Lynn Neary

It's not often that a writer can illustrate his own books, but Brian Selznick is that rare find. He began his career as an artist collaborating with authors on children's books. But he gradually realized that he wanted to tell his own stories in both words and pictures — and to do that, Selznick invented a unique narrative device.

Since it was first published in 1984, What to Expect When You're Expecting has changed the way millions of women have experienced pregnancy.

With advice on everything from indigestion to postpartum depression, it's a detailed guide to virtually every moment of pregnancy — some say perhaps too detailed.

Dawn Baker didn't get the book at her baby shower last month, and she wasn't disappointed.

"I've actually been told that it's not a go-to resource anymore for modern-day women," Baker says.

'Is It Normal?'

There are a couple of ways to approach summer reading. You can think of the long, hot days as the perfect time to kick back with an exciting plot-driven thriller by Stieg Larsson. Or you might feel that summer's leisurely pace gives you the space you need to take on a more challenging material.

When Chelsea Handler's last book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, was released in 2010, the comedian-turned-writer accomplished something very rare. She had three books on the best seller list, all at the same time. Not only that, she beat Karl Rove to the top of the list.

"When we found out that I came in one and he came in two," Handler recalls, "my sister said — she called me and she said — do you think Karl Rove is sitting in his study in his boxer shorts thinking, 'Who the hell is Chelsea Handler?'"

When the popular World War II novel From Here to Eternity was first released in 1951, the subject of homosexuality in the military was taboo. The new version of the book, which comes out Tuesday, restores passages that were censored in the 50s. And it's being released not in hardcover, nor in paperback, but as an e-book by Open Road Media — a company which is banking its future on digital publishing.