In her poignant 2010 essay “What I Will Miss,” which appears on the last page of a new omnibus, “The Most of Nora Ephron” (Alfred A. Knopf.), the author listed 31 items ― bacon, Paris and “the concept of waffles,” among them. There’s one thing she left out, I would venture to guess: writing.Though it was kept secret from all but her immediate circle, Ephron knew she was terminally ill with leukemia for six years before her death in 2012. If anything, this increased her productivity. According to

Star Wars: FramesSelected by George Lucas(Abrams, NY)Who hasn’t in their lifetime wanted to study a moment in a film, to pause the action and survey what is going on without fear that the hold suddenly will end?For fans of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” saga, that moment has finally come with “Star Wars: Frames.” It is all six of the “Star Wars” trilogy frame-by-frame.In 2011, “Frames” was issued in a very limited edition of six volumes, and came in a hard case adorned with a Darth Vader medallion. I

Vanished: The Sixty-Year Search for the Missing Men of World War IIBy Wil S. Hylton (Riverhead)The official story was that the war in the Pacific claimed Jimmie Doyle on Sept. 1, 1944, when Japanese antiaircraft fire brought down his B-24 Liberator during a bombing mission over the tiny Palau archipelago. Neither the plane nor a single member of the 11-man crew was ever found. But there was always a second, darker story, and it haunted Jimmie’s son, Tommy, for most of his life.Tommy’s uncles bel

More foreign readers seeking books related to Korean society, culture

Poet Jin Eun-young, author Kim Soom, playwright Koh Yeon-ok and translator Choi Yang-hee were chosen as the winners of the 21st Daesan Literary Awards. Kim Soom, 39, won the prize for her sixth novel “Women and their Evolving Enemies,” which deals with a woman and her conflicting relationship with her mother-in-law. Jin, 43, received the prize for her poem titled “A Stealing Song,” while playwright Koh Yeon-ok, 42, won the honor for her play “Father in a Scabbard,” a tale about a son who plots r

Over the last two decades, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has become known as one of popular culture’s great visionaries. He’s channeled his wild, restless imagination to create dark worlds of fantasy and horror, crafting beautifully rendered stories that function as modern fairy tales. Del Toro is interested in innocence and evil, and his tales are populated with winged, multi-limbed creatures and human monsters.His new book, “Cabinet of Curiosities: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsession

When we think of John F. Kennedy, we can’t help but bring to mind images of his assassination, but if there’s anything surprising about the 50th anniversary of his killing, it is the books that look back at his life.That may be because there’s no new ground to be broken on the assassination, although Life magazine’s magnificent “The Day Kennedy Died” (Life Books: 192 pp.) does offer a lavish retrospective that takes us through the tragedy, ending with the president’s funeral. There is perspectiv

Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ and ‘Mystery!’ On PBSBy Rebecca Eaton (Penguin, NY) Do you remember Alistair Cooke? Besides being a renowned journalist, he also was the first host of PBS’ “Masterpiece Theatre” when it started in 1971.Now you can find out all about that history of that long-running program in Executive Producer Rebecca Eaton’s amusing biography “Making Masterpiece.”She took over in 1985 when “Masterpiece Theatre” was 15 years old. It was kn

The AbominableBy Dan Simmons(Little, Brown and Company)Since Dan Simmons’ new novel of mountaineering, lengthy technical explanations, Nazis and the occasional yeti is titled “The Abominable,” you should know at the outset that it is not a horror story. Indeed, defining the book at all seems to have eluded the publisher, who billed it as a “thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Everest” ― but be advised that the characters aren’t even kitted out and in th

Seoul Book Festival 2013 to hold night reading programs and Q&A sessions with authors

PARIS (AFP) ― France’s top literary prize, the Goncourt, was awarded on Monday to Pierre Lemaitre for a fast-moving adventure-tragedy about the lost generation after World War I.“Au Revoir la-Haut” (Goodbye Up There) tells the story of two trench-weary veterans, Albert and Edouard, who struggle to reintegrate into French society after the horrors of war.Lemaitre, 62, was one of the favorites to take the prize, which can boost sales by 300,000 to 400,000 copies. Jury members hailed Lemaitre for c

Critical MassBy Sara Paretsky (Putnam)There must be something inspiring about dating a classical musician: Since private investigator V.I. Warshawski took up with double bassist Jake Thibaut in 2009’s “Hardball,” her creator, author Sara Paretsky, seems to have renewed creative energy, evident in pages that almost seem to turn themselves.The considerable action of “Critical Mass” (the title refers to nuclear physics, not getting together a crowd of reviewers) is set off when Warshawski is asked

Lowcountry BombshellBy Susan M. Boyer (Henery Press) Eccentric characters go together in Southern mysteries like, well, shrimp and grits. But Susan M. Boyer deftly shapes characters with just enough idiosyncrasies without succumbing to cliches in her engaging second novel.“Lowcountry Bombshell” surprises at every twist as Boyer infuses her lighthearted plot with a look at obsession with celebrity, unadulterated greed and an affectionate look at South Carolina.Private detective Liz Talbot pretty

Richard Kadrey’s new novel, “Dead Set,” gave me nightmares. And I can’t stop myself from telling him ― even though the bestselling horror author dresses in black, has intimidating tattoos and the watchful bearing of an assassin. He’s reluctant to take off his dark glasses.“Cool,” he says, stirring his coffee in the dim daytime light of a Los Angeles bar. “It’s an experiment.” “Dead Set” (Harper Voyager) is far less violent than the bestselling Sandman Slim series he’s known for: “There’s fewer b