For 35 years, Willis Welch received a pecan pie every Christmas. From whom? He has no idea. Now the Columbus Dispatch reports the sweet streak is ending. This Christmas, the last pie came with a note explaining "I am a little too fat to fly anymore." Signed, "Pie Fairy."
Dan Brown, author of the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, is back with his first novel in four years. Inferno follows academic hero Robert Langdon on a chase through Italy as he attempts to avert a biological catastrophe.
Designer Katie Shelly's upcoming cookbook offers 50 illustrated recipe "blueprints" for basic meals — from simple snacks to more hefty dishes like eggplant Parmesan. She hopes they'll inspire any level of cook to improvise in the kitchen.
The bipartisan immigration overhaul proposed by the Senate's Gang of Eight has been the target of scores of amendments. So far, the bill has largely held its own, but its prospects for getting through Congress are uncertain.