entertainment - "book"

It's a killer tale: a band of M.I.T. math geeks goes to Las Vegas and beats the house - lots of houses - playing blackjack and raking in millions. And it's true. Read Bringing Down the House, the Ben Mezrich book.

AP - 1. 'Change of Heart' by Jodi Picoult (Atria)

AP - 'Who's Your City?' (Basic Books. 374 pages. $26.95), by Richard Florida: Everyone has heard the theory by now: Thanks to the Internet and other high-tech elements of globalization, the world is flat.

AP - 1. 'The Final Warning: Maximum Ride' by James Patterson (Little, Brown)

With the Beijing Olympics just months away, Robert Siegel and David Wallechinsky, co-author of the upcoming The Complete book of the Olympics, discuss Olympic boycotts, minor incidents, major protests and the decision to allow China to host this year's games.

The Producers of Broadway's critically acclaimed surprise hit, XANADU, and the show's Director of Merchandise Karen Davidov, are pleased to announce the XANADU THE BOOK! SERIOUSLY! Sneak Peek and contest presented by BroadwayWorld.com, which will lead to the upcoming release of XANADU THE BOOK! SERIOUSLY! The showbook was conceived by world renowned graphic designers and collaborators Mark Melnick and Chip Kidd, who USA TODAY called 'the closest thing to a rock star in graphic design today.' Click now to see advance pages and enter to win your own copy!

Married actors Charma and David Bonanno will head up the cast of Blindsided by a Diaper: The Musical, the next and final event in the Stamford, Connecticut, based Curtain Call Theater's 2007/2008 Musical Mondays series of concert readings. The musical is adapted from the Three River's Press collection of essays about the changes that couples face in their relationships when children enter into the picture. The musical was written by the book's editor, Dana Bedford Hilmer, and songwriters Jeffrey Lodin and William Squier (100 Years into the Heart, Top of the Heap).

AUSTRALIAN Consolidated Press has closed its second magazine in two months.

Poker player Rick Salomon would probably rather be famous winning multiple WSOP bracelets or being called a donkey after gutting out a tough, high profile win over Phil Hellmuth than having the world know him for the women he has been associated with. He first garnered attention by marrying 'Berverly Hills 90210' actress Shannen Doherty. After his nuptials went the way of the Do-Do, he was filmed treating Paris Hilton's naughty bits the way German Wehrmacht treated the city of Paris sixty years earlier. He latest high profile romance included him basically winning Pamela Anderson in a strip poker game. As of today his storybook marriage to the Baywatch Babe has been annulled.

Jodi Picoult has reached the author stratosphere at age 41. The New Hampshire writer visits Seattle next week to discuss 'Change of Heart,' her second book in a row to debut at No. 1 on The new york Times' best-seller list.