Dear Readers: For the past 14 years, I have devoted one December column entirely to the idea of giving books to children on Christmas morning (or whatever wintertime holiday you celebrate).

She was a reader, writer and teacher, and I can think of no better way to honor her memory than to ask other readers to participate in the “Book on Every Bed” project.

Book and Bed can be credited with kicking off Japan’s ‘book hotel’ mini-boom, and has also replicated its concept in Osaka's Shinsaibashi neighbourhood. More ...

The book first finds him in bed, for Oblomov is a Russian Hamlet, except for a lower I.Q., and his daily question is: To get up or not to get up? His room is a maze of cobwebs and clutter.

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. Art-making is not the kind of work that is easily confined between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m ...