A day of Great Expectations for fans of Charles Dickens. Today's marks the 200th birthday of the writer who gave us "A Tale of Two Cities," "A Christmas Carol," "David Copperfield," among many others. Joining us now from the BBC's studio's in Cambridge England is Dr Jan-Melissa Schramm a Dickens fan, a lecturer in Victorian literature at Trinity Hall of Cambridge University.

In 1961, Ezra Jack Keats wrote and illustrated his first children’s book. It was called "The Snowy Day" and it told the story of Peter, a young, African-American boy in Brooklyn, enjoying the season's first snowfall. The book was immediately popular. Prior to its publication, no other mainstream children’s book had featured a black hero in a non-caricatured way.

When it comes to sales, it's widely known that bookstores, particularly independent ones, face tough competition from online sellers such as Amazon. It looks like the battle lines just got tougher. With their new book app, Amazon is encouraging book store shoppers to scan titles they find intriguing, and see if they can get a better price online. The reward if you find a better price is the chance to earn five percent credit on purchases at Amazon, of course.

Since 2006, when President Felipe Calderón declared war on Mexico's drug cartels, 45,000 Mexicans across the republic have been disappeared, murdered, or mass-executed. Victims of this violence include journalists, over two thousand public officials, and bystanders. While drug-related activity was previously relegated to only a few Mexican states, the dramatic spread of violence — and its severity — is attributable to governmental policy north and south of the border.

It’s Thanksgiving. And we have a lot to be grateful for here at the Takeaway — including our amazing listeners and guests. One of our favorites from this past year was the great Betty White. In addition to starring on “Hot in Cleveland,” the legendary comedian, movie star, and seven-time Emmy winner is the author of a new book "If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t)." White, who overflows with gratitude, reminds us that there's much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

In honor of Thanksgiving, The Takeaway looks back at some of our favorite interviews from the past year and gives thanks. Our conversation with Dr. Abraham Verghese is among those we're especially grateful for. Verghese was raised in Ethiopia, by parents from India. He immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s for a medical residency, and then to rural Tennessee treat gay men afflicted with HIV.  Later, he became a professor at Stanford University Medical School and the author of the best-sellers, "My Own Country" and "Cutting for Stone."

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…" The words are timeless, they could apply to the world today. But of course, they were written over 150 years ago by Charles Dickens, in his masterpiece "A Tale of Two Cities." If he were still alive, Charles Dickens would be turning 200 in just a few months.

Takeaway co-host Celeste Headlee went on a swing through the West Coast recently where she visited with artists and newsmakers and took back her reporting. She had the chance to talk with multi-talented author and musician Colin Meloy. Colin is best known for his role as the lead singer and chief songwriter of the band The Decemberists. But Colin has also just written a children's book called "Wildwood" — his wife Carson Ellis illustrated the novel.

The National Book Awards finalists were announced last month and they included more surprises than have been seen in recent memory. Among the finalists were a graphic novel in the non-fiction category and a total of six books in a category that only allows five. On Wednesday night, the questions and controversy will come to an end, as the awards are handed out. Patrik Henry Bass, editor of books at Essence and Takeaway contributor, gives some insight into the National Book Awards.

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has never shied away from controversy. This time it is the commentator's new history book, "Killing Lincoln," that's in the eye of the storm. A reviewer for the National Park Service's bookstore at Ford's Theatre has recommended that the store pull the book due to "lack of documentation" and "factual errors." O'Reilly responded to his critics on his show. (Video after the jump.)

What's not to love about brisket? Author Stephanie "Stevie" Pierson is convinced that a good brisket will not only satiate your appetite but improve your life. Pierson wrote "The Brisket Book" after realizing that while the delicious dish is in many cookbooks it doesn't have one of its own. They're not hard to find either, as you can pick up a brisket at your local supermarket.

Science fiction author Philip K. Dick died in 1983 at 53 years old. His cultural influence is everywhere, from box office hits like "Minority Report," to the novels of the late David Foster Wallace. His dark, twisted stories about drugs, psychological disorders, and government conspiracies have won awards and left an impression on the science fiction landscape.

Ariel Sharon served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006, but Sharon's long career in public service began with Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. Sharon suffered a stroke in 2006, leaving him in a coma-like state. While he is now immobilized, Ariel Sharon leaves a legacy that will no doubt affect his country for decades to come. 

Author John Grisham has leveraged his career by doing what few in the legal profession can. He has made subjects usually relegated to the law school classroom — topics like torts and case law — into fascinating, suspenseful literature. While he is best known as a bestselling author, John Grisham has also become an advocate for criminal justice reform. He serves on the board of the Innocence Project, a public policy organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully-convicted.

Colson Whitehead has famously tackled topics like a young man's coming of age in "Sag Harbor," the social elevation of African Americans in "The Intuitionist," and America’s industrial age in "John Henry Days." In his new novel, the award-winning Whitehead goes just as large, maybe even larger, with a look at how an imaginary apocalypse might bring out the best and worst in humans and American culture. Also, Whitehead's apocalypse includes zombies. The title of the new book, which hits stores this week, is "Zone One."

This year's winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced today. The British prize goes to "the very best book of the year" written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. Past winners have been propelled to international celebrity overnight, with the winning books selling hundreds of thousands of copies around the world. But this year's shortlist has generated a new complaint. Critics of the prize say Booker Prize judges have begun valuing "readability" above artistic excellence.

In recent months there has been a resurgence of labor protests across the United States. From Ohio to Wisconsin, union members are taking to the streets once more. Yet despite this apparent resurgence, the power of American unions has declined significantly in recent decades. Today The Takeaway traces it all back to August 1981, when nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike creating a standoff with Ronald Reagan that ended when he fired the majority of them and de-certified their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. 

The movie "Contagion" swept the box office this fall. While the film featured an ensemble cast of famous faces — from Kate Winslet to Matt Damon to Gwyneth Paltrow — the real star of "Contagion" was the virus that murdered millions throughout the movie. Biologist Nathan Wolfe served as a consultant on the film. And while the movie is fiction, Wolfe’s new book warns of the very real threats posed by global pandemics.

A new novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides follows three college students graduating in the midst of an economic downturn. With unemployment around 10 percent, the characters try to find ways to cope — moving home, busing tables, applying to graduate school. One flees the country entirely, running from the recession at home to volunteer in India. It sounds like a novel set in 2011, until Eugenides' characters start calling each other from land line phones and writing letters home from abroad. 

Chuck Klosterman has his finger on the pulse of contemporary American life. His essays and novels examine not only sports and pop culture, but also what the most popular athletes, music, movies and Internet obsessions say about who Americans are. Klosterman’s new book, "The Visible Man" is a novel about a therapist and her extraordinary patient, a man who claims he’s perfected the art of invisibility.