Jayne Anne Phillips?s intricate, deeply felt new novel fuses wildly disparate influences into something incandescent and utterly original.

Amid a relentless string of layoffs and pay-freeze announcements, book publishers are clamping down on some of the business?s most glittery and cozy traditions.

Charlie Huston has written a smoking-hot new crime novel.

This city, known for its shrines and blazing autumn hills, is celebrating the millennial anniversary of an ancient book about love and loss among the imperial set.

Steven Johnson?s portrait of the 18th-century chemist, theologian and perennial agitator Joseph Priestley is also a lament about the intellectual specialization of our modern age.

Like many holiday films, THIS CHRISTMAS mines the ample humor and drama of a family Christmas. Ma'Dere (Loretta Devine) is the matriarch to the large and loving Whitfield family, which consists of her three daughters--Kelli (Sharon Leal), Lisa (Regina King), and Mel (Lauren London)--and her sons--Michael (Chris Brown), Claude (Columbus Short), and Quentin (Idris Elba). They are an extremely attractive and successful bunch, but no sooner have they shared their first meal together than the hidden tensions begin to boil to the surface. Long-kept secrets come tumbling out, and the Whitfields soon engender enough drama to support several spin-off soap operas. There's interracial marriage, infidelity, gambling debts, an AWOL soldier, and repressed dreams of musical stardom, to name just a few of the issues they are forced to tackle in between stuffing the turkey and decorating the tree. Will their many problems and misunderstandings be resolved by Christmas day? Since this is a family holiday flick, the odds are, of course, quite good.

Despite the often heavy subject matter, the film has the glow and sheen of a lighthearted romantic comedy. The characters may be awash in drama, but they contend with their troubles in impeccable wardrobes and settings, so that even the barroom brawls have an almost cozy look to them. While some might feel the packed storyline was in more need of trimming than the tree, the tidy ending makes for perfect feel-good holiday fare. If only all family discord could end with a dance-off to Kool & the Gang! (1 hr. 57 min.)

Nancy is a divorced mother of three who is so busy raising her children that she's forgotten to take care of herself as well. With Christmas fast approaching, she decides to take her kids to the mall to meet Santa Claus, not knowing that her youngest daughter Emily has sensed her mother's sadness and is determined to use her time with Santa to make her mom happy again. Just a few days prior, Emily heard her mom say that all she wanted for Christmas was a compliment from a man, so that's exactly what she tells Santa. Ironically, Santa, as it turns out, is office supply salesman and struggling songwriter Benjamin, who ends up giving Nancy just what she wants for Christmas, and much, much more. (1 hr. 36 min.)

Country music star Toby Keith earns credit as screenwriter, producer, and star in this comedy based on his hit song with Willie Nelson. Keith plays a deputy who hits the road with his best friend (RODNEY's Rodney Carrington, who also cowrote the script) to rescue one of the men's girlfriends from a drug lord's clutches. The pair may be on a mission, but that doesn't mean they can't have a rip-roarin' good time along the way. In BEER FOR MY HORSES, Keith is joined by music legends Nelson and Ted Nugent, as well as Hollywood actors Claire Forlani and Tom Skerritt. (1 hr. 28 min.)