling Gabby Douglas is being pursued by numerous publishers who want her to tell her story.

'Lightning' strikes:Glee's Chris Colfer, whose debut YA novel The Land of Stories is a USA TODAY best seller, will follow up in November with another book for young readers, GalleyCat reports.

Cameron Diaz, personal trainer: HarperCollins announced today that it has acquired a book on health and wellness by Cameron Diaz. In the untitled book due in fall 2013, the actress will provide tips for young women on "fitness, nutrition and well-being," says her publisher.

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Give thanks for 'Gabby,' other new audiobooks

Traveling over Thanksgiving? Here are four new audiobooks to help the hours fly by.

New audio books: 'Battle of the Crater'; 'Midnight Rising'; 'Gabby'; 'Destiny of the Republic.'

New audio books: 'Battle of the Crater'; 'Midnight Rising'; 'Gabby'; 'Destiny of the Republic.'

Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope
Written and read by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly. Simon & Schuster Audio, $39.99, unabridged, 11.5 hours. Rating: * * * out of four.

This audio will put any irritation caused by holiday traffic jams in perspective. Effectively read by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, Gabby is a powerful story about Jan. 8, 2011, the day the vivacious Arizona politician was shot in the head. Six people died, including a little girl.

The listener learns quite a bit about politics, the Southwest and the space program, as well as the couple's backgrounds, careers and marriage, but the audio's real impact is the way it never soft-soaps the damage a bullet to the brain does. In harrowing detail, Gabby captures Giffords' injuries and her struggle to regain her life and health.

In a halting but clear voice, Giffords reads the final chapter.

Destiny of the Republic
Written by Candice Millard; read by Paul Michael. Random House Audio, $40, unabridged, 10 hours. Rating: * * * out of four.

Candice Millard's The River of Doubt, about Theodore Roosevelt's voyage down a South American river, ranks as one of the most haunting and insightful works of history in recent years. The material in her new book — about the 1881 shooting of President James A. Garfield by a madman named Charles Guiteau and Garfield's prolonged death resulting from medical ineptitude — lacks River of Doubt's drama.

Nonetheless, Destiny of the Republic displays Millard's energetic writing and rare ability to effortlessly educate the listener. And the narration by Paul Michael is appropriately zesty, living up to the subtitle: "A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President."

Millard weaves together a fractured nation still recovering from the Civil War, the bitter machinations between the two parties, and the efforts of inventor Alexander Graham Bell to discover a non-invasive method to find the bullet inside the dying president, who had been fatally infected by the germs of his doctors as they probed.

Midnight Rising
Written by Tony Horwitz; read by Daniel Oreskes. Macmillan Audio, $39.95, unabridged, 11 hours.
Rating: * * * ½ out of four

How to explain our ceaseless obsession with the Civil War? Is it that we find solace by reflecting on past crises that the nation survived? Or is it more simple: The Civil War remains the most compelling period in American history?

Here Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, takes on the fiery and complicated John Brown who led the Oct. 17, 1859, raid on Harpers Ferry. (Union officer Robert E. Lee would capture Brown and his fiery allies.) Horwitz does a particularly good job in depicting the profound divisions between North and South, while Daniel Oreskes gives his full measure of drama to the narration.

The Battle of the Crater
Written by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen; read by William Dufris. Macmillan Audio, $44.99, unabridged, 12 hours. Rating: * * * out of four.

Whether you agree with Newt Gingrich's political views or not, the former speaker of the House and current Republican presidential candidate is passionate about American history. Witness the novels about Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor and Valley Forge he and Montreat College history professor William Forstschen have penned.

Now they return to the Civil War and the catastrophic 1864 Battle of the Crater. Trying to seize Petersburg, Va., Gen. Ambrose Burnside attempted to tunnel his way to victory. The result was the brutal slaughter of new Union African-American troops. William Dufris provides a lively narration and handles a variety of accents.

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Top weekend book picks: Chris Matthews, Gabby Giffords

What should you read — or listen to — this weekend? USA TODAY's top picks for book lovers include two new titles dedicated to JFK. Plus, during holiday travel season, consider tuning in to the audio editions of Gabby Giffords' and Newt Gingrich's new books.

The host of MSNBC's 'Hardball' goes back to the president's childhood in 'Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.'

The host of MSNBC's 'Hardball' goes back to the president's childhood in 'Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.'

Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero

By Chris Matthews

Simon & Schuster, 406 pp., $27.50, non-fiction

Like millions of Americans, Chris Matthews is still fascinated by President John F. Kennedy nearly a half century after his assassination.

In this new biography of the "elusive" JFK, the host of MSNBC's Hardball goes back to Kennedy's childhood to discover what made the future president the man he was. There were always "two Jacks." One was "sunny and full of good humor," the other lonely "with a craving for company" and "already a victim of persistent ill health," Matthews writes. And Kennedy was ambitious, if ever enigmatic.

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "Sure to be a hit with readers who love the inside baseball of politics and the Kennedy cult of personality."

•11/22/63 byStephen King

Scribner, 849 pp., $35, fiction

Craving more about JFK? Then Stephen King's time-traveling thriller should fit the bill. Schoolteacher Jake Epping is whisked back in time to try to prevent Kennedy's assassination. Can Jake keep Lee Harvey Oswald from squeezing the trigger in Dallas?

USA TODAY says: * * * * out of four. "King's latest epic is as fascinating as the premise sounds. … It is not typical Stephen King. It is extraordinary Stephen King."

• The Prague Cemeteryby Umberto Eco

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 464 pp., $27, fiction

Umberto Eco's first novel in seven years - a best seller abroad — is a literary thriller set in late-19th-century Europe. Its protagonist is a detestable anti-Semite - and a master forger of documents (not to mention a murderous spy).

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "It's provocative and suspenseful, and it's already drumming up controversy."

•Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hopewritten and read by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly

Simon & Schuster Audio, $39.99, unabridged, 11.5 hours, non-fiction

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, tell the inspiring story of Giffords' road to recovery since she was shot in the head by a would-be assassin. Kelly reads most of the audio book, but Giffords takes over in the final chapter.

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "A powerful story … In harrowing detail, Gabby captures Giffords' injuries and her struggle to regain her life and health."

•The Battle of the Craterwritten by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen; read by William Dufris

Macmillan Audio, $44.99, unabridged, 12 hours, fiction

When he's not running for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich (with writing partner William Forstschen) pens historical fiction. Their latest, about the catastrophic 1864 Battle of the Crater during the Civil War, will appeal to history buffs.

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "William Dufris provides a lively narration and handles a variety of accents."

To read full reviews, go to books.usatoday.com

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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