Amazon’s ebook sales eclipse paperbacks for the first time
Richard Adams: Amazon announces that Kindle ebook sales have now overtaken its sales of paperback print editions in the US
In praise of … The Magic Mountain
Editorial: This week's sessions in Davos will never be as intellectually stimulating as Thomas Mann's novel of ideas
HMV distributors denied credit insurance
New blow to HMV after fears over loan covenant and grim Christmas trading
How the West Was Lost by Dambisa Moyo – review
Has social and economic complacency set the west on a path of terminal decline? By Paul Collier
Budget book chain in administration
British Bookshops & Stationers becomes the first retail casualty of 2011 but shops will stay open while a buyer is sought
20 things we learned in 2010
It was a year in which game-changing developments in social media competed with a new political turf wars over the 'squeezed middle'. Here a team of Observer writers and experts chart the concepts, trends and buzzwords that defined the last year and are likely to shape the next one
From Harry Potter to Narnia: the pressure on film franchises to perform
In the world of film franchises, it's billions or bust – anything less than Harry Potter-style success spells the end for a series. Cath Clarke reports on how Narnia went to the brink
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows takes off as Unstoppable trundles on
Charles Gant: Tony Scott's runaway train thriller set a solid pace but the broomstick-wielding wizard cleaned up on his penultimate outing
Enough is Enough: How to Build a New Republic by Fintan O’Toole – review
Fintan O'Toole's manifesto for a new Ireland impresses Sean O'Hagan
Looking at Ireland, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
As the moneymen from the IMF move into Dublin, novelist Colm Tóibín considers his country's bloody past, turbulent present and uncertain future
Dune rights holders set to desert Paramount
Film adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction bestseller could be shelved as pressure builds for production to begin