Have you ever wondered what kind of delicious spreads royalty enjoyed at mealtime in years gone by? Thanks to the University of Manchester's John Rylands Library, you may soon get to sample some of the recipes of King Henry II, if you're willing to cook of course.

"Forme of Cury" was written in Middle English in 1390, and includes approximately 200 recipes that's King Henry's chefs used to prepare. Amongst ther ecipes are blank mang, a dish that consists of meat, milk, sugar and almonds; as well as mortrews, a dish of ground and spiced pork.

The 14th century book is one of 40 rare manuscripts that will bephotographed and placed online by the library using a special, high-definition camera. Work on digitizing the books will begin next month, and is expected to be completed by late 2009.

Other Middle English era manuscripts to be included are one of the earliest existing editions of the Complete "Canterbury Tales" by Chaucer, a 500-year-old translation of the Bible into English, and two of John Lydgates major poems "Troy Book" and "Fall of Princes."

A new book will hit store shelves on October 7th that will be a sure hit at bachelor pads and fraternities coast to coast. The book is written by New York Magazine's Daniel Maurer and is called "Brocabulary: The New Man-i-festo of Dude Talk". Think of the book as an Urban Dictionary-esque resource that has indexed all the handy definitions men in 2008 need to know.

The HarperCollins published title is layed out in 12 chapters ranging from Brommunication to Techspressions. A "brolouge" and "sacknowlegments" bookend the edition. Along the way you'll see a book that is part can be best be described as a smorgasborg of Playboy Magazine cartoons.

The book surly isn't for everyone but for the target audience (17-25 year old males or those who will forever to take life too seriously) it is sure fire hit.

Here is a YouTube video of what you can expect from this book of sophomoric definitions and gags that some people will not be able to put down and stop laughing.

Following heaps of complains from parents, schools, and even psychologists, Scholastic Inc. has made the decision to cease offering Bratz books for sale through their book fairs and clubs. Led by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, parents and teachers successfully lobbied against the Bratz products.

MGA Entertainment Inc.'s Bratz dolls, which are dressed in belly shirts, miniskirts, and high heels, have become so popular amongst young girls that they've spun off a complete line of merchandise.

Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps, winner of eight gold medals in Beijing, has scored an estimated $1.6 million advance for his latest book "Built to Suceed" which is being published by the Free Press imprint of Simon & Schuster. The deal was brokered by Waxman Literary Agency and Phelps' long-time talent manager, Peter Carlisle of Octogon.

The minimum price tag just to start dealing was $1 million, which went up after half a dozen major publishers took a look at it. Dominik Anfuso of Free Press ultimately landed the deal.

The book is being dubbed an "inspirational memoir", and according to the publisher Phelps will reveal secrets of his success, as well as give a behind-the-scenes look at his approach to training, competition, and winning. The narrative thread is expected to be the eight final swims of the 2008 games, where Phelps earned his record-breaking 8 gold medals. The book is expected to hit bookshelves by December.

John McCain and the GOP were playing along nicely for a short time, but lately have been ramping up their efforts to make Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama look like an inexperienced, unqualified candidate for the White House. And now thanks to a well-timed publication by a former friend and spiritual advisor, Obama will have another major issue and distraction to deal with just weeks before the presidential election.

In October, Jeremiah Wright, former pastor at Obama's Trinity United Church in Chicago, will release a new book and begin a nationwide tour to promote it. New York Magazine said in its latest issue that this is "an occassion that might well place the topic of Obama's blackness (along with his patriotism and his candor about what he heard in the pews in all those years at Trinity Church) squarely at the center of the national debate."

An old novel by Jay McInerney based on John Edwards' future mistress, Rielle Hunter, is getting a fresh new printing to meet increased demand for the book since the scandal has recently made headlines. An extra 2,500 hundred copies have been commissioned for "Story of My Life", according to Vintage Books, a paperback imprint of Random House Inc.

The book was first released in 1988, and its main character is a promiscuous, aspring actor that the author says was inspired by Hunter, who was at the time named Lisa Druck.

As of Monday afternoon, "Story of My Life" was #470 on Amazon's best-seller's list and was out of stock.

McInerney, 53, is best known for "Bright Lights, Big City". Some of his other works include "Ransom", "Brightness Falls", and The Good Life."

Author Dave Schwensen continues to bring the excitement of "The Beatles In Cleveland" during a one hour "Meet The Author" program sponsored by the Cuyahoga County Public Library. His presentation includes 2 films - with the second being a rare film of The Beatles 1966 concert, (the riot!), at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. There will also be a display of never before published photos, news clippings, concert poster and more for viewing before and after the presentations. Books will available for purchase and autographing.

Have you noticed the abundance of books written by female authors that feature pink colored covers? Did you know that they're not just all light, "chick lit"? Pink book covers, for sometime, have been the identifying feature of so-called "chick lit" or beach reads, and is now being utilized by the publishing industry to help sell even heavier fiction written by women. The question is why.

The answer to that question would be having seen firsthand that chick lit flies off the shelves in bookstores and libraries, the publishing industry is adopting the pink cover technique to help trick the chick lit audience into purchasing other non-stereotypical chick lit. Unsurprisingly, not all authors are happy with this practice that tends to trivialize their work and lump them in with beach reads.

However, the name of the publishing game is to sell, sell, sell, and in an industry that is slumping, if trickery is what it takes to get sales, then that's the risk their willing to take.

Publishing company Simon & Schuster Inc. sued two female hip-hop artists on Thursday for taking advances and failing to deliver a book. The two lawsuits were filed separately in New York state against Kimberly Jones, aka "Lil' Kim", and Inga Marchand, best known as "Foxy Brown".

According to the lawsuits, the rappers were each contracted by Simon & Schuster to complete books for them. Lil' Kim's book was to be titled "Untitled Novel", and Foxy's was tentatively named "Broken Silence."

"Untitled Novel" was to have been completed by June 30, 2004, and Lil' Kim was given a $40,000 advance. Foxy Brown had until February 1, 2006, and was given a $75,000 advance.

According to the complaints, both failed to produce "complete and acceptable manuscripts". Simon & Schuster is thus asking that they return the advance royalties, plus interest.

Neither Lil' Kim or Foxy Brown is a stranger to the court system, with both having spent time in prison. Lil' Kim was booked for conspiracy and perjury, while Foxy did time for assault.

It's really no surprise that a novel described as "adorable," "fun," "a marvelous adventure" and "inspirational," would be nominated for a literary award in its debut year. Author Christa Ann Banister's novel Around the World in 80 Dates was recently honored with a nomination for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award. Around the World is nominated along with five other works (only one other is a debut like Banister's) in the "Lit" category.

"It is such an honor to be nominated alongside these incredible Christian fiction writers," expresses Banister. "It's really amazing how much the genre has grown--even in the last year--and I'm thrilled that I'm part of it with Around the World in 80 Dates."

Voted by a panel of six judges, the winner will be announced at the annual American Christian Fiction Writer's Conference and Awards Banquet on September 20, 2008 in Banister's hometown, Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information on the award and other nominees/categories visit www.acfw.com.

Recent reviews of Around the World continue to rave about Banister's innate sense of wit and charm: