Book News, In Brief

Haruki Murakami’s new novel, 1Q84, is already a hit in Japan, despite the fact that it's not being released until today, and that everything about book has been kept a secret except its enigmatic title.


Streisand stalkers take note: You may soon have the blueprints necessary for a successful home invasion. According to the AP, Babs "has reached an agreement with Viking for A Passion for Design, an illustrated book...that includes photos of the Malibu, Calif., oceanfront compound she worked on for more than five years, and of other residences, back to her early years in New York."


In an uncharacteristically generous move, the government of Afghanistan has provided its people with free, summer beach reads. The CTV.ca reports, "The Afghan government quietly dumped more than 1,000 Shiite Muslim texts and other books from Iran into a river after a local governor complained their content insulted the country's Sunni majority."


More Google Book Search b.s., this time from across the Atlantic. According to Bookseller.com, "EU ministers are today (28th May) expected to call for an investigation into whether Google has breached EU law. The German government has said that Google has 'stolen a march' on rival digital library projects with its Google Book Search." To read the whole piece, click here.