Oprah Winfrey has used Twitter to inform fans that her first new book club pick in a year will be announced on Friday, September 18.
Winfrey sought to whet book-lover’s appetites when she Tweeted that she had “never made a selection like ‘this’.”
Winfrey’s most recent pick was David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. The book morphed into a word-of-mouth hit last summer and, later, a blockbuster.
Winfrey’s endorsement is a powerful boost for a new book.
The week of September 14, meanwhile, looms up as a major date for the publishing industry. Senator Edward Kennedy’s True Compass will be released, to be followed by Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.
Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo has been thrown a baby shower by co-star Katherine Heigl.
Mum-to-be Pompeo, who is expecting her baby in October, was also joined by other members of the show’s cast, including Kate Walsh and Sandra Oh as well as castmate Eric Dane’s wife Rebecca Gayheart.
The bash was held at Heigl’s in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.
The catered, outdoor baby shower was held in the backyard and umbrellas shielded guests from the heat as temperatures in Los Angeles reached a scorching 105 degrees.
Pink flower arrangements and candles adorned the tables to celebrate Pompeo expecting a baby girl, while guests brought gifts wrapped in girly pink and yellow colours.
Many of the gifts – which included a Sleep Sheep toy mobile, Sleepy Safari stacking toys, organic hooded towels and a Kiddopotamus organic swaddle wrap – came from the Juvenile Shop in nearby Sherman Oaks, where Pompeo is registered.
A guest at the shower said: “Ellen looked gorgeous in a white summer dress with her hair in a braided up-do.
“She seemed very excited to celebrate with her girlfriends.”
Serena Williams in her memoir On The Line has spoken out about issues that have otherwise stayed under wraps – including the tragic loss of her sister Yetunde Price.
She said: “I wanted to explain how I see things. I wanted to talk about my body and my sisters, my career, what I’ve learned, what I’m still learning. I want women to know that it’s okay. You can be whatever size you are, and you can be beautiful both inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful and what’s not, and that’s not right.
The younger half of world tennis’s great sister act has spent much of her book discussing the loss of Yetunde who was shot dead in 2003 by a man who is now serving a 15-year prison sentence for manslaughter.
Williams, 27, has won 22 Grand Slam titles. She said: “It was a real dark period in my life. I went through depression. I never even talked about it to my mom. No one knew I was in therapy, but I was. I was so close to her.”
Williams says she put on about 10kg after her sister died. Now she makes a point of speaking out about women and their body image. “For some reason, everyone is obsessed with weight. Are you bigger? Are you smaller? And everyone cares about that! It’s insane. Some days, I’ll be bigger. Other days, I’ll be smaller. It’s not a big deal.”
Acknowledging she suffers from insecurities about her body, she said: “I think they’re [thighs] too big. But also my arms. I think they’re too muscular. They’re too thick. I’m sensitive about them. I know that toned arms are in now. Look at Michelle Obama. She has great arms, and I think it’s wonderful that she shows them off like that! I love her for that. I’m like, ‘keep wearing strapless dresses!’ But I don’t like mine.”
Eddie Cibrian has voiced his commitment to being a dad amid a mini-storm over the outing of his relationship with country singer LeAnn Rimes.
“From the outset I have made a conscious decision to try and keep this matter private and not discuss it in the press. While my wife and I are dissolving our marriage, we will work together to parent our two children.”
He says of sons Mason, 6, and Jake, 2: “I love my boys very much. I want only the best for them and am committed to being a devoted father.”
Cibrian of CSI:Miami is seeking a divorce from former model Brandi Glanville. Rimes has split with her husband Dean Sheremet.
Glanville appeared to be moving on when she said Rimes was welcome to Cibrian. She also said she sensed the attraction between the pair when they were filming Northern Lights.
Cibrian adds: “I will continue to be respectful and sensitive to this issue by not doing interviews about this ongoing private matter. I wish everyone would do the same.”
Katie Price has said she found it “disturbing” seeing her ex Peter Andre upset.
