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| Christmas Star On Dec. 21, humans can witness something not seen in nearly 800 years. During the upcoming winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will line up to create what is known as the "Christmas Star" or "Star of Bethlehem." Jupiter and Saturn, the solar system's largest planets, can be seen creeping closer together in the night sky every evening this week. On the winter equinox, the two planets will line up almost perfectly to look like a bright double planet in the night sky. The planets will appear to be touching and separated by one-fifth the diameter of a full moon. When celestial bodies align, astronomers call it a conjunction, and since this one involves our solar system's two biggest gas giants, it's technically a "great conjunction." The 21st will be the closest Jupiter and Saturn have appeared since March 4, 1226. There was a closer conjunction of the planets some 400 years ago, but that event was not visible to many of us here on Earth, according to Space.com. Check out these titles |
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| Books on the Air An overview of talked-about books and authors. This weekly update, published every Friday, provides descriptions of recent TV and radio appearances by authors and their recently released books. See the hot titles from the media this week. |
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| John le Carré John le Carré, the master of Cold War spy novels that were thoughtful, densely plotted, elegantly written and explored ideology, history, language, and the interplay between politics and psychology, died on Saturday of pneumonia. He was 89. His Cold War thrillers "elevated the spy novel to high art by presenting both Western and Soviet spies as morally compromised cogs in a rotten system full of treachery, betrayal and personal tragedy," the New York Times wrote. Born David Cornwell, le Carré worked in MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, and its domestic version, MI5, for 16 years. For a time he was a spy in West Germany, with the cover of a diplomat, running agents and more--all of which became fertile ground for his burgeoning career as a spy novel writer. Check out these titles. |
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| Best Romance Novels of 2020 Whether they explored love in the digital age or how to survive the tundra with your workplace crush, the best romance novels of 2020 weren't afraid to get complicated. Check them out here |
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| It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.-Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
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