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Thanksgiving approaches, followed by the rest of the holiday season. In a holiday-eating preview, NPR's Susan Stamberg bypasses the turkey — and heads right for dessert. Specifically chocolate. But she does manage to insinuate her favorite holiday recipe into the mix.

Writer Augusten Burroughs has two best-selling, often funny memoirs to his credit. His first, Running With Scissors, portrayed his early years with his mentally ill mother and her equally mentally ill shrink. His second, Dry, was about getting sober. Now Burroughs has a book of stories, Magical Thinking.

Lily Tuck's novel of 19th century Paraguay wins the National Book Award for fiction. Tuck, awarded the prize for her novel The News From Paraguay, was one of five New York women authors nominated for the fiction award. Kevin Boyle won the nonfiction prize for Arc of Justice and Jean Valentine's Door in the Mountain won in the poetry category. Hear NPR's Lynn Neary.

How did Shakespeare become the greatest playwright in the world? Harvard Professor Stephen Greenblatt tackles that question in his new biography of the bard. Will In The World has been nominated for a National Book Award. Hear Greenblatt and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Kate Walbert, author of the book Our Kind, discusses the kind of women she grew-up with and how their lives inspired her. The story is one of five finalists for the National Book Award. Hear Walbert and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

There's been widespread condemnation of the apparent slaying of aid worker Margaret Hassan by her Iraqi kidnappers. A video sent to al Jazeera, the Arabic television channel, appears to show Hassan being shot in the head by a hooded militant. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

The U.S. military wants to begin a reconstruction program in Fallujah once the last pockets of insurgent resistance have been overcome. But many Fallujah residents say all they want from the U.S. is the departure of American troops. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Margaret Hassan, the British aid worker abducted by insurgents in Baghdad last month, may have been put to death by her captors. The Al-Jazeera television network said it received a videotape of a woman, presumed to be Hassan, being shot. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

An American Marine is shown on videotape shooting an apparently unarmed and wounded Iraqi man in a mosque in the city of Fallujah. The incident was caught on camera by an American TV journalist. The Marine has been withdrawn from the battlefield while the U.S. military conducts an investigation. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

As U.S. forces seek out the last remaining pockets of resistance in Fallujah, insurgents in Mosul, Baqouba and other Sunni Muslim towns and cities are back on the offensive. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.