Turning Pages: Book news for November 17

November 17

PAST PAGES
American novelist and historian Shelby Foote Jr. was born on this day in 1916. Foote had no formal training as a historian when he wrote the three-volume, 2,968-page "The Civil War: A Narrative," which was published between 1958 and 1974. Foote is known to many Americans from his appearances in documentary maker Ken Burns' 1990 series "The Civil War." Foote died in 2005 at the age of 88 in Memphis, Tenn.

SPOKEN WORDS
"I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library, and it's better than college." (Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012.)

NEW RELEASES

• "The Colder War: How the Global Energy Trade Slipped from America's Grasp," (Marin Katusa, nonfiction.) Amazon. Nook.
• "Rocket and Lightship: Essays on Literature and Ideas," (Adam Kirsch, literary criticism.) Kindle, Nook, Apple.

​DAILY DEALS

• "Jimmy Stewart," (Starr Smith, biography). $2.99. Nook.
• "The Actuator: Fractured Earth," (James Wymore and Aiden James, science fiction and fantasy). $1.99. Kindle.

NEWS

• R.A. Montgomery, who founded the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, has died at the age of 78.
• Amazon's latest update to its Kindle software makes it easier for families to share ebooks among different Kindle devices.
• The school district in Orlando, Fla., is rethinking its policy that allowed Bibles to be distributed in schools after a Satanic group demanded the right to give away coloring books.
• Three little known short stories by Patrick O'Brian ("Master and Commander") will be back in print for the first time in 80 years.