The mum-of-three admitted she wanted to put her arms around the singer and tell him it was okay but she couldn’t get close to him.
She also said that she wasn’t the woman for him because he couldn’t control her.
She was speaking after reading about claims that she threatened someone in a nightclub with a knife during her trip to Ibiza.
She said: “I find it more disturbing seeing Pete upset than when they said my knife attack, only because you can see he’s definitely emotional and that’s not fair.
“It’s like I want to ring Pete up and say, “look, Pete, it’s all right,” you know, but at the end of the day, he was the one who split with me.
“I want to put my arms around Pete and say, “Pete, it’s fine”, but I can’t even get near and I haven’t even seen him for seven weeks so there’s not really a lot I can do.
“But it hasn’t, I’m not going back with him now.”
Katie has made her point clear by putting a cross through the Pete tattoo on her wrist.
Anne Heche has launched a scathing attack on her ex-husband during a no-holds-barred interview on American TV.
The Spread star left the audience and late-night talk show host David Letterman in no doubt over her contempt for Coley Laffoon.
“Can you say ‘lazy ass’ on TV?” the 40-year-old asked when Letterman inquired about the father of her seven-year-old son, Homer.
She quickly retracted the insult, saying: “No, no, no. That’s terrible.”
The former couple’s high-profile feud continues six months after they reached a settlement in their divorce, which includes monthly child support payments to Laffoon for their son.
When asked what Laffoon does for a living, Heche paused before telling the audience: “He goes out to the mailbox and he opens up the little mailbox door and goes, ‘Oh! I got a cheque from Anne! Oh! I got a cheque from Anne! Yay!’ ”
Laffoon, who filed for divorce in February 2007 after five years of marriage, “is doing a lot for himself right now”, she added.
During their two-year divorce saga Heche accused Laffoon of craving “porn, poker and money”, while he fought back with claims she was mentally unstable.
Actress and reality star Denise Richards says she has mixed feelings about sending her daughter Sam to kindergarten.
Richards, who has two daughters with ex-husband Charlie Sheen – Lola Rose, four, and Sam, five – is feeling confused about her eldest starting kindergarten.
At the recent Much Love Animal Rescue’s third annual summer fundraiser Bow Wow WOW Howlywood! in Los Angeles, she said: “It’s bittersweet.
“Sami starts kindergarten, which I cannot believe, in a couple of weeks. I’m so sad about it.”
The 38-year-old thinks time has flown by since her little girl was born, saying: “I can’t believe how fast five years have gone.”
She added: “I’m very proud of her and very happy, but from here on out she’s in school.”
Denise openly supports the Much Love charity’s mission as she has always loved animals.
She said: “Ever since I was little I always brought home every little stray dog who didn’t have a home. My daughters love animals as well, so I can’t help it.”
Screen siren Jessica Biel is so hot she now comes with a computer health warning, according to reports.
It’s claimed that searching for images of the Hollywood glamourpuss’s finely toned body can wreak havoc on your hardware.
The 27-year-old beauty has landed at the top of McAfee’s annual list of celebrities whose search-engine results are most likely harbouring spyware and computer viruses that slow systems down.
According to the antivirus-software maker, there’s a 1 in 5 chance that Googling Biel will spark a virus.
Other stars to be wary of include Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Brady and Jessica Simpson who round out the top five on the list.
Last year’s number one was Brad Pitt, and Justin Timberlake’s girl didn’t even make the top 10.
Angelina Jolie’s late mother left grandchildren Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh $100,000 each in her will, new court papers have revealed.
Marcheline Bertrand died in 2007 and movie beauty Angelina and her brother James Haven were co-executors of her estate.
They filed the final paperwork in LA in Monday, revealing Marcheline’s parting gift to her grandchildren.
She also left $25,000 each to her sister, brother and nephews.
In her will, Marcheline wrote: “I give the residue of my estate in equal shares to my beloved son James Haven, and my beloved daughter Angelina Jolie.”
The papers reveal her estate was worth approximately $661,000.
