Michelle Obama has been named as the world's most powerful woman, ahead of the likes of Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel and Oprah Winfrey. The Queen, however, did not even make the top 10.

JK Rowling should stick to the example of Anthony Powell and refuse to bow to fan pressure

When Al and Tipper Gore snogged on a public platform, divorce lawyers started licking their lips.

Oprah Winfrey chose Jonathan Franzen's new book, Freedom, for her book club yesterday, calling it a "masterpiece" nine years after she cancelled his appearance on her TV talk show when he expressed ambivalence over her endorsement of one of his previous works.

A US woman who gained sympathy worldwide after she claimed a random attacker threw acid in her face has admitted carrying out the attack herself.

Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom, this column's favourite Great American Novel of the past six months, had a famous falling-out with Oprah Winfrey in 2001. Winfrey invited Franzen to appear in her influential Book Club with his previous novel, The Corrections, but pointedly withdrew the offer when he was quoted elsewhere, saying he feared her endorsement would deter the male half of his desired audience, and sully his book with a "corporate logo". Oprah's ire didn't stop Franzen selling 2.85 million copies of The Corrections – in fact, it probably helped. Seasoned Winfrey-watchers assumed there was still bad blood between them when September's issue of her magazine, O, failed to feature Freedom in its "10 Titles To Pick Up Now". Yet it seems she might just have been delaying her forgiveness: citing "reliable sources", literary blogger Dennis Johnson claims Oprah has selected Freedom for her new Book Club list, due to be unveiled on Friday. Not that Franzen needs the help these days; the book already tops the New York Times and Amazon bestseller lists.

Oprah Winfrey has surprised the audience at the premiere of the 25th and final season of her talk show with an all-expenses-paid trip to Australia.

The famous novelist is making his promotional video. Shortly, his face will be on the front of Time magazine, his book praised to the heavens and at No 1 in the American bestseller list. "This might be a good place to register my profound discomfort at having to make a video like this," he says, looking indeed profoundly discomfited. The internet is fine for commerce, but "to me, the point of a novel is to take you to a still place".

Fans of this matchless chronicler of American family life have endured a nine-year hiatus since he stunned the literary world with 'The Corrections'. But all the signs are that it will be worth the wait

You will recall that Kitty Kelley's biography of Oprah Winfrey caused a hoo-ha in the States when it came out in April, but there has been little sign of it in the UK.

Got up this morning, day four of my Consciousness Cleanse, and found freedom through forgiveness. Managed to forgo an unholy fry-up thanks to fab new book I'm reading called Women, Food and God, then ditched usual work attire in favour of experimenting with "new ways to wear khaki".

The estranged wife of Senator John Edwards, the one-time presidential candidate, voiced the hope yesterday that one day she might again be on the public stage for reasons other being the "cuckolded wife".

Kitty Kelley writes breathless biographies of America's biggest stars, shocking readers with the revelations she unearths. But her latest subject, Oprah Winfrey, has been the toughest to crack, she tells Guy Adams

Virtually no television network has shown interest in Kitty Kelley's new biography of the chat-show host