Today the Royal Society announced the shortlist for its science book prize. It's a strong field of contenders for the £10,000 prize money.

Lancaster writing teacher Elizabeth Burns has won the first £5,000 Michael Marks award for poetry pamphlets for her collection, The Shortest Days

The event features David Peace, whose Red Riding books were turned into a TV series. A film was also made of his novel The Damned Utd.

When Russell Brand won a staggering £1.5 million contract to write two books for HarperCollins, its chief executive, Victoria Barnsley, declared that it was "a real coup to have signed him". Now, however, after the scandal of the obscene messages

An information memorandum is understood to have been sent out for book retailer Borders UK, which could result in a potential sale of the troubled retailer.