First, the Bad News: If you're a fan of Ian Rankin's series of Edinburgh police thrillers featuring Inspector John Rebus, you've doubtless already heard that the next novel, Exit Music (no US publication date announced), will be Rebus' last. (Details are here.)Now, the Good News: At a reading in Toronto, Rankin recently told fans that … Continue reading Hope Springs

JK Rowling outed her character of Dumbledore at a reading in Carnegie Hall a few days ago. Details are here.--David E

Stephen Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought is a consistently thought-provoking guy. His book, subtitled "Language As a Window into Human Nature," discusses the relationship between what we say and what we think. Are we limited by our language, or is it an infinitely flexible tool for infinitely flexible minds? You can get a … Continue reading Why We Curse