Books

THE NEXT TIME you grind a little black pepper on your steak, give a moment of silence to the diners who've come before you. The pepper trade was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, the enslavement of countless others, the establishment of the opium trade in India and the extinction of the dodo. Now, enjoy your dinner. Marjorie Shaffer, a science writer and editor at the New York University School of Medicine, thoroughly examines our culinary friend in Pepper: A History of the World's Most Influential Spice (St. Martin's Press)

CORINTH, Miss. - A Mississippi man was arrested Wednesday, accused of sending letters to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker that tested positive for the poisonous substance ricin. Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was arrested at 5:15 p.m. at his apartment in Corinth, near the Tennessee state line about 100 miles east of Memphis, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen. It wasn't immediately known where he was being held. Authorities still waited for definitive tests on the letters to Obama and Wicker, R-Miss.

POLICE ARRESTED an Olney teen Wednesday morning when he allegedly tried to enter Fels High School with a loaded handgun in his book bag. Police discovered the .38-caliber handgun in the 18-year-old student's book bag when he went through the metal detector at the school's entrance on Langdon Street near Howell in Crescentville, said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman. When police tried to stop him, he sprinted, but officers caught him on Sanger Street near Langdon, Little said.

The topic was Cat's Cradle . For an hour, 10 women talked - sometimes over one another - to discuss not just the sci-fi classic by Kurt Vonnegut, but also the Cold War, organized religion, and Central America. They talked about TV shows like House and Game of Thrones , literary characters like Sherlock Holmes, and authors like Jane Austen and William Faulkner. They laughed. A lot. It was a typical book-club meeting for an atypical book club. Ten years ago, at a time when most 8-year-olds were learning fractions, five second-graders were pulled from the playground by their mothers to their first book-club meeting.

CHICAGO - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stopped in Chicago on Monday to visit the parents of the young U.S. diplomat who was killed while delivering textbooks in southern Afghanistan earlier this month. Kerry made the detour on his way back from Japan, the final leg of a 10-day overseas tour that started with tragedy when he learned of Anne Smedinghoff's death while readying to depart for Turkey on April 6. At the time, a clearly affected Kerry contacted Smedinghoff's parents, Tom and Mary Beth, from Andrews Air Force Base.

THE SMASH musical comedy "The Book of Mormon" heads up a particularly strong 2013-14 roster of shows presented by the Kimmel Center under the newly minted "Broadway Philadelphia" banner. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone - the brains behind "South Park" - "Book of Mormon," which captured nine Tony Awards in 2012, tells the tuneful, mirthful tale of a pair of young Mormon missionaries in Uganda. It is set for a six-week Forrest Theatre run, beginning July 29, 2014. For those with more traditional aesthetic leanings, the lineup also boasts "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess.

NEW YORK - A tiny hymnal from 1640 believed to be the first book ever printed in what is now the United States is going up for auction, and it could sell for as much as $30 million. Only 11 copies of the Bay Psalm Book survive, in varying degrees of completeness. Members of Boston's Old South Church have authorized the sale of one of its two copies at Sotheby's Nov. 26. "It's a spectacular book, arguably one of the most important books in this nation's history," said the Rev. Nancy Taylor, senior minister and chief executive officer of the church, which was established in 1669.

WASHINGTON - President Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported paying $112,214 in taxes last year on $608,611 in adjusted gross income for an effective federal income tax rate of 18.4 percent, the White House announced Friday. That marks a decline from the Obamas' adjusted gross income of $789,674 in 2011, when they paid slightly more than 20 percent of it in federal taxes. The president earns a salary of $400,000, while the first lady receives no pay. The president continues to receive royalties from his published books; declining sales appear to have contributed to his drop in income between 2011 and 2012.

The Philadelphia Book Festival, a weeklong roster of literary readings, discussions, and workshops Sunday, April 14, through Saturday, April 20, will feature plenty of nationally renowned literary stars - and even a bona fide media celebrity. Yet the fest, which opens Sunday at 7:30 p.m. with a sold-out appearance by MSNBC talk-show host, pundit, and political celebrity Rachel Maddow, will distinguish itself this year with an unprecedented variety and breadth of authors from the Philadelphia region.

GUAN TIANLANG, a 14-year-old middle school student from China who uses a belly putter, will become the youngest to play in the Masters. He earned a spot in the field by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur last November in Thailand by one shot over Pan Cheng-tsung, of Chinese Taipei. He went wire-to-wire, holing a 5-foot par putt on the final hole at Amata Spring Country Club for a final-round 71. After an morning practice round with Ben Crenshaw on Monday, Guan found himself alongside Tiger Woods on the practice range.