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"Ours is not a bloodline, but a text line," say father-daughter author team Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger. Their new book, Jews And Words, explores the significance of text in the Jewish tradition. "For thousands of years, we Jews had nothing but books," Oz says. "They became part of the family life."

Palestinians are reveling Friday, following the U.N. General Assembly's elevation of their status from nonmember "entity" to nonmember "state." But what that change means depends on whom you ask.

In his new book, author and oenophile Paul Lukacs traces the 8,000-year history of our original alcoholic beverage — from ancient times, when wine was believed to be of divine origin, to the sauvignon blanc you find in your supermarket today.

New York Times advice columnist Philip Galanes details how to handle breakups, cellphone calls and food allergies — among other topics — in his book Social Q's: How to Survive the Quirks, Quandaries and Quagmires of Today.

Critic Alan Cheuse maps out a winter wonderland of fiction and poetry — from ancient Greece to the near-future visions of Walter Mosley, a selection of the best books to give and receive this holiday season. Cheuse says these five books strike the perfect balance between lyricism and narrative.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appears at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday to request an upgrade in the Palestinians' status at the world body.

A week has elapsed since a ceasefire ended an explosion of violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The truce has so far held, despite some disputed incidents which have left one Palestinian dead and a group of Gaza fishermen in Israeli custody. Egypt, as mediator, is now holding separate talks with both sides to hammer out detailed agreements on key issues, including easing Israel's blockade of Gaza, and preventing weapons being smuggled into the region.

In his new novel, The Testament of Mary, Irish author Colm Toibin imagines Mary's life 20 years after the crucifixion, as she wonders what she might have done differently to ease her son's suffering. "I felt that I was Mary," he says. "I was her consciousness, watching the thing happening."

Before Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express, she took her own, less perilous, journey around the world in 1922. Her grandson Mathew Prichard has now published a volume of her letters and photographs from the trip.

If you're the kind who secretly obsesses about the fundamental nature of reality but wouldn't know a boson if it was delivering roses at your doorstep, I have good news for you